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It turns out, even our greatest heroes struggled with this. We find ourselves in Bereshit Rabbah 76, a section of the ancient rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis. The scene ...
Jacob, our patriarch, certainly did. In Genesis 32:11, after years of wandering and working, facing down tricksters and building a family, Jacob cries out, "I am unworthy of all th...
It’s easy to think of it as a simple sibling rivalry, a fear of physical harm. But when we delve into the ancient commentaries, a much larger, almost cosmic, fear emerges. The vers...
Genesis 32:17 tells us, "And he placed them in the hands of his slaves, each flock separately, and he told them: Go before me, and leave space between the flocks." Jacob isn't just...
Take the reunion of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33. We read how Jacob arranged his family as he approached his brother, placing the maidservants and their children first, Leah and he...
Take the encounter between Jacob and Esau after their long separation. Genesis 33:15 tells us, "Esau said to him: Please, I will place with you some of the people who are with me. ...
That feeling, that resilience, is at the heart of a beautiful passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. It's all about Jacob, and...
His story, as told in Bereshit Rabbah (the great commentary on Genesis), is a masterclass in turning sorrow into joy, sowing in tears and reaping with songs. The verse says, "Jacob...
We make our plans, we have our dreams, but as the Book of Proverbs (27:1) wisely reminds us, "Do not glory in tomorrow, for you do not know what the day will bring." This idea of t...
