December 9, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Yosef interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and is appointed to implement Egypt’s anti-famine plan, which brings him into contact with his brothers again, as they come to Egypt to buy food. Within three verses, we encounter two different cases of hapax legomenon, a word which occurs only once within a written context – in this case, […]

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December 3, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Yosef’s dreams anger his brothers and they sell him into slavery in Egypt, where he eventually ends up in prison, still interpreting others’ dreams. The circumstances in which the brothers and Yosef were alone, allowing them to sell him into slavery, are outlined in chapter 37, verses 11-17, a passage which raises a […]

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November 24, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Yaakov confronts Eisav, wrestles with a “man” who blesses him by changing his name to Yisrael, loses his wife Rachel in childbirth, and experiences the trauma of the incident with his daughter Deena. Yaakov takes several steps as he prepares to meet Eisav for the first time since the “birthright and blessing […]

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November 19, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Yaakov flees to his uncle Lavan’s household and lives there for several years, marrying Lavan’s daughters, Leah and Rachel, and establishing a large family. The parasha begins and ends with malachim. Yaakov, on his way to his Uncle Lavan’s house, has a dream of malachim ascending and descending a ladder. He arrives […]

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November 12, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, we read about the births of Yaakov and Eisav, their growing up, Eisav selling his birthright to Yaakov, and Yitzchak’s blessings for his two sons. The parasha begins with an interesting scenario. Rivka is pregnant with her twins. The text says, “the children struggled within her, and she said ‘If this is […]

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November 5, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, following the death of Sarah, Avraham purchases a burial plot and sends his servant, Eliezer, to identify a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer finds Rivka and brings her to Yitzchak to become his wife. The very end of the parasha recounts Avraham’s death, followed by a listing of the descendants of Yishmael and […]

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October 29, 2015 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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October 22, 2015 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. One of the remarkable things about the Torah is that […]

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October 15, 2015 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, we hear about the story of Noach and the flood, about its aftermath when Noach planted a vineyard and got inebriated and his son saw “his nakedness,” and finally, about the story of Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Babel, and the birth of Avram. I believe it is no coincidence that the […]

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October 8, 2015 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 geneology of Adam and Chava’s descendants, culminating in […]

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