November 29, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Rivka gives birth to twins, Esav and Yaakov, who struggle with each other, engaging in bargaining and deception to obtain the birthright and Yitzchak’s blessing. Some modern psychologists think that they have homed in on the relatively new phenomenon of sibling rivalry, introduced as a concept by David Levy in 1941. But […]

• Parent-Child Learning

November 22, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, following the death of Sarah, Avraham purchases a burial plot and sends his servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for Yitzchak. He finds Rivka and brings her to Yitzchak to become his wife. At the beginning of chapter 24, we read that “Avraham was old, advanced in years, and Hashem had blessed Avraham bakol […]

• Parent-Child Learning

November 16, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

This week’s parasha continues with Avraham’s journey through life. It begins with the news that Avraham and Sarah will together have a child; takes us through Avraham’s unsuccessful discussion with God, trying to get Hashem to spare the people of S’dom and Amorrah; follows Avraham and Sarah on their sojourn in Gerar; witnesses the birth […]

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November 9, 2016 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, renamed Avraham, has a son with Hagar, Sarai’s maid, and Hashem promises that Sarai, renamed Sarah, will bear a son as well. In chapter 14, verse 13, Avram is referred to as […]

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November 1, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, we hear the story of Noach and the flood; about its aftermath when Noach plants a vineyard and gets inebriated, and his son “sees his nakedness”; and finally, about the story of the Tower of Babel and the birth of Avram. We all know the story of the flood. But why did […]

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October 26, 2016 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 the genealogy of Adam and Chava’s descendants, culminating in […]

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October 19, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this Torah portion, the final one in the Torah, which we will read on Simchat Torah, Moshe gives the tribes of Yisrael a final blessing and dies at the age of 120. The Bnei Yisrael mourn and begin to follow Yehoshua, their new leader. The last chapter of the Torah gives an account of […]

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October 11, 2016 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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October 5, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Moshe concludes his speech to the 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. Parashat Vayelech is the second-to-last portion of the Torah that we read on Shabbat. The beginning of the parasha […]

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September 27, 2016 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. Chapter 30, verses 11-14, says: “For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too […]

• Parent-Child Learning