וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
Parashat Vayeitzei was my bat mitzvah portion, and while I remember chanting the Haftarah on Friday night and reading a speech I wrote (with lots of my father’s help!) about it, it wasn’t until AJR’s retreat where we explored this parashah through song, dance, art, intensive study and more that I realized how special it was, and how it spoke to me personally.
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeitzei
By Rabbi Steven Altarescu (’14)
We are often running from place to place, from errand to errand, doing our best, tripping up, falling down and getting up and running some more. We face challenges and sometimes we face them with wisdom and sometimes we fail at them. Life can feel like moving on a line, horizontally.
In the last number of years, through the last few election cycles and through the pandemic, we can feel we are running for our lives. Motivated by saving democracy and freedom, and to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy, while still trying to function in the world. We do not know what is next, both from a political perspective and from a medical perspective, and yet we keep moving. I believe it is very easy to get entangled in our daily lives and lose hope and a Read More >
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeitzei
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayetze
By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)
Our liturgy contains frequent reminders that our God is also the God of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But from what we know about Jacob when we encounter him at the beginning of Parashat Vayetze, he seems like a poor choice for a patriarch. He had behaved terribly towards his brother and father, having manipulated Esau into giving him the older brother’s birthright and then deceiving his father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau. Jacob is forced to leave home in order to escape Esau’s death threats.
Granted, Jacob’s role had been preordained when they were in the womb, as it was declared that the elder of the twins, Esau, would serve the younger, Jacob (Genesis 25:23). Nonetheless, Jacob’s behavior thus far does not seem consistent with the actions of one worthy of God’s blessing.
Parashat Vayetze begins pursuant to these Read More >
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayetze
By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)
Our liturgy contains frequent reminders that our God is also the God of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But from what we know about Jacob when we encounter him at the beginning of Parashat Vayetze, he seems like a poor choice for a patriarch. He had behaved terribly towards his brother and father, having manipulated Esau into giving him the older brother’s birthright and then deceiving his father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau. Jacob is forced to leave home in order to escape Esau’s death threats.
Granted, Jacob’s role had been preordained when they were in the womb, as it was declared that the elder of the twins, Esau, would serve the younger, Jacob (Genesis 25:23). Nonetheless, Jacob’s behavior thus far does not seem consistent with the actions of one worthy of God’s blessing.
Parashat Vayetze begins pursuant to these Read More >
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeitze
by Rabbi Heidi Hoover (AJR ’11)
At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Jacob leaves home. He doesn’t leave by choice, though. He has to leave because his life is in danger–his brother wants to kill him. He runs away, ending up in the wilderness, alone, with nothing, it seems, except the clothes he is wearing. He sleeps with his head on a rock. He’s headed in the direction of Haran, where his mother’s family lives, but he has never met them. Jacob is not an immigrant. He is a refugee.
In that desolate night when he is so alone, Jacob has a dream of a ladder to heaven, with angels going up and down the ladder. God assures him that he will be protected and have countless descendants. It is an amazing experience for Jacob, who says after he awakens, “God was in this place, and I Read More >
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Parashat Vayetzei: Standing Stones and Moving Stones
by Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD
I have been thinking about something my doctor said to me a few weeks ago. He advised me to study a page of Gemara a day. That’s usually what you hear from your rabbi, not your doctor, but my doctor wasn’t speaking theologically. He was advising me to get mental exercise. He reminded me that even when we have engaging and challenging work, it becomes easier for us to do it over time. It’s important for us to face ourselves with new challenges in order for our minds to remain sharp and flexible. To continue to grow, we must be willing to try the new, and not only stay with what is familiar, easy, and safe.
There is actually a hint of my doctor’s wisdom in this week’s parashah. When Jacob leaves his family in Haran, he has the vision of his life. Read More >
by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky
In this week’s parashah we read about the first meeting between Jacob and Rachel.
“Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.” (Genesis 29:10)
On this verse Rashi wrote
“‘Jacob went up and rolled’: As one who removes the stopper from a bottle, to let you know that he possessed great strength (Gen. Rabbah 70:12).”
It seems that according to Rashi, the “great strength” that Jacob possessed was purely physical. Because of this extraordinary strength he was able to roll the stone that was blocking the well’s mouth. Rabbi Nechemia Ra’anan has shown that the great 20th century teacher of musar, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, had a slightly different understanding of Jacob’s strength. For Rabbi Shmuelevitz Jacob’s strength was not just of Read More >
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