The first Pirates of the Caribbean film spent a few moments discussing the “honesty” of pirates. The lead character cheats in a duel and is thus accused, “You cheated!” He responds, “Pirate!” as if to say, “I don’t follow conventional rules.” One of the more memorable moments is when the female protagonist demands, in exchange for a precious medallion, that the pirates who are currently attacking Port Royal “leave and never come back.” When they agree, they begin to set sail with her on board, leading her to exclaim, “Wait! You have to take me to shore.” And she is told, “Your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing…” more

This week’s portion, Toldot, leaves us wondering about the wisdom of Yitzchak’s behavior in one of the more challenging series of events in his life. There is, again, a famine in Canaan (Israel), and Yitzchak journeys to the coastal region of Gerar (probably today’s Gaza strip), to the king Avimelech. Yitzchak, despite the famine, was very successful, with crops yielding 100 fold the normal yield, and he becomes a very wealthy man (26:13-14) which, of course, makes the local Philistines very jealous. more

My best teachers taught that when a question bothers you, seek from everywhere you can until you find a satisfactory answer. This is one of the reasons why I have found real Chumash questions to be much better answered when learning what all the commentaries say, rather than just reading Rashi or Ramban. more

Sometimes, you can’t change the world, and to make sure the world doesn’t change you, difficult and often painful decisions are necessary. In the Israeli army, there are certain rules and codes you learn quickly, that most soldiers instinctively understand. No normal soldier steals weapons and you don’t ever take personal belongings from anyone, especially from the guys in your own unit. more

The King of Egypt discovers that the woman he brought into his chambers is married to Avraham. “What have you done to me?” he demands of Avraham. “Why didn’t you tell me she is your wife? Why did you say she is your sister, leading me to take her as a wife? Now— take your wife and go!” (12:18-20) Avraham’s response is silence. more

The contrast between the beginning of the book of Bereshit and our parsha is not only striking in terms of G-d’s vision for the world, but is even fascinating to compare on a textual level. more

Leviticus 23:40: “On the first day, you must take for yourself a fruit of the citron tree, an unopened palm frond, myrtle branches, and willows [that grow near] the brook. You shall rejoice before G-d for seven days.” more

A number of years ago, I met a fellow with whom I struck up a friendship, over Pesach, and I discovered he was a Holocaust survivor who had been first in the Janowska road camp and later in Auschwitz. Towards the end of the week, I summoned up the nerve to ask him if there was anything in particular that stood out in his mind as the reason he had survived. Without hesitation, he responded: “It was one mitzvah: the Sukkot I spent in Auschwitz.” more

Please forgive my sharing with you a letter I wrote to myself. It was important to write it, following the lesson of the Chasam Sofer (see below), so that the message would come across and not go right out the other ear. Dear Me, In the seventh chapter of the Laws of Teshuvah (Repentance), Maimonides reminds us that even not-so-obvious “sins” require a repentance of some kind. more

If you would have collected a group of world-renowned military strategists, 40 years ago on Yom Kippur, Oct. 6, 1973, and asked them, at 4 p.m. Israel time, for a prognosis on the status of the events unfolding on the Golan Heights that afternoon, they would have probably told you Israel should be preparing the airport and shipping ports for a massive evacuation. And in all honesty, they would have been right. more