In this week’s haftara, the prophet Malakhi opens his prophecy with an expression of divine scorn for Israel’s older twin: “Is Esav not a brother to Yaakov? So says the Lord: Yet I loved Yaakov and ...

with golf pants and no particular direction. And he went out from an angry brother and was saved by divine intervention. And I never wanted to go, but tweens have no choice in the matter. And he went ...

for her rest. The children marry. There is much begetting. I’d give you the details but this homework is your obligation. At the risk of a major spoiler I’ll tell you this – her husband doesn’t make ...

The modern era revolves around the individual. Individual rights, individual expression, individual autonomy. The individual is of course supremely valuable, but as a famous poet once wrote, “No man ...

Even the Sages were puzzled why the Torah describes with such detail the story of Abraham’s servant and the search for a wife for Isaac. Why are so many verses devoted to the servant’s encounter with ...

In the Torah portion of Toldot, we encounter one of the most human and profound scenes in the entire Torah – a meeting between two brothers, Jacob and Esau, which reveals how powerful the desires ...

The haftarah for the Torah portion “Toldot,” taken from the opening chapters of the Book of Malachi, is a searing rebuke and a moral audit of a people slipping into complacency. If the parasha is a ...

Parashat Toldot: Directing our natural inclinations This is humanity’s eternal challenge: Not to give in to impulses and the desire for immediate gratification but to steer it toward a higher purpose.

Parashat Toldot: A call for impassioned Jewish renewal If the parasha is a saga of inheritance, of blessings fought over and destinies forged, then the haftarah is its echo, reminding us that a ...