by Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant In last week’s Torah Parsha (Vayeishev) the intense jealousy of Joseph, and his father’s ostentatious partiality to Joseph reached a crisis of urgency. Feeling unfairly overlooked, and powerless, they took out their frustrations on Joseph. He was sold as a slave to Egypt; and, after a series of events, as a […]

by Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Clothes and Garments play a major role in this week’s Torah Parsha (Vayeishev). They appear to be a precursor of change to both the characters and the lives of those, of those who are affected. We first meet Joseph, (beloved son of Jacob), not as an ‘interpreter’ of dreams, but one […]

by Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant In last week’s Torah Parsha (Vayeitzei), we read about how Jacob, himself was deceived into marrying Leah, instead of her younger sister, Rachel, with whom he was deeply in love. We learned that between Leah, Rachel, and their maidservants, Jacob sired twelve sons, who became the ancestors of the twelve tribes […]

by Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Love, loss, rivalry, and betrayal: These words read like an advertisement for a blockbuster movie, a new must-read thriller. However, in the context of this week’s Parsha (Vayeitzei), each of these words are critical, both to understanding the nature of the individuals involved, and to the consequences of their actions. In […]

by Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Parsha TOL’DOT presents an ancestral tale that haunts us with its themes of cunning and deception. As the narrative proceeds, we feel the pain of both the tricked and the trickster. We realize that each of the characters is caught in a web of relationships, a web of words, true […]

‘CHAEI SARAH’ poses an interesting dichotomy between ‘LIFE’ and ‘DEATH’. The literal translation of the title of this week’s Parsha is: ‘Sarah’s Life’. However, when we begin reading the Parsha, Sarah has already died; and, Abraham, in deep mourning, is searching for a burial place for her. The biblical text moves immediately to Abraham’s next […]

When I was growing up, my neighbor had a beautiful poster hanging in her window.  It said “If you want Peace, Work for Justice.”  Every time I went over to her house I would read it to myself and it became an injunction for the way that I walk through the world.  I believe that […]

This week’s Torah Parsha begins by G-D speaking to Abram, “Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you” There, G-D says, will eventually be a great nation. Abram, his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, journey to the land of Canaan. Abram builds […]

A considerable amount of time has passed between the introduction of Adam and Eve, and this week’s Parsha. The parsha begins with an instruction to Noah from G-D, “You are the only righteous man in a world consumed by violence and corruption” He tells Noah to build a large wooden ark, claiming that “a great […]