With a small push, yet surprisingly little creativity, we can easily notice that the Exodus from Egypt mirrors the events that surround the last evening of the existence of Sodom. In Egypt, the … more

How old was Moshe when he fled from Egypt in Chapter 2? Depending which midrash you follow, he was either a teenager, 20, or 40. No matter which approach we follow, he spent at least 40 years in … more

Commentaries have a field day trying to pinpoint the sin that sealed Moshe’s fate not to bring the people into the Promised Land. Even the language of the Torah is inconclusive, because when … more

A Jew who reads the Torah as a historical account of the beginnings of our people may easily swell with pride and yiddishe nachas over the way Yosef gains control of the entire Egyptian … more

Have you ever bumped into someone you haven’t seen in over 20 years? This is a common occurrence in unfortunate circumstances such as funerals and shiva homes, but is also known to happen at … more

Bundles of grain and stars bow down to Yosef. What does it all mean? In this week’s parsha, Vayeishev, Yosef relates his first dream to his brothers and tells his father about his second … more

Before they went out of style, mother-in-law jokes were very popular. Have you ever heard of a father-in-law joke? I suppose if anyone were to author such a joke, it would be our forefather … more

One of the fun exercises I like to employ when studying Chumash is to attribute vague or ambiguous statements to the less obvious person. Let us read two familiar verses in Chapter 27. We’ll … more

The banishment of Yishmael and Hagar leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. How could Sarah justify throwing them out of the house? How could G-d tell Avraham to do exactly as Sarah told him? … more

Other than former current events, nothing dates a Jewish book more than when discussing or quoting a deceased great rabbi with “Rabbi So and So, shlit’a, says...” The term … more