The book of Sh’mot is described as the book of Exile and Redemption. It opens with the account of the Israelites’ integration into Egyptian society. By the time of Joseph’s death, at the age of 110 years, for legal and economic reasons it became impossible for them to leave. As a result of Joseph’s measures […]
The Sidra of Mikketz describes Joseph’s miraculous rise to power. Unfortunately, ancient Egyptian documents, which shed clear light on the whole story of the Israelites’ migration and stay in Egypt, have not yet been discovered. Therefore, there are different opinions regarding the identity of the King of Egypt who appointed Joseph to his high […]
This Sidra of Vayeshev is devoted, mainly, to the story of Joseph. It begins by telling us that when Joseph was young, he was cared for by Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, because his own mother, Rachel, had died. Leah had six children of her own, so she had no time to look after […]
The Sidra of Vayishlach begins with the story of Jacob’s return to the land of Canaan after 20 years of absence. He was extremely concerned about meeting Esau, and was determined to do all in his power to secure peaceful coexistence with him. Therefore, he sent messengers to speak to him as humbly as they […]
The Sidra of Vayetze begins with Jacob’s famous dream, which he dreamt on the night when he left his home, in Be’er Sheva, on his way to Haran. There is a story about a Jew who once boasted to his friends by telling them: ‘I was at a very large museum in an important city […]
The first section of the Sidra of Tol’dot is devoted to the birth of Isaac’s and Rebecca’s two boys, Jacob and Esau. Sadly, at first, Rebecca did not have any children and there was sadness in the home. Eventually, Rebecca became pregnant. Her pregnancy was unusual in the sense that the children clashed inside her […]
This Sidra focuses on Abraham’s private life. It mentions three funerals and two marriages. The funerals are those of Abraham, Sarah and Ishmael. The marriages are those of Isaac who married Rebecca and Abraham who married his second wife, Keturah, who, some rabbis thought, was Hagar. The Sidra begins with Sarah’s death at the age […]
The title of today’s Sidra is Lech Lecha which means go for yourself. This interesting expression occurs only once more in the entire Bible, in the story of the Binding of Isaac. This means that it symbolises Abram’s unique mission to go and spread the knowledge of God everywhere. There are two explanations for the word […]
This week we are reading the Sidra of No’ach. It is interesting to note that if we change the order of the two letters that make up this name, we form the Hebrew word CHEN, which means favour or beauty. The last verse of the Sidra BERESHIT reads: “No’ach found favour in the eyes of […]
This morning we begin yet again a new cycle of Torah reading. The name of the first book of the Torah, as well as the first Sidra is Bereshit, which means at the beginning. The word comes from Hebrew word ROSH, which means head. The Shabbat has a special title: Shabbat Bereshit. The book should […]