The concluding section of our parasha, Beshalach, contains the account of our ancestors’ mortal combat with Amalek, the marauding desert tribe that sought to destroy us after our departure from …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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1/16/19
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On that day, you must tell your child, ‘It is because of this that G-d acted for me when I left Egypt’.” (Shemot 13:8).
This is one of the best known pasukim of both our …
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By Rabbi David Ettengoff
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1/10/19
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The concluding verses of parashat Vayechi present Yosef’s final words to his brothers. They contain both a reminder of Hashem’s promise to ultimately redeem the Jewish people from …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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12/19/18
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Our Sages, in Tosefta Berachot 4:17-18, ask a fundamental question: “Why did Yehuda merit kingship?” After all, each of the brothers was great in his own way. Why, then, was …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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12/12/18
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Last week’s parasha concludes with Yosef’s undeserved imprisonment in an Egyptian jail at the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife. While incarcerated, he rose to the top of dungeon …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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12/5/18
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Yosef is the sole figure in Tanach to whom our Sages attach the title hatzaddik, the righteous one. The second-century work Seder Haolam Rabbah is one of the earliest Rabbinic sources where this …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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11/30/18
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Our parasha begins with the famous words, “And Yaakov left Beersheba, and he went to Charan” (Bereishit 28:10). Yaakov’s departure is a direct response to his mother Rivka’s …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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11/13/18
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Our parasha contains a crucial narrative in the lives of the Avot — a famine in the Land of Israel, and Yitzchak’s initial desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and travel …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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11/7/18
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Our parasha relates the deaths of one of history’s most spiritually dynamic couples, Sarah and Avraham: “And Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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10/31/18
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One of the many famous topics in our parasha is the destruction of the thoroughly wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As the entire Land of Israel would one day belong to Avraham’s …
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By Rabbi David Etengoff
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10/29/18
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