Lech L'cha

Genesis 12:1−17:27

Educating Against Egypt

Through his experiences with his nephew Lot, Abraham learns valuable parenting skills.

By Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt on MyJewishLearning.com

The birth of Yitzchak [Isaac] is anticipated with prayers, prophecies and Divine promises.

Moreover, his birth and upbringing are prefigured by the trials and errors of his father's two earlier son figures--one a nephew and the other a concubine's child.

The patterns and mistaken assumptions that cost Abraham the fidelity of both Yishmael and Lot also served as parenting instructors. The course adjustments in the wake of these disappointments contributed to the excellence of the third attempt. And although there can be no doubting the primacy of transmission through Yitzchak, the Torah's deference to Yishmael and to Lot's descendants suggests that even a failed son of Abraham is esteemed.

A careful reading of a small passage in Lech Lecha may illustrate how a crucial element in faith-training is discovered.

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Rosh Chodesh 2 Noah

Genesis 6:9−11:32

Lessons Of The Flood

The story of the Flood provides us with numerous insights into human nature and human relationships.

By Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald.  Provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox congregations on MyJewishLearning.com.

Secular scholars speak of the story of the flood as if it were a myth, or a fairy tale.

Not surprisingly, several ancient documents report striking parallels to the story of the flood.

Perhaps, the most famous document is the Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamish," which tells the story of a man by the name of Utnapishtim. The gods decide to destroy the earth, there is a great flood, and because Utnapishtim is the favorite of one of the gods, Eau, he is saved.

Gilgamesh and Noah

Despite the parallels between the "Epic of Gilgamish" and the Torah's story of Noah, they are strikingly different. In the Babylonian story, the gods arbitrarily decide to destroy the earth as if it were a plaything. Furthermore, the gods choose to save Utnapishtim only because he is a "favorite" of theirs, not because he is worthy of being saved.

In Parashat Noah, however, there is a moral imperative. The world is flooded not because God arbitrarily decides to destroy the world, but because it had become corrupt and destructive. Noah is not arbitrarily saved. He is deserving. He is a "righteous man, perfect in his generation. With God, Noah walked" (Genesis 6:9).

But the flood changed Noah. After a year on the ark, Noah is finally commanded by God to leave. A normal person would have been jumping out his skin to get out of the ark. But Noah is hesitant to leave. Why?

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B'reishit

Genesis 1:1−6:8

The Complexity Of Creation

Recognizing that Creation and many natural phenomena are clouded in mystery can actually enrich our lives with meaning.

By Rabbi Jonathan Glass. The following article is reprinted with permission from the Orthodox Union on MyJewishLearning.com.
Every child knows the story of Creation.

The Torah gives us a day-by-day account, describing how God, in His omnipotence, benevolently brought forth all that we know--light and darkness, dry land and sea, trees and plants, stars and planets, animal and man.

The text reads so simply and orderly that one is tempted to skim through it to get to the "meat" of the parashah--the story of Adam and Eve. The story of Creation remains an introduction, one that poses little difficulty for believers.

But Rashi, the great commentator, does not see it that way. He says that the opening sequence cries out for interpretation. It cannot be that these verses are telling us about the chronology of Creation, he writes, for the Torah’s second verse tells of God’s Presence "hovering on the face of the water," before any account of God’s creating water is given.

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The Festival of Insecurity – A message for Sukkot

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

What exactly is a sukkah? What is it supposed to represent?

The question is essential to the mitzvah itself. The Torah says: “Live in sukkot for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in sukkot so that your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 23: 42-43). In other words, knowing – reflecting, understanding, being aware – is an integral part of the mitzvah. For that reason, says Rabbah in the Talmud (Sukkah 2a), a sukkah that is taller than twenty cubits (about thirty feet or nine metres high) is invalid because when the sechach, the “roof,” is that far above your head, you are unaware of it. So what is a sukkah?

On this, two Mishnaic sages disagreed. Rabbi Eliezer held that the sukkah represents the clouds of glory that surrounded the Israelites during the wilderness years, protecting them from heat during the day, cold during the night, and bathing them with the radiance of the Divine presence. This view is reflected in a number of the Targumim. Rashi in his commentary takes it as the “plain sense” of the verse.

Rabbi Akiva on the other hand says sukkot mammash, meaning a sukkah is a sukkah, no more and no less: a hut, a booth, a temporary dwelling. It has no symbolism. It is what it is (Sukkah 11b).


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