Rabbi’s Blog | Adath Israel

Bo – Darkness and communal light

Summary: The name of the Parshah, “Bo,” means “Come [to Pharaoh]”. This is God commanding Moshe to “come to Pharaoh” and tell him of the next set of plagues, the last three of the Ten Plagues: a swarm of locusts devours all the leftover crops...

Va’era – the power of hakarat hatov

Vaera – “Va’era,” means “and I appeared”. This is God revealing Godself to Moses, making a promise of redemption using four verbs that are the source for the four cups on Pesach. The parsha continues with 7 of the 10 plagues, Moshe and...

Vayigash – Forgiveness

Parshat Vayigash Summary: Vayigash,” means “And he approached”. This is Yehudah approaching Yosef to plead for the release of Binyamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Binyamin’s stead. When he sees this demonstration of loyalty...

Miketz – Yosef, God and God’s names

Miketz – summary Yosef interprets Pharaoh’s dreams of seven fat cows and seven thin cows, predicting seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh appoints Yosef as viceroy of Egypt, and Yosef stores grain during the abundant years. When...

Ariella Altenburger’s drasha

Welcome  and Shabbat Shalom.  Thank you all for coming to share this special day with me. My parashah is Vayishlach. You could say Vayishlach is basically the original WWE episode of the Torah. Jacob — or Yaakov — is on his way home, stressed out because his twin...