Category: VaYechi
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VaYehi 5786: The Crybaby and the King
Who cries the most in the Torah? The obvious answer to that question is Yosef who cries throughout his life up to and including the moment in this week’s parasha when his brothers return to Egypt…
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Vayehi 5785: Truth Telling
Many years ago when we only had one child and he was only six months old a wise mentor said to me, “it’s such a special age when they are too young for you to be…
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VaYechi 5784: “Instruments of Cruelty”
Before we were married, before we were even formally engaged to be married, Sara and I each spent a portion of the summer of 2001 studying Torah in Israel. The terror wave that characterized the Second…
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VaYechi 5778: “The Johnson Amendment Paradox”
In 1954, Senator Lyndon Johnson added a few lines to the Federal Tax code that was signed into law by President Eisenhower. The so-called “Johnson Amendment” forbade any 501(c)3 non-profit organization or religious organization from endorsing…
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VaYechi 5776: “Jewish Unity and Its Discontents”
This past Tuesday morning, students at forty Jewish high schools across North America gathered together, using video conferencing technology, and marked the completion of the study of the entire Mishnah. A collective learning project, a siyum, of this…
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VaYechi 5775: “The People of Which Book?”
Two weeks ago the Israeli Ministry of Education launched Project 929. Directed by Rabbi Benny Lau and a woman named Gal Gabai, and with the blessings of the President of the State of Israel, Project 929…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 