Parsha

Parashat Vayera: What a vote cannot decide

God gifted us with traits that distinguish us from the rest of creation: self-awareness, complex emotions, cognitive speech, creativity, imagination, dreams, and political instincts.

‘BRINGING BACK the optimism: Women are going out to vote, Oct. 27!’ reads a sign at a Tel Aviv park.
The image shows a clear glass photography sphere (or lensball) placed on a wooden bridge, refracting an inverted view of the trees and sky.

Parashat Vayera: Bridging heaven and earth

Jewish yeshiva students study at the Kamenitz Yeshiva, in Jerusalem on August 19, 2026.

Beyond the Headlines: Dedicating Torah study and why no good deed is done alone - opinion

Elkana Levi giving a speech on gratitude.

Beyond the Headlines: Have you heard Elkana Levi’s speech? - opinion


Parashat Bo: The far Horizon

Moses knew that if you plan for a year, plant rice. If you plan for a decade, plant a tree. If you plan for posterity, educate a child. His lesson is still compelling today.

 MOSES DID not speak about today or tomorrow – he spoke about the distant future.

Not just a soldier, but our son: When heroes come home - opinion 

What does it mean to wash a uniform worn for two and a half weeks in the middle of a war?

IDF soldiers stand together

Parashat Vayehi: A nation of grandparents

By citing Jacob’s blessing, we recreate that fleeting moment of multi-generational peace and shared destiny.

 Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Menashe, while their father, Joseph, steadies him, and a woman, presumably their mother, look on, in this 1656 oil-on-canvas painting by Rembrandt.

Our fallen soldiers live on, like Jacob and David - opinion

The ancient teaching that our biblical forefathers never truly died finds new meaning in the enduring legacies of Israel's fallen heroes.

Torah scroll 521

Parashat Vayigash: Trading passion for compassion

Israelis are deeply passionate about their political and ideological beliefs. As a people, Jews possess a natural tenacity and a remarkable strength of will.

 Joseph is see embracing and crying on the neck of his brother Benjamin as their brothers look on in this episode from the Bible depicted in the 1908 work 'The Bible and Its Story,' edited by Charles F. Horne.

At the edge of doubt and faith - opinion

"Doubt has pushed me into a more profound and existential space, forcing me to confront life’s rawest truths and to anchor myself in something deeper."

 ONE ACCEPTING the yoke of heaven enters into a relationship of love and friendship with God.

Parashat ‘Vayishlach’: Be Thyself

"We have to resolve the tension in ourselves before we can do so for others. We have to be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with the world."

 Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

Parashat Toldot reveals the profound impact of genuine communication - opinion

So many aspects of our lives are impacted by misinformation and enhanced by genuine communication. 

 Women studying at Matan Women's Institute for Torah Studies in Jerusalem.

Parashat Toldot: The struggle between Rome and Jerusalem

This tension between the heroes of Rome and the sages of Jerusalem will not last forever. The prophet Obadiah prophesied the resolution of this struggle.

 ‘Rebecca at the Well.’ Photograph of 19th-century  French painting by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot.

Jewels of wisdom: Rivkah’s gift of sensitivity