Vayeitzei 5778-2017
“Three Wells ” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, Jacob leaves Beer Sheba to escape the wrath of Esau and travels to Haran to be with his uncle,…
Brotherly and Sisterly Love on Tisha B’av
The theme of “unconditional love” can be found in the Tisha b’Av kinnot, as the ideal that was absent during our history’s lowest moments. In kinnah number 26, the author, Elazar HaKalir,…
Serach’s Serenade
When perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis 46, one gets a strange sense that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob's family for male children.…
Biblical Twins
Twins have long been a source of great fascination for many, as demonstrated by the vast number of studies and stories that have used twins as their subject. Twins, however, do not seem…
The Torah’s Special Genetic Code
During Biblical times, our ancestors did not understand genetics, DNA codes, chromosomes and the transmission of physical attributes, as we understand them today. While the sages do note…
Serach’s Seranade
When perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis 46, one gets a strange sense that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob's family for male children.…
Favoritism
“A person should never discriminate among his children even to the extent of a thread [garment] weighing only two weight-measures of silk, similar to that which Jacob gave to Joseph but…
Biblical Twins
Today is “Twins Day.” Twins have long been a source of great fascination for many, as demonstrated by the vast number of studies and stories that have used twins as their subject. Twins,…
Mother Rachel
The patriarch Jacob had four wives (all at the same time): Leah and Rachel and their handmaidens Bilha and Zilpah. Rachel, however, was the wife that Jacob truly loved. But while Rachel…
A Battle For Burial
Do you know who is buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs (Meh'arat Ha'machpelah) in Hebron? Actually, 8 ½ people are interred there. They are: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and…