What is the Theme of the Stories of Genesis? One of the most fundamental questions about the Torah turns out to be one of the hardest to answer. What, from the call of God to Abraham in Genesis 12 to the death of Joseph in Genesis 50, is the basic religious principle being taught? What […]
Speech Therapy From Vayeshev to the end of the book of Bereishit we read the story of Joseph and his brothers. From the very beginning we are plunged into a drama of sibling rivalry that seems destined to end in tragedy. All the elements are there. There is favoritism. Jacob loved Joseph more than his […]
On Not Humiliating In Genesis 38, temporarily interrupting the story of Joseph, we read the fascinating story of Tamar, one of the more unexpected heroines of the Torah. The text gives us no inclination as to who she is. The chapter opens by telling us that Judah had separated from his brothers, and married a […]
A Tale of Two Women Who was she? We know little about her except her name, Tamar. Judah, fourth son of Jacob, had “gone down” from his brothers – a spiritual as well as physical decline. It was he who had proposed selling Joseph as a slave. Now he has left the family and married a Canaanite […]
Reuben: the Might-Have-Been Reuben is the greatest “might-have-been” in the Torah. His father Jacob says as much in his dying words: Reuben, you are my firstborn, My power and the beginning of my might, Preeminent in bearing and preeminent in strength. Unstable as water, you will not be preeminent… His story is of potential unfulfilled, […]
The Refusal to be Comforted The deception has taken place. Joseph has been sold into slavery. His brothers have dipped his coat in blood. They bring it back to their father, saying, “Look what we have found. Do you recognize it? Is this your son’s robe or not?” Jacob recognized it and replied, “It is […]
