A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Curse the Children of Israel
"You know, in some cultures, donkeys are revered as the smartest of animals, especially us talking ones."
("Donkey" in Shrek 2, Dreamworks, 2004)
Radical Justice?
"You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all your settlements that the Eternal your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.
The Heart of the Matter
"Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what the Eternal has commanded . . . " (Numbers 30:2)
Just Don’t Forget About Us Women
"This is what the Eternal has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they wish, provided they marry into a clan of their father's tribe. No inheritance of the Israelites may pass over from one tribe to another" (Numbers 36:6–7).
Joseph: Mensch or Menace?
With this week’s Torah portion, we enter the final four (Torah portions, that is) of the Book of Genesis.
Tamar’s Staff, Signet Seal, and Cord
This portion can be read as the first of the Joseph stories or the culmination of the sibling rivalry that has plagued the families of Genesis.
Judah: Our Overlooked Patriarch
Among the prominent themes of the Book of Genesis are sibling rivalry, the supplanting of the firstborn by a younger brother, and difficult family dynamics in general. The pattern is repeated with Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and Esau and Jacob.
From the Coat of Many Colors to a Simple Garment: The Unmaking of Joseph
It is said that clothes make the man. But in this week's portion, Vayeishev, they have a great deal to do with the unmaking of Joseph.
She Died unto Me
Four years after my grandfather died, my grandmother remarried. She changed her last name from Dunsker to Hyman, and two months later her second husband died of a heart attack. But she kept the last name Hyman for the rest of her life until she died fifteen years later.
Blessing Our Children
In Va-y'chi, the final parashah from the Book of Genesis, we confront a beautiful and touching deathbed scene, fraught with decades of underlying tension and competition.