Category: VaYishlach
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Vayishlach 5786: Specialists without Spirit, Sensualists Without Heart
Miracles are embarrassing. At least that’s what Maimonides believed. A perfect God would create the world correctly the first time without needing to go back and intervene. With this starting point, we understand how Maimonides, Rambam,…
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Vayishlach 5785: Leading from Behind
In 2019 the shul where I worked was firebombed by an incompetent assailant who managed to cause no damage whatsoever and whose early-morning attack would have gone altogether undetected if the custodian hadn’t noticed some broken…
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VaYishlach 5782: “A Reconciliation Postponed”
Have you ever looked forward to something, even prayed for the day when it could happen, and then once you had the chance to do the thing that you were waiting for and praying for, you…
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VaYishlach 5779: “Striving and Prevailing”
“In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth – the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— God said, “Let there be…
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VaYishlach 5777: “Like Father Like Son”
How do we know that Jacob wore a kipah? Well, at the beginning of last week’s parasha, the Torah says: וַיֵצֵ֥א יַעֲק֖ב מִבְאֵ֣ר שָ֑בַע “And Yakov went out from Be’er Sheva” Could it be that Yaakov…
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VaYishlach 5775: “Brains & Brawn, Mind & Matter, Truth & Reconciliation”
Before I speak, I’d like to say something… Actually, I’d like to say three things, which I will try to tie together. I suspect many of you saw the large poster when you came into shul this…
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VaYishlach 5774: “Place”
I once read a pop-psychology book that suggested that people either privileged sight or hearing as metaphors for comprehension. Someone who privileges vision might say things like, “I see what you’re saying” or “Is this clear to you?”…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 