Category: VaYeshev
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VaYeshev 5784: “Between Persecution and Salvation”
When Sara, Noam, and I lived in Jerusalem we befriended a Christian family whom I met in the playground. There was some exchange among the parents where my ability to speak both in English and Hebrew…
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VaYeshev 5783: “They Could Not Speak Peaceably Unto Him”
I want to tell you a story about a brilliant idea that I had for a shul program and why I never implemented the program. I thought it would be a valuable experience for our shul…
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VaYeshev 5780: “The Light of Torah”
On September 28th, 1997, I made my way to Madison Square Garden for a historic event. On that day the daf-yomi cycle of synchronized Talmud study was completed for only the tenth time since this learning…
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VaYeshev 5779: “Profiles in Cowardice”
Almost one month ago, Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, one of the rashei yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel told the following story during a sichah, an address that he delivered in the beit midrash to the entire…
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VaYeshev 5778: “She is More Righteous Than I”
Our parashah this morning tells of Yosef ’s rise as the favored son of the patriarch Jacob, the owner of his own coat of many colors and the teller of dreams that appear to be delusions of…
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VaYeshev 5777: “How to Win an Argument”
There were once two close friends who only loved one thing more than their friendship and that was baseball. As they aged they become fixated on the question of whether or not there was baseball in Heaven.…
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VaYeshev 5776: “Whodunit?”
A terrible crime takes place in this week’s parasha. Who is guilty? The crime is the kidnapping and sale of Yosef. Few crimes are as cruel and the Torah itself includes a severe punishment for one who…
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VaYeshev 5775: “Which Side Are You On?”
One spring during college, a week or two before Pesach, I joined a small group of students to assist a prison chaplain in leading a seder at a local prison. As it turned out, most of the…
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VaYeshev 5774: “Power Corrupts”
There was a rabbinic conference in Europe last week featuring representatives from the Council of European Rabbis, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. This conference was the victim of some very unfortunate timing.…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 