Olive Seedlings - שתילי זיתים

In Parshas Vayechi we read of Jacob’s blessings to his sons before his passing. After blessing the four eldest sons of Leah, Jacob then bl...

In Parshas Vayigash we read of the meeting, after a separation of many years, between Joseph and his father Jacob. The Torah states ( Gene...

The concept of Moshiach ben Yosef (literally, "the anointed son of Joseph"), while not a major concept, is well-established in J...

At the end of last week's parsha , after Joseph intepreted the dream of Pharaoh's wine steward and told him that he would be freed ...

I recently received an e-mail from a reader, Chanie, who was legitimately concerned about an aspect of an earlier post  of mine. With her p...

In Parshas Vayeishev  we encounter the difficult story of Judah and Tamar. The verses ( Genesis  38:15-16) state: ויראה יהודה ויחשבה לזונ...

There is a famous midrashic passage that discusses the second verse of the Torah: והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלקים מרחפת ע...

In Parshas Vayishlach we read of Jacob's nighttime struggle with a mysterious antagonist who attacked him and struggled with him until...

Towards the end of Parshas Vayeitzei , we are told that Jacob  noticed that his father-in-law Laban had developed a negative attitude towar...

In Parshas Toldos  we read of the incident when Jacob, in obedience to the prophetic directive of his mother, was required to approach his ...