Dec 13, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parashat Yayishlach - By Rabbi Steve Greenberg - Jacob is returning from Ur to face his brother Esau. He crosses back over the Yabbok river, and there, finding himself alone, encounters a man who wrestles with him until the morning light. “And Jacob was left by himself [Yaakov levado]; and there a man wrestled with [more]
Nov 25, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parshat Toldot - By Dr. Saundra Sterling Epstein - Eshel Director of Welcoming Shuls Project - Parents are different. Children are different. Families are different. We may not all like the same things. We may not all have the same professions, the same personalities, the same characteristics, the same aspirations in life, the same … [more]
Nov 25, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parashat Toldot - By R. Shai Held - Intro by R. Steve Greenberg: For many of us in the Eshel world, remaining connected to a Torah that seems to erase, banish or incriminate our ordinary human desire for intimacy and companionship is an enormous challenge. In my own life and in the stories that many [more]
Nov 21, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parashat Chayei Sarah - By Maharat Ruth Friedman - In this week’s parsha, Avraham, who has spent much of the time we have known him wandering, wishes to establish roots in Hevron. The death of Sarah creates a need for him to pay honor to her, and so after his initial mourning, Avraham approaches the [more]
Nov 12, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parashat VaYeira - By Rabbi Steve Greenberg - Three tired and hungry travelers are accosted by an old man. He is running, actually limping toward them. He beseeches them to come back with him and to take some nourishment, some food and drink, to rest their feet for a bit in his home. He prepares [more]
Nov 8, 2019 | Parsha Notes, Torah
Parashat Lech Lecha - By Dr. Sunnie Epstein, Director Welcoming Shuls Project, Eshel - Our Parsha begins as G-d instructs Avram to leave all that he knows from the past – his land, his birthplace, and his father’s house. He is called to completely cut himself off from all that has occurred in his [more]
