“Rachel and Leah answered, saying, is there a place for us in our father’s house?” (Bereisheet/Genesis 31:14) Should the names…
Unselfish Prayer?
In Jewish tradition, we think of prayer as tefillah, self-examination; shevach, praise; and bakashah, request. Traditional bakashot are unselfish general requests that benefit many: healing, world peace, good weather for…
Reading Between the Lines of Isaac's Binding
“God said: please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak…and offer him there for a burnt offering.…
Vayigash: Prejudice and Projection
NOTE: I wrote this in 2009; I would write it quite differently today! Judah approaches the Viceroy in charge of…
Dreams, Symbols, Hints of God
It’s Shabbat Chanukah. The parasha is Miketz, in which we learn more about Yosef’s skill in dream interpretation. The haftorah…
Our Name is Gratitude
When Leah’s fourth son is born, she names him Judah. In Hebrew, that’s Yehudah: gratitude. Yehuda‘s name honours the miraculous…
What's in a Name?
In Parshat Vayetzei, twelve babies are born and named by their legal mothers Leah and Rachel. For each boy, Torah…
Nature, Nurture, or Choice?
For the first half of their lives, Jacob and Esau do not get along. How did they become so difficult? Heredity or…
Locust: Mutations of Consciousness
I would like to talk about insects. And I would like to move freely between the levels of peshat – simple narrative…