Parashat Vayetzei “And He Went Out” Genesis 28:10 – 32:3 By M.H. Boli In this passage Jacob, fleeing from the struggle in his home against his brother, is engaged in a second struggle with his uncle. The cause is not a birthright, but a beautiful daughter. Jacob sees his cousin Rachel for the first time…
Parashat Vayishlach (And He Sent) Genesis 32:4 – 36:43 By M. H. Boli The nation of Israel was born out of struggle. From the womb, Jacob was engaged in a struggle with his brother for the birthright. He cheated, prevailed, and fled his home. Then, for seven years, he was engaged in a second struggle…
Genesis 23:1–25:18 By M.H. Boli— This parasha serves as a bookend to the life of Abraham and his story which spans 13 chapters of Genesis. Much of Abraham’s story centers around two covenants God makes with him, each one repeated five times. Five times God tells Abraham that one day Canaan, the promised land, will…
This week’s Torah Portion covers Deuteronomy 32:1-52. This is our second to last reading in Deuteronomy which means we are almost to the finish line in our goal to read the first five books of the Bible in one year. The portions are getting shorter each week because we are also in the middle of…
This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 31:1 to 31:30. Although Moses is trying to be an encouragement, he is also a prophet and it is impossible for a prophet to be blindly naïve. Moses knows that once the people are in the land and they no longer have to rely on God for their daily…
This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 31:1 to 31:30. Although Moses is trying to be an encouragement, he is also a prophet and it is impossible for a prophet to be blindly naïve. Moses knows that once the people are in the land and they no longer have to rely on God for their daily…
This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 29:9 to 30:20. Moses is now 120 years old and it is the last day of his life. The people of Israel are standing before Moses as he lays out the final terms of the covenant. He is asking them to seal the covenant with an oath so that…
This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 26:1 to 29:8. We are entering the blessings and curses portion of Deuteronomy. The ceremony of blessings and curses is a liturgical act. God wants the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali to gather on Mount Ebal. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and…
We are nearing the end of our year-long Torah reading cycle. We started in Genesis last October. And over the last ten months we have worked our way through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and now we only have about 12 chapters left in Deuteronomy. This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 21:10 to 25:19. The entire section…