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The Wells of Yitzchak – the Torah portion of Toldot

פרשת תולדות – בארות יצחק אני מודה: לקח לי הרבה זמן להעריך ולאהוב אפילו, את יצחק. לכאורה, הוא אדם כל כך “חסר אישיות”, חלש, פסיבי: אמא שלו מחליטה עם מי ישחק ובעיקר, עם מי לא. אבא שלו, יום אחד, קם … Continue reading →

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“and Yitzchak & Ishmael buried him”… Torah & Travel with Chayey Sarah

“ויקברו אותו יצחק וישמעאל”… תורה וטיולים עם פרשת חיי שרה (English below) שרה ואברהם עושים את מסעם הרוחני ביחד. קריאה זהירה של הטקסט התורני מגלה לנו שהקב”ה אף פעם לא מדבר עם אברהם כששרה איננה חלק מחייו. אם כך לא … Continue reading →

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And Sarah laughed within her…. The Torah portion of Vayera, about tears and laughter…

ותצחק שרה בקרבה לאמר”… פרשת וירא, על דמעות ועל צחוק“ Out of all the topics that the Torah portion of “Veyera” offers this week, it would certainly be “logical” to deal with Akeda, the Binding – the father and his … Continue reading →

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Lech Lecha… for this place is so moving….

….לך-לך… והיה ברכה Avram our father comes from a Zionist family. The journey to the Land of Israel had already begun by his father, Terah, when the situation in Ur of the Chaldeans became unbearable: “… Terah took his son … Continue reading →

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Noah & the Golden Pages

פרשת נח – תשפד: דפי זהב There was once a not-so-funny joke about a man who liked to read the Golden (Yellow) Pages. ‘What kind of book is this’, asked his bewildered friend, there is no plot’! ‘Yes, replied the … Continue reading →

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Beresheet, starting again…

….בראשית – שוב להתחיל מהתחלה The first Torah portion in the Book of Genesis a wonderful and profoundly deep section. True, this is the case with all the Torah portions, and yet… it begins, as it were, a little naive: … Continue reading →

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(my incomplete list of) things to do and not do…. Oct 2023

דברים לעשות ולא לעשות (רשימה בהתהוות)… – תשרי, תשפד What is said here assumes one has at home – food, water, a charged phone / charger, candles, matches / lighter, blankets, first-aide, and anything else needed for one’s basic physical … Continue reading →

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And this is The Blessing…. וזאת הברכה…

וזאת הברכה… We have come to “Ve’zot Habracha” – and this is The blessing”, the last Torah portion; a portion, that on one hand, does not have its own Shabbat, because it is recited on Simchat-Torah, and on the other … Continue reading →

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Sukkot: Having it All – סוכות: “יש לי כל”….

How are you, she asks me when we meet for our morning coffee. Thank Gd, I answer with a big smile, everything is good. She looks at me, wondering, checking, Everything? Good? I think for a moment, looking around, at … Continue reading →

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“Like an eagle who rouses its nestlings” – Torah & travel with the Torah portion of Ha’azinu for Shabbat Shuva

כנשר יעיר קינו… תורה וטיולים לשבת שובה עם פרשת האזינו The Torah portion of Ha’azinu, read on this Shabbat – Shabbat Shuva between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is among the shortest Torah portions, and also – the least understood. … Continue reading →

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