Esau, The Wicked Good Son
Nov 13, 2026 By Benjamin Kamine | Commentary | Toledot
At a critical moment in Parashat Toledot, Rebecca learns of Isaac’s plan to pass God’s blessing onto Esau. While Esau is out hunting food for his father, Rebecca and Jacob act quickly, disguising Jacob in Esau’s garments to fool Isaac, who can no longer see. And so, Jacob receives the blessing in Esau’s stead.
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Miriam Leisman Rubin – Senior Sermon (RS ’27)
Nov 5, 2026 By JTS Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Hayyei Sarah
Hayyei Sarah All Class of 2027 Senior Sermons
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The People Who Love Us Will Miss Us
Nov 6, 2026 By Israel Gordan | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
I found myself thinking about that exchange while reading this week’s parashah, Hayyei Sarah. The title itself presents a familiar paradox. Although it means “the life of Sarah,” the portion opens with her death. But perhaps the title is more appropriate than it initially appears. Sarah’s death is announced in the opening verses, yet her presence continues to be felt throughout the narrative.
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When Does Hagar See
Oct 30, 2026 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Vayera
The story of Hagar poses difficult questions about loyalty, trust, and, eventually, the meaning of evil. Beginning in chapter 16, the narratives opens with a promise from God to Abram: “I will establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, for all their generations, an everlasting covenant” (Gen. 16:7).[2] However, there is tension between God’s promise to Abram to be the father of a great nation and have many descendants and the fact that Sarai is barren. Hagar, an Egyptian maid, is brought to Abram by the childless Sarai, and later becomes his wife and the mother of his first-born son, Ishmael. Sarai initiates this chain of events while a mostly inactive Abram follows Sarai’s wishes and God’s commands.
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A Parent’s Prayer
Oct 23, 2026 By Yael Landman | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
When we think about Abraham and prayer, we might immediately recall the patriarch’s bold petition to God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. We might even think of God telling King Abimelech that Abraham is a navi, a prophet, and thus has the special capacity to pray on the king’s behalf. Yet Abraham emerges as a person of prayer even earlier in his story. Following years of his wife Sarah’s infertility, and the birth of Ishmael to Abraham and Sarah’s slave Hagar, Parashat Lekh Lekha narrates the Divine promise to Abraham that Sarah will finally give birth. But instead of expressing joyous gratitude to God, Abraham responds: לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ —“If only Ishmael could live before you!” (Gen. 17:18).
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We Plant Again After the Flood
Oct 16, 2026 By Randy Michaels | Commentary | Noah
This October marks what would have been my thirtieth wedding anniversary. My beloved wife, Marlene (z’l), passed away in 2023, and in the years since, I have found myself focused on a strange detail that is in this week’s parashah (Noah)— one I never noticed until I needed it. When the floodwaters finally recede, and Noah steps out onto dry land, the Torah tells us almost nothing about what he felt. There is no accounting of everyone or everything now gone—no crying or description of grief at all. We are simply told of what he did next: he built an altar, and later, he planted a vineyard (Gen. 8:20, 9:20). Before feeling came building. Before understanding came planting.
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How Should We Translate Genesis 1:1?
Oct 9, 2026 By David Zev Moster | Commentary | Bereishit
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ The opening words of the Torah are surprisingly difficult to translate. The grammatical issues are technical, the stakes are high, and there is pressure on the interpreter to get it right. Here we will explore the pros and cons of the two most popular approaches. Warning: we are […]
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Dancing with Torah
Oct 2, 2026 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Sukkot
The interplay between the written and the oral Torah has sustained the Jewish people over time. Although they debated the proportions and priorities of what to study, the Talmud’s rabbis recognized the importance of both the Written and the Oral Torahs [Kiddushin 30a; Baba Metzia 33a]. They understood the sacred dance between the seen and the heard, the read and the taught, the fixed and the fluid.
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