This week, we come to the end of the Joseph saga. Joseph reconciles with his brothers, and the whole family reunites after years of separation and then settles peacefully in the land of Goshen, in Egypt. The details of this reunification are fascinating...

The American tradition of gathering with family and friends to share a meal and give thanks dates to 1621, when the Plymouth colonists and Native Americans shared a feast in honor of the successful harvest. In 1789, President George Washington issued...

As our Torah Portion this week opens, we find Jacob on the road. Last week we learned that he either is fleeing from his furious twin brother Esau (see Genesis 27:41-45) or is off to find an acceptable wife (see Genesis 27:45-28:5)- or both. And so now...

In this week’s parashah, Toldot, we read about Jacob and Esau, the twin boys of Isaac and Rebekah.  Their story is one of differing personalities, sibling rivalry and struggle throughout their lives.  We read, “The boys grew up, and Esau became...

In Parashat Vayera, we encounter a disturbing moment in the life of our first matriarch and patriarch: the story of Abraham and Sarah’s casting out of Hagar and Ishmael into the desert with just a bit of bread and water. Rather than hide this shameful...

When I ask my Jewish congregants and friends what matters most to them about their Judaism, the responses frequently boil down to one word: tradition. I am Jewish because it feels familiar, because it’s what my grandparents would have wanted, because...

Come on back in, Noah. You had such a good start, a guy with promise. The way the Book refers to you, ish tzaddik (Gen.6:9), such a lofty description. A righteous man. Maybe that’s what held you back, too much opportunity. Maybe you had too much and...

The creation narrative at the beginning of the Torah presents the creative activity of God, punctuated with proclamations of goodness. But on the sixth day of creation, the day on which humanity is created, the Torah tells us that “God saw all that...

The greatest joy often is found in the most uneventful moments. The Torah commands us to be especially joyful on the holiday of Sukkot. In the book of Leviticus, we read, “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm...

You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God … to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God. … I make this covenant … not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the Eternal our God...