Midrash HaZaK – Introduction
“Ben Bag Bag would say: turn it and turn it again, for all is in it; see through it; grow old and worn in it; do not budge from it, for there is nothing that works better than it. (Pirkei Avot, “The Chapters of our Fathers,” 5:22) In the early part of the...
Ki Tissa: Aging and Reconciliation
So begins the first fundamental crisis in the Covenant between the people of Israel and God. This wasn’t like Abraham and Isaac; horrifying as that was, it was a family crisis. This one involved and affected what was now suddenly the nation of Israel, as it just began to come into existence.
Re’eh: See the Blessing
And what are we supposed to see? “I (Moses? God?) set before you today a blessing and a curse.” How are we supposed to see this? Is it related in any way to how we are supposed to hear, Sh’ma Yisrael, that God is One?
To see something with our own eyes is to perceive it. To hear something with our own ears is to understand it.
Yitro: Ink Blots On The Paper Of Life
Only Yitro was able to turn the crumpled blots of Moshe’s soul that age and experience had brought him. But that same aging had given Yitro the wisdom to find the key that made those depths available to Moshe.
Beshallach: A Journey Through The Sea And Life
Faith, emunah, the knowledge within ourselves that yes, we can return to a stable surface, enables us to survive the depths and still flourish.
Shemot: And God Said, “Hineni”
I believe in miracles, and I believe in God, but the accepted translations and interpretations of common scenes in the Torah had made it uncomfortable, if not impossible–for me, as a Jewish woman, to find much meaning from Torah in my life.
Vayehi: Jacob’s End-of-Life Wisdom
The concluding chapters of Genesis offer a relevant model for “conscious living and dying” today. Living in a death-denying culture, we can learn a great deal from Jacob and Joseph to help us deal more openly with the end-of-life journey and with grief in our families and communities.
Lessons Learned from Noah’s Ark: Let Your Inner Light Radiate to Others
The Torah often vacillates between explicit details and leaving much to the imagination. God approaches Noach and tells him to build an ark in order to save himself, his family, and dyads and septets of the animal kingdom. There are detailed instructions about the materials to be used and the size of the ark. And there is both a door and a window mentioned
VaYigash: Was It All A Foregone Conclusion?
VaYigash: Was It All A Foregone Conclusion? Rabbi Richard F. Address, D. Min. Vayigash is one of the great portions of Torah. The central scene is the revelation by Joseph to his brothers. It is a moment of Torah that is filled with drama, pathos and the reality that,...
Vayeshev: Settling Down, Never Stopping
We can never retire from life’s spiritual challenges because it is when we “retire” that we are truly best able to rise to those challenges. As we do, we not only confront them for ourselves, but we become the teachers of our children and our grandchildren.
Vayishlach: What Do We Wrestle With?
Throughout my life, I have found inspiration and guidance from its messages. So, in considering two questions; “How can we live until we die?” and “How can Torah help us do that?”Vayishlach provides great answers.
Va-yetze: Leaving Home
Parashat Va-yetze: Leaving Home Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs “And he left,” ויצא (Genesis 28:10) “And Jacob left,” home. As I look back over my life, and the life and career of our patriarch Jacob, the day we each left home marked pivotal turning points in our lives....
Toledot: Sight And Vision As We Age
Parshat Toldot is the first portion in the Torah which contains the themes of disability and aging. Specifically, we will examine how these themes affected Isaac’s parenting and, in the process, changed the trajectory of the lives of Rebecca and Isaac’s twin sons, Jacob and Esau.
VaYera: Is Our Story Abraham’s?
No, Abraham’s family is no model of perfect family dynamics. But then again, how many are? As we age and review our own lives, how many of us can see elements of our experiences within this parashah?
Lech Lecha: The Journey of The Next Chapter
Lech Lecha, go for your own benefit, for your own good. Go for yourself and to yourself
Bereshit: Two Stories
Rabbi Katy Allen looks at what we bring forth from ourselves at different stages of our lives, much the way G!d brought forth creation.
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