I have a slight limp because of a pain in my toe. Watching me limp around, my wife said this week, “you’re taking the Parasha very seriously.”
Overall, we look at Yaakov Avinu’s encounter with the angel as a victory. But the verse does not say that he “won.” Rather, it says that “he could,” that is, that he could hold his own and was not defeated. At the same...Read more...
In a Parasha with all kinds of family drama, there’s one type that is missing: There doesn’t seem to be any friction over the naming of children. Today, parents take turns, a nice custom that often preserves Sh’lom Bayit. But there can still be disagreements. In the Chumash, it wasn’t shared. The mothers clearly dominate. For example, Leah and Rachel name all of the children born to them or to...Read more...
Sylvia Meiselman, a petite woman whose common sense and humorous stories made her stand out of any crowd, was born in October of 1930. She and Abe Berman both came from the Bronx, but he came from poverty while she lived in a more comfortable neighborhood. After they met, her neighbor Mrs. Garoppolo told her Abe was not for her. “Why,” she asked.
A famous Midrash points out that the Torah begins with Chesed and it ends with Chesed -- Hashem brings Chava to Adam in the beginning and He buries Moshe Rabenu at the end.
The Parasha we just read reverses this order: It has the same two Mitzvot, but first Avraham buries Sara and then he sets in motion the marriage of Yitzchok to Rivka.
