Author Archives: Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

When religious Jews are asked, how are you? they often respond with “Baruch Hashem”, literally meaning, ‘praised be G-d’ or ‘thank G-d’. Turns out, in the Torah this construct is used largely by non-Jews, including, in this week’s Torah portion, … Continue reading →

The image of Miriam of the split sea with her drum is a favorite. So much so that tambourine in Hebrew is called “Miriam’s drum”. Rashi answers for us the question we didn’t think to ask: not like there were … Continue reading →

In the desert you can’t remember your name…. In the Book of “Names”, so is Exodus, Shmot, שמות, called in Hebrew, some have a name and many more – don’t. Perhaps, this is so we won’t get caught up in … Continue reading →

… When the family will be coming down to live with us here, in Egypt, my mother will be with them too. So many moons and suns have passed since I last saw her! I’m already a mother myself… I … Continue reading →

We were in 5th grade; a lively group of giggly girls on route home from school, when a couple of guys approached us with some questions. They had big recorders and microphones, and thick accents. They told us they were … Continue reading →

  In the opening verse of this week’s Torah portion is says: א וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב, בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו–בְּאֶרֶץ, כְּנָעַן. 1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. There are two verbs to … Continue reading →