It's not often that I see this notation in Sefaria and this footnote says " * armed Meaning of Heb. ḥamushim uncertain." There are certainly other words that have been translated differently, depending on the commentator or translation, but it means that this word is particularly in question. Is it armed as in with weapons? That would make sense later when they fight with Amalek. It could mean arms laden with the gifts from the Egyptians. This would also make sense later when

With the last 3 of the plagues in this week's parsha you could, once again, do food that plays off of the plagues, but I am always looking for something new so I came up with two new ideas of foods inspired by something that stood out in the parsha. The first comes from the back and forth with Moshe and Pharoah. I actually first noticed this last week. When Moshe comes to Pharoah, the "ask" is to let the people go so that they may worship God in the wilderness. Pharoah refuse

About 8 years ago I added some fun to our seder to entertain our boys and our guests by having an edible representation of each one of the 10 plagues...red jello in a wavy dish for the Nile turning to blood, gummy frogs, non-pareils for boils, and so on. You could definitely do something like that for this week's Parsha Inspired Menus, since we get the story of the first 5 plagues in this week's parsha. However, I wanted to focus on two interesting details that took me a diff

This week's parsha is a pointed reminder that the safety and security of the Jewish people (and really any minority people) is deeply linked with the favor of those who rule the land. When Pharoah was pleased with Joseph, his whole family was invited to come down to Eygpt to live, his father's death was mourned by the whole nation, and a retinue of honor escorted Jacob to his burial place. And then " A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph." and the fates change f

As Jacob's life nears its end, he takes the opportunity to dole out blessings to his descendents. The story of the blessings begins with Joseph hearing that his father is not well and coming to see him. The Torah says " When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed." Jacob then proceeds to tell Joseph that Jacob will include Ephraim and Menashe, Joseph's sons, as if they are Jacob's sons. Jacob then notices Joseph's

And so we get to the dramatic conclusion of the Joseph story with the reuniting of Joseph and his brothers and then Joseph and his father. There’s a lot of big dramatic moments, but I want to focus on two specific words that lead to some Interesting ideas. The first is after Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers and he is telling them that he wants them to go back to Jacob, his father, and tell him that Joseph is alive and well and to have the whole family come down to

My understanding of biblical Hebrew is meh...some words that repeat and repeat I've got down, others, not so much. So, I usually read the Torah in translation and then sometimes look over at the Hebrew to see if there's anything that catches my attetion. Because, of course, every translation is a commentary and makes choices that obscure other potential translations. One of those is in this week's parsha with the translation of this pasuk: וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח פַּרְעֹה֙ וַיִּקְרָ֣א א

Maybe it's because two weeks ago I was thinking about the promise to Jacob that his descendents would be as numerous as the dust of the earth (and made maple squares), but I was struck by the imagery of the stars in one of Joseph's famous dreams. These stars have been used in this family before... [Then in the vision, God] took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them”—continuing, “So shall your offspring be.” (Bereshit 15:5

Our sons were discussing their “Dream 5,” the team they’d put together if they could draw from basketball players across all teams. As they volleyed names around, they realized that their initial inclination to have a team of superstars would not work. There would be holes in the game strategy. The play style wouldn’t gel. It reminded me of the 2017 inaugural Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team, which crafted its roster by taking players that were not stars on other teams. W

Certain biblical moments really capture the minds of artists, such that there are many variations of the event in painting and sculpture. One of these is the event that happens early in our parsha וַיִּוָּתֵ֥ר יַעֲקֹ֖ב לְבַדּ֑וֹ וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק אִישׁ֙ עִמּ֔וֹ עַ֖ד עֲל֥וֹת הַשָּֽׁחַר׃ Jacob was left alone. And a ??? wrestled with him until the break of dawn. I put ??? in the translation, because what or who Jacob wrestles with is a very interesting question. The hebrew is the word

Over the last few weeks, I've been take note of the instances of expressed emotion in our Torah portions. We have expressions of love (Isaac to Rebecca), anguish (Esau after losing the blessing), disgust (Rebecca over the Canaanite wives), and more. Sometimes emotions and feelings are read into the Torah through commentary and I found a really interesting one in our Torah portion this week. I discovered it because I was digging into the detailed account of the interaction of

This learning is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Sharon Decter Brendzel, whose 19th yarzheit will begin motzei shabbat. The soup that started it all.....Those readers who've been following along with this Parsha Inspired Menus journey may recall that there were about 20 years when the only parsha that I made a special food in honor of was this one - Toldot. For those of you who are newer, here's the brief story - in 2001 I was studying at The Conservative Yeshiva in Jer

This week Avraham sends Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. The Torah recounts in a high level of detail of the conversation between the two men before Eliezer sets off, the plan Eliezer makes to ensure he finds the right wife, and the interaction of Eliezer and Rebecca at the well. And then, it gives it all to us AGAIN when Eliezer explains the story to Rebecca's family. There are 15 pasukim dedicated to this repetition and, given the importance of each word in the Torah, it b

I’m a big fan of Wish Lists. They’ve served my family well — wedding registry, baby registry, kids’ birthdays, Chanukah — they give us space to gather what we want or need, and then, almost like magic, many of those wishes come true. I’m also a big fan of To-Do Lists. Few things rival the joy of crossing something off my list. A good list clears mental clutter and makes life feel more manageable. So I perked up when I heard Dr. Cal Newport, a Georgetown professor and author,

Sing it with me... Hashem is here,Hashem is there,Hashem is truly everywhere!(x2) Up, up, down, down,Right, left, and all around!Here, there, and everywhere,That’s where he can be found! Want to hear it? Check it out . This Jewish children's music classic became an earworm for me as I did a close reading of the beginning of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In two places, directions are used that feel off because God is everywhere. The first is when God is telling Abraham hi

After many years of weekly Shabbat attendance and Torah study, there are still things I read in the Torah that I realize are deeply ingrained in my mind with some midrashic elements that were taught to me as a child. One example of those happens right at the beginning of our Parsha. The Torah text about the first encounter of God and Avram is short and to the point. God speaks to Avram, tells him that he should go forth and " וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ יְ

Last week our cantor led a learning session in between Mincha and Ma'ariv. I actually didn't make it to the class (it was our son's bar mitzvah, so I was with our guests), but the topic of the class got me thinking - what was the shape of Noah's Ark? What probably came to mind for you is something like this: The Torah gives lots of measurements for the ark and some people have actually tried to figure out what it really looked like. Not surprisingly, there are a few different

This week we celebrate Simchat Torah and re-start our annual cycle of Torah readings. The content in Bereshit is probably some of the...

To-rah, to-rah, to-rah To-rah, to-rah, to-rah To-rah Tzvialnu Moshe! If you heard what we called the Torah Parade song in your head when...

The phrase עד מאה ועשרים (Ad Meah v'Eisrim - "until 120") is often used as a wish for someone celebrating a birthday. Though there are...