Read & Listen

Beshalakh is a momentous Torah portion. Pharaoh, his kingdom in ruins, has finally let the Children of Israel go.

Our Torah tells an ageless and inspiring story. Every year when our cycle of readings brings us to the telling of the Exodus from slavery, I am stirred once again by the central message of our people’s journey: We affirm that there is a Power inherent in the fabric of the universe that insists that human beings be free from subjugation and tyranny ...

Moses, the reluctant prophet, has returned to his home in Egypt with a seemingly impossible mission.

This week we begin the book of Exodus, a book that changed the world. With this story, the Torah introduces a new paradigm to human affairs.

The first thing I noticed at the opening of this parashah was the number 17. Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years, the same number of years that Joseph lived with him before he went missing. The intervening years were harsh for Jacob, yet these last 17 years made up for the years of grief ... Read more

In Jewish practice, when remembering a loved one, especially a parent, it is customary to honor their memory by teaching some Torah in their name. I wish to remember my father by sharing the story of the mysterious way our lives and family history intersected and merged with the Torah reading of that week.

When we study Torah, we inevitably reflect on the text through the lens of our own experience. The range of interpretations we discover is limited by the range of our own vision and sense of the possible. How exciting it can be when our minds expand and we recognize insights that were previously hidden from ... Read more

This may be the most dramatic moment in the entire book of Genesis. During the long famine, 10 of Joseph’s brothers had come down to Egypt to seek provisions. Joseph, now vizier of Egypt and in charge of food distribution, recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

We lost a sage of our era with Leonard Cohen’s passing. His absence prompted me, as it has so many others, to revisit his words and to absorb his unflinching wisdom. Leonard Cohen was a prophet of brokenness, a seeker of the light who did not ignore the inherent frailties and folly of the human condition.

Joseph could be understandably bitter about the trajectory of his life: cast out of his family, repeatedly betrayed, imprisoned despite his innocence. He could easily view himself as a self-made man, surviving on his wits and with no allegiance other than to his own survival. But that is not the lesson Joseph has gleaned from the descents and ascents of his turbulent life. Instead, Joseph sees the “downs” as necessary precursors to the “ups.”