Why did Jacob ask to be buried in Israel? See what the commentators have to say.
There is disagreement among our commentators if these are prophecies of the times of the mashiach, or if they refer to other events.
There is profound humility in King David’s words. For all his achievements, he frames his legacy not around military victories or political triumphs, but around covenant.
God does not do anything by accident. Not now. Not last year, not a thousand years ago. Not ever.
It is not good for a victim to replay the horror he experienced and to keep active the pain he has gone through. He must instead remove the traumatic event from active consciousness.
The Midrash identifies Manasseh and Ephraim not only as concrete individuals, but also their descendants Yehoshua and Gideon. What is that based on?
If a swastika on a wall provokes outrage while an interfaith wedding invites applause, our moral compass is dangerously off course.
Israel’s political, intelligence and diplomatic corps along with the media must remember they are in the employ of victory on the battlefield and security during peace time.
Hashem gives each person a role, a mission, a contribution. Ephraim receives leadership; Menashe receives honor. One is not at the expense of the other.
One of the four fasts mourning the Temple's destruction, today marks the day the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem began.
The Levites were the officers responsible for the fulfillment of the commandments of war. From here we learn that yeshiva students may not be exempted from army service by claiming that they are like Levites
As I sit and study looking at the falling snow, I realize that each figure in Bereshit, which we will finish reading this coming Shabbat, is a bridge; each figure is a link in the destined chain. As we all are.
Just as Joseph's brothers were reconciled and unified and spoke one with another, also in our generation, the People of Israel, who are being gathered from among the nations, must become unified in the Land of Israel.
Meta-mitzvot are necessary because the Torah cannot possibly address every circumstance people encounter. Kedushah is an example.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
Why did Yaakov send Yehuda to Egypt before he descended there to see his son Yosef at last?
"The Jewish people are crowned with two qualities, Eidut (testimony) and Torah, one seen in Joseph and the other in Judah."
"I Am Who I Am, Because You Sold Me."
We have witnessed the resurrection of the dry bones. We have seen the ashes of Auschwitz giving rise to the miracle that is the State of Israel. In the past two years, through trauma, loss, and uncertainty, the Jewish people have survived. But endurance is not the final goal.
The temptation to despair is strong. But Torah teaches that we cannot remain there. We must act responsibly, together, and with unity.
How Yossef is showing and hinting to Yaakov how he dealt with the Egyptian world successfully.
The prophet clarifies: Unity demands shared purpose, honest self-examination and recommitment to what binds us together.
This is perhaps the most dramatic narrative in the entire Torah. Why did Yosef suddenly conclude the charade?
In the end, Rachel and Leah are is not a competition, but a single system.
Last week we celebrated Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights - which is all about Miracles. Why are miracles so important? Watch and find out.
Eight Jews stood in a Soviet courtroom like upright candles and declared their loyalty to the Jewish people. It happened during the dark days of Communism when that could mean exile to Siberia or worse. A true story.
There is really no way to leave a state of depression unless one has the courage and boldness to dedicate their energies to developing and honing their talents and doing something worthwhile for society.
We are now in transition, from Hannukah, the holiday of light and celebration, to a day of fasting and mourning. How do we do that?
The primary role of the members of the Tribe of Levi is to lead the army spiritually, and see to its disciplined behavior.
As in Miketz, after two years of war, we look back and glance at what is happening. It feels like a dream. And it goes on - like a prophecy.
In Judaism, there is a core and ancient teaching that we should strive to learn an important lesson from every experience in our lives, especially when that experience is connected to a significant and Divinely inspired holiday like Hanukkah. What we learn from olive oil.
There is no guarantee that our enemies will no longer attack us here in Israel - but at least their sadistic joy is guaranteed to be short-lived and thoroughly repaid. And one day we will sing a Psalm for the coming of Mashiach.
Hanukkah does not offer simple answers, nor does it lessen the pain. It asks something deeper of us: to hold on to faith even when matters are unclear and the Hand of G-d seems concealed.
The interpreter has a key function in the realization of a dream: his analysis can determine how the dream will come to pass.
We already know that everything that was created with man, was worthy of existing - except for the foreskin, as the Torah commanded us to remove it.
There are three awe-inspiring similarities between Yosef and the Hanukkah lights, starting with his name.
The prophet does not deny the danger. He transcends it.
When Mashiach comes, we will realize that we are currently in a dream. Our life is a living paradox, yet it seems to make sense to us as if it were normal.
From the Yeshiva's Beit Midrash in the Arab Quarter (actually the Old Jewish Quarter) of the Old City, Rabbi Aviner talks about miracles, why we don't say Hallel on Purim, and more.
Someone asked me if there is any way that we can forgive the Australian government and what it would take for them to regain trust of Australian Jewry. So, let’s talk about Yosef.
What was the real conflict?
Grappling with questions of faith, forging a heightened awareness of God’s presence in daily life, and making the Creator accessible to the tens of thousands of Jews who thirst for His voice must stand at the very top of our educational agenda, but it is not on this one.
Rashi explains in the name of the Sifrei that the light of God’s countenance “gives you grace.”
How should Yosef have dealt with the Chief Butler so that his plight would be remembered after interpreting the two prisoners' dreams?
The four letters on the dreidel are not the same in Israel and the Diaspora. They tell us something we should pay attention to.
It is all too easy to look around us and feel hopeless...
It's time for a Hanukkah that simply says: As a Jew, I am the inheritor of Jews who fought for the political independence of the Jewish state. I am a Zionist just like Judah the Maccabee. Op-ed.
When darkness strikes one corner of the Jewish world, the shadows are felt in the heart of every single Jew globally. Your pain is deeply, personally our pain.
Why does the blessing mention one light when we light an ascending number of candles on the holiday?
Words of encouragement for Hanukkah.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
The victory in war and the dedication of the altar are one and the same. And in our time we have been privileged to see both.
Numerous Kohanim and the Levites participated in the wars of Israel. Even before they participated in wars as regular soldiers, they led the soldiers of Israel in their fighting.
The eternal challenge of Jewish leadership is knowing when to stand firm and when to acknowledge reality, when to pursue the ideal and when compromise is necessary.
Rav Yitzchok Hutner's thoughts on the significance of the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks: 'The rekindling of the Temple Menorah on Hanukkah represents a new era of Torah transmission.'
“Peace will prevail in the future,” Rabbi Kook concludes, “when people come to recognize clearly that all of the different, individual lights are truly one single light." And who would lead them?
Why did Joseph go to the brothers he knew hated him - and why did Jacob send him, knowing the same?
Sometimes what I perceive to be good for me could actually be bad, and what I think is bad could actually be something absolutely extraordinary for me.
The many impure sources of Redemption are a defense against the Satan - the adversary, whose purpose is to prevent the Redemption from coming into the world.
