Jacob's Ladder
As a kid, I loved to play "cat's cradle," the game with a piece of string with the ends tied together. You start with the string around your hands and then interlace it between your fingers to make different patterns with names describing what they look like.
Not by Might, Not by Power
The widely-heralded book, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, by Paul Kennedy, (New York, Random House, Inc.) was published in 1987. Kennedy's thesis is that a superpower emerges, grows, plateaus, and eventually declines, replaced by a new nation.
Our (More-or-Less) Four Matriarchs
At the core of this week's parashah is the creation of a people, Israel, as a confederacy of tribes. One might expect a people's legend of origins to derive from events valorous or noble.
The Simple Art of Thanksgiving
As a rabbinical student in Israel I camped out with my classmates under a star-glutted Negev sky to see Comet Hyakutake burn its trail through the night. It was a Shehecheyanu moment, and we offered the blessing with wide eyes.
The Person We Marry
Focal Point
And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban . . . Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock. . . . Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears. (Genesis 29:10-11)
Our Place and God's Place
Self-evaluation has always been an important part of our Jewish heritage. Not restricted to the High Holy Days, we are called upon by our siddur on a daily basis to make sure that our feet are firmly planted on the ground.
Opening the Well of Interpretation
In Jewish tradition, wells give life by providing not only water, but also a meeting place for our ancestors to find their mates. In Vayeitzei, Jacob met his beloved Rachel at a well.
Divided We Stand
Jacob, the ancestor for whom the entire people Israel comes to be named, turns out to be a pretty divisive character. During his childhood, he slyly uses his brother Esau's hunger and exhaustion to part him from his birthright over a steaming bowl of red lentil stew.