November 6, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Rivka gives birth to twins, Esav and Yaakov, who struggle with each other, and Yaakov engages in bargaining and deception to obtain the birthright and Yitzchak’s blessing. The word sadeh (field) appears four times in the two chapters of this parasha that deal with the relationships in the Jacobite family. It occurs […]

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October 31, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Sarah dies. Avraham buys the burial plot of M’arat HaMachpelah and buries Sarah. He then sends his servant, Eliezer, to the ancestral home to find a wife for Yitzchak. The second verse of the parasha tells us of Sarah’s death: “Sarah died in Kiryat Arba which is Hevron in the land of […]

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October 23, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, the Torah continues with the adventures of Avraham and Sarah, including the announcement of the impending birth of Yitzchak and his actual birth, the destruction of S’dom, the exile of Hagar and Yishmael from Avraham’s house, and the famous episode of Akeidat Yitzchak (the Binding of Isaac). Before the destruction of S’dom, […]

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October 16, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Avram and Sarai follow Hashem’s call to journey to Cana’an, where the covenant between Hashem and Avraham is affirmed. Avram is renamed Avraham and has a son with Hagar, Sarai’s maid, and Hashem promises that Sarai, renamed Sarah, will bear a son as well. One of the lesser-known stories in this week’s […]

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October 9, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha we hear the story of Noach and the flood; its aftermath when Noach planted a vineyard and got inebriated and his son saw “his nakedness”; and finally, the story of the Tower of Babel and the birth of Avram. The number “40” appears no less than six times in the flood story. […]

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October 3, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha we read about ma’aseh bereshit (the Act of Creation); Adam and Chava’s sin of eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad and their subsequent expulsion from Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden); Kayin’s murder of his brother, Hevel; and Adam and Chava’s descendants’ genealogy, culminating with the birth […]

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September 20, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

At the end of Moshe’s last speech to Bnei Yisrael, Hashem tells Moshe to write down a song to teach to the Israelites. “Put this song in their mouths,” Hashem says, “so that the words may become a witness for Me against them. After I bring them to the land that flows with milk and […]

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September 12, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Moshe concludes his speech to Bnei Yisrael, blesses Yehoshua, and instructs the community to gather every seven years to read publicly from the Torah; Hashem predicts the eventual straying of Bnei Yisrael. If I had to give a title to this Torah Talk, I would call it, “It’s All About Our Children.” […]

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September 5, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Moshe describes the brit (covenant) between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael, urging Bnei Yisrael to uphold the brit and honor the Torah so that they may be rewarded with life in the land of Israel. This parasha contains an eternal promise, giving us hope even today (Chapter 30, verses 1-6). Read more >

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August 28, 2018 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Moshe instructs Bnei Yisrael (the Israelites) on the first fruit offering, then elaborates on the terms of the covenant by listing the blessings for fulfilling the commandments and the punishments for disobeying them. The Torah sometimes contains subtle messages in the ways it phrases verses. A case in point comes in this […]

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