Articles tagged with: food for thought
Vaeira: Food for Thought at Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Believe
So burdened were the Jews in Egypt by their workload and fatigue that when Moses announced they would soon be liberated, they barely took notice. Moses complained to G-d, “if my own brothers won’t listen, how can Pharaoh be expected to listen?” The argument seems curious. His brethren didn’t …
Shemot: Food for Thought at your Dinner Table
Sunday: Commitment at all Costs
When Pharaoh’s astrologers predicted the birth of a child, who would liberate his brethren from Egypt he instructed the Jewish midwives to kill all Jewish male newborns. Disregarding the danger to themselves, the midwives defied the royal decree and set a tone for future generations of …
Vayechi: Food for Thought at your Dinner Table
Sunday: Jacob Lived
Many Torah commentaries have concluded based on the verse, “And Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years,” that Jacob’s best years, the years that he truly lived, were the ones he spent in Egypt. How did Jacob, a man devoted to G-d, enjoy living in so depraved a …
Miketz: Food for Thought at your Dinner table
Sunday: To be Affected
Pharaoh dreamed of seven robust cows that were consumed by seven gaunt cows. In retelling his dream Pharaoh observed that the gaunt cows exhibited no appearance of having eaten even after consuming the robust cows. This seemed ominous to Pharaoh. It could not portend good news. Indeed, …
Vayeshev: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Seven Thoughts for Seven Days
Sunday: Heaven and Earth
Joseph had two dreams. In he first he was binding sheaves in the field, in the second he was gazing at the stars. The first concerned earthly matters, the second, heavenly matters. This is fitting because the objective of our people is to …
Vayetze: Food for Thought at your Dinner Table
Sunday: Its all in the Mind
There are two levels of prophecy. The higher level is divine revelation. The lower level is divine communication. Our sages taught that G-d does not reveal himself to prophets in the diaspora unless they first merited at least one revelation in the holy land. This …
Toldot: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Abraham and Isaac
“These are the progeny of Isaac son of Abraham, Abraham begot Isaac.” That Abraham is the father of Jacob is mentioned twice in this verse, albeit in slightly different styles. In the first half of the verse Isaac is mentioned first, suggesting that he was the more …
Chayei Sarah: Food for Thought at Your Dinner Table
Sunday: the Joy of Giving
Sarah lived one-hundred and twenty-seven years. Our sages taught that she was as beautiful when she was one-hundred as she was when she was seven. At the age of seven we might seem cute or adorable, but not yet beautiful. Beauty tends to settle in with …
