Cold; so cold it cuts through the rags that were once clothes, straight to the bone. There was a time this cold so occupied your very being, you could concentrate on nothing else. But that was long ago. Darkness; so dark it sometimes seems more than the mere absence of light; it seems almost tangible. You vaguely recall a time when you were obsessed with determining exactly where you were, pacing in the darkness to examine your environs. You figured out you were in some sort of a concrete cell, perhaps six feet square, but not much more than that. You used to wonder what color the walls were, never having been allowed to see them, but that curiosity has long ago been replaced with more basic needs. more

Jacob sent angels ahead of him to his brother Esau, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, “So shall you say to my master to Esau, ‘Thus said your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and I have tarried until now. And I have acquired oxen and donkeys, flocks, man-servants, and maidservants, and I have sent to tell [this] to my master, to find favor in your eyes.’” The angels returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother, to Esau, and he is also coming toward you, and four hundred men are with him.” (Sefer Bereishit 32:4-7, this and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) more

There was no love lost between Yaakov and his father-in-law Lavan. Lavan criticizes Yaakov for having “stolen” his family, and Yaakov responds saying he had been cheated numerous times over a period of 20 years working for Lavan. more

Once again, Israel, which so longs for peace, is being forced to ready her children for war.... As missiles fall on the South and parts of the coastal region, and leaves are cancelled, there will be many families whose tefillot (prayers) will have special meaning and urgency this Shabbat. more

The Torah describes one interaction between Avraham and Yishmael (his banishment in chapter 21), one interaction between Avraham and Yitzchak (the “Akedah” of chapter 22), and one interaction between Yitzchak and his sons in the blessing episode of chapters 27-28. From an objective perspective, judging only the human element without the divine instructions to listen to Sarah and to take Yitzchak to a mountain, Avraham’s parenting skills don’t pass muster. more

If you would have asked me what Abir would end up doing with his life, I would have imagined him as a bouncer.... Abir, an ex-paratrooper, is one of the unsung heroes of the battle of the Chinese chicken farm, when a battalion of paratroopers in the Yom Kippur war had to take a crucial Egyptian position by running up 300 yards of open ground; most of the battalion never made it out of there. I could easily have imagined him grabbing one of the first planes out after the war, maybe to New York or Los Angeles. more

Since Monday of last week, I have read many articles, sermons, and even listened to some lectures online about “the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.” Most people, particularly those affected, are fairly sensitive to the realities, but no one can speak for another person’s devastation. Some had no damage, some had significant damage, some lost everything. Some lost loved ones, and those who were lost are obviously gone forever. Years ago, I heard a story about the Chafetz Chaim. One year, half of Radin burned down and those who were spared helped those who lost all. They rebuilt, and a little after the rebuilding was completed, the other half of Radin burned down. more

Do we have the right to test G-d? Can we sit back and wait for G-d to give us a sign as to what we are meant to do? Or perhaps we are meant to live in somewhat of a fog, so as to preserve intact our freedom to choose and make decisions in this world? This week’s portion, Chayei Sarah, contains a fascinating story on this topic: Avraham is getting on in years, his beloved wife Sarah is now gone and buried, and it is apparently time for Yitzchak to find a wife. So he calls in his trusted servant, Eliezer, and sends him on a mission to find a suitable mate for his son. more

The small room wasn’t much to look at, with its old, tired-looking walls and cracked floor tiles. And yet, a man had died here in this room. They had been looking for him for quite some time, scouring the country and waking entire neighborhoods every time rumor had it that he was somewhere in the vicinity. To judge by the heavily armed troops that were smashing down doors in the middle of the night, he must have had a fire to him, to inspire such a determined manhunt. more

The “Binding of Isaac” is a defining chapter in the story of the Jewish people. It inspires much of our liturgy (High Holidays, etc.). In some respects it represents what it means to sacrifice for one’s children. In some of the darker annals of Jewish history, some took it as the inspiration to literally sacrifice their children as Jews to avoid death or the loss of Jewish souls at the hands of others. It is not for us to judge those who chose the latter path, but it is noteworthy that they viewed Avraham’s “sacrifice” as inspiration for such choices, even though Avraham did not ultimately harm his son. “The Akedah” has inspired millions of hours of study and discussion, as well as countless pages of analysis, feeding conversations that will continue forever. more