Take a careful look at Bereishit 24:67: “And Yitzchak brought Rivka to his mother’s tent. He took Rivka, she became his wife, and then he loved her, and then he was comforted over the … more

One of the major themes of our parasha, Chayeh Sarah, is Eliezer’s choice of a wife for Isaac from the daughters of Abraham’s birthplace: “And Abraham said to his servant … more

G o to a Yemenite Jewish wedding or Bar Mitzvah and you will hear the women shouting the yelilot traditionally “sung” at all celebrations. I still recall when being called to the Torah … more

I  am currently teaching a weekly parsha class using the commentary of Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenberg, Ha’ktav V’hakabbalah. As it doesn’t appear in a class Chumash, it is less … more

The first mention of Lot is found in the midst of the genealogical summations that appear at the end of Parashat Noach, “And Terah lived 70 years, and he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And … more

Our parasha, LechLecha, contains the sole instances of the specific phrase, “lebrit olam,” (“as an everlasting covenant,”) that appear in Chamisha Chumshei Torah (the Five … more

His name was Shachar, which means the dawn, and the joke was with him around it was always dawn, because he blotted out the sun. He was a massive fellow, and watching him squeeze into the … more

Contrary to popular myth, there is no better or worse way to lose someone close to you, but there is definitely a worst way to find out about it. It had been a long day, and I was finally taking a … more

The verse in Yeshayahu 54:9 twice contains a curious phrase. “For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah, as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, so have I … more

We encounter the following pasuk toward the end of our parasha, Noach: “These are the generations of Terah, Terah was the father of Abraham, Nahor and Haran” (Bereishit 11:27). If you … more