matriarch

“Abraham’s Eulogy for His Beloved Sarah”

While others, who spoke at Sarah’s funeral, emphasized how Sarah was a true help-meet to Abraham, Abraham himself spoke of his wife as a spiritual giant herself.

"The Complex Relationship Between Jacob, Rachel and Leah"

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik sheds some light on the complex relationship between Jacob, Rachel and Leah.

"The Well of Miriam"

In parashat Chukat, the great prophetess, Miriam, passes away. The fact that, immediately after Miriam’s passing, there is no water for the People of Israel leads the rabbis to conclude that in Miriam’s merit, a well of water traveled with the people of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness, and, with her demise, the well vanished. What was the nature of Miriam’s well?

"Was Hagar Abused?"

A desperate Sarai gives her handmaiden, Hagar, to Abram to be his wife and have a child on her behalf. When Hagar becomes pregnant, she begins to mock Sarai. Sarai abuses Hagar, and Hagar flees. Is it conceivable that our venerated matriarch Sarai really abused her vulnerable handmaiden, Hagar?

"Who Was the Matriarch Sarah?"

The death of Sarah, one of the physical and metaphysical progenitors of the Jewish people, is recounted in this week's parasha. In a few short lines of this week's parasha, an abundance of information is revealed about who Sarah was. Her life, though not easy, was full. And when she departed from the mortal world, she left an invaluable spiritual legacy for posterity.