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In this Torah study, we looked at the character of Judah as revealed by his speech to Joseph at the beginning of the parsha. How has Judah changed from the jealous brother who stood coldly aside as Joseph was sold into slavery and watched his father react with horror at what appeared to be Joseph’s Continue Reading »
On this Shabbat of Hanukkah, the material is about the book of Judith. Judith exists only in Greek although it was originally written in Hebrew in the Land of Israel in the late 2nd century BCE. It was translated into Greek by the Jewish community of Alexandria and included in their Bible the Septuagint. It Continue Reading »
In this week’s parasha, Jacob is returning to his family after an absence of 20 years. He finds out that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. He is afraid because of what he had done to Esau, tricking him and their Father Isaac out of the birthright and the paternal Continue Reading »
This material focuses on the first appearance of Rebekah in Genesis 24:10-61. How she appears and how she acts tells the reader a great deal about her character and what she will be like later in the Torah. study-material-for-parshat-hayyei-sarah2-11-26-2016
This material looks at texts about angels in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish literature. Angels are messengers from God and often the dividing line between the divine and the angel seems to very thin. In the text from the story of Gideon the call to him switches back and forth between the angel and Continue Reading »
Chapter 14 of the book of Genesis gives a very different picture of Abraham from how we normally picture the biblical patriarch. Here he is a chieftain of a tribe that can field a small army. He also acts as a strategist and diplomat, launching a night attack and negotiating with kings. This chapter contains Continue Reading »
This material discusses the description of Noah as a “righteous and blameless man in his generation” and whether this tells us if Noah was a good man or someone who may have been righteous in his generation but not in comparison to other figures in the Torah like Abraham or Moses. study-material-for-parshat-noach2-11-05-2016
This material looks at the various Creations stories, their meaning when they were composed and what they can tell us about our relationship to God and the earth today. study-material-for-parshat-bereishit2-10-29-2016