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It’s a feeling as old as time, and it resonates deeply within the story of Jacob. We find him in (Genesis 31:3), receiving a direct message from the Almighty: "Return to the land o...
We pick up the story with Jacob preparing to leave Laban. Remember the scene? Jacob, after years of hard work and trickery (and being tricked himself!), is finally heading back to ...
The scene: Jacob, after years of service to his less-than-honest uncle Laban, has finally made his escape with his wives, children, and flocks. But Laban pursues him, catching up o...
Something that maybe... came back to haunt you? In the Torah, Jacob certainly has a moment like that. We find ourselves in Genesis, chapter 31. Jacob is leaving his father-in-law L...
Our ancestors wrestled with that very question. Remember the story? Jacob, after years of hard labor for Laban, decides it’s time to return to his homeland with his wives and child...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God encountered him" (Genesis 32:2). Simple enough. But the Rabbis, never content with the surface level, dive deep in...
King David certainly did. In Psalms, he repeatedly begs God to rise up and intervene. But what does it really mean for God to "arise"? And when will that moment finally come? Our s...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, the rabbis delve into this moment when Jacob sends messengers ahead. It opens with a po...
We’ve all been there. But what if I told you this very human tendency is reflected in the ancient commentaries on the Torah? Today, we’re diving into Bereshit Rabbah, a collection ...
Jacob's upcoming encounter with his estranged brother Esau is a masterclass in diplomacy, and it holds surprising lessons even for emperors. In (Genesis 32:5), Jacob instructs his ...
The passage begins with Jacob, poised to meet his brother Esau after years of separation. “Jacob sent messengers” (Genesis 32:4). But it's not just a simple act of diplomacy. The R...
In fact, our ancestors grappled with it too. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a classical rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis, and see how Jacob faced a simila...
We pick up the story in (Genesis 32:4), where it says: "Jacob sent messengers." But before we get to that, (Genesis 32:3) tells us something crucial: "Jacob said, when he saw them:...
We're looking at section 75, which deals with the moment Jacob prepares to meet his brother Esau after years of estrangement. Jacob, remember, is about to face his brother Esau, fr...
That’s the kind of tension simmering in our portion today, as we delve into Bereshit Rabbah 75, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic exploration of Jacob's anxieties befo...
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 ...
But what if I told you the Torah itself offers some pretty practical advice about diversifying your... well, everything? It's tucked away in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbin...
We're looking at section 76, which grapples with Jacob's prayer as he prepares to meet his brother Esau after years of separation (Genesis 32:10). Remember the setup: Jacob is unde...
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 ...
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...
Take the story of Jacob preparing to meet his brother Esau after years of estrangement. He sends Esau a lavish gift, described in detail in Genesis 32. But is it just a gift list, ...
(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 ju...
"Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn" (Genesis 32:25). A simple sentence, but pregnant with meaning. What does it mean to be alone? And who, o...
The story of Jacob wrestling with an angel, found in Genesis 32, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful scenes in the Torah. But what was really going on that night by the river...
Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina suggests that Jacob wasn't wrestling just anyone; he was battling Esau’s guardian angel! Remember when Jacob says, "For therefore I have seen your face,...
It’s the story of Jacob, our patriarch, and it's a story that the rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, that great collection of Genesis interpretations, unpack with fascinating detail. We al...
The Torah tells us in (Genesis 32:28) that after wrestling with a mysterious figure, Jacob is told, "No more shall Jacob be said to be your name; rather, Israel, for you have striv...
It all starts with Jacob, that famous figure from the Book of Genesis. Remember when Jacob wrestles with a mysterious figure all night long? After this epic struggle, Jacob asks hi...
It's never just a detail. Everything has meaning, layers upon layers waiting to be uncovered. We find this idea beautifully illustrated in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic...
It’s a fascinating story that takes us back to the very beginnings of our people, to Jacob wrestling with a mysterious figure. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 32:33), "Therefore, t...
That’s kind of the vibe I get from the encounter between Jacob and Esau after their long separation, as described in Bereshit Rabbah 78. The verse in question is (Genesis 33:14), w...
The book of Genesis tells us, almost in passing, "Jacob traveled to Sukot, and built him a house, and established booths [sukot] for his livestock. Therefore, he called the name of...
The Torah is full of stories of resilience, and one that particularly resonates with this idea is Jacob's return to Canaan. In (Genesis 33:18), we read: "Jacob arrived intact to th...
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...
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...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and Ḥamor his father with guile, and spoke, as he had defiled Dinah their sister” (Genesis 34:13). But was it really just guile? ...
The ancient rabbis wrestled with this idea, especially when it came to promises made to God. Let's turn to the book of Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretat...
The verse we're focusing on is from (Genesis 35:2): "Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him: Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst, and purify yourselve...
Jewish tradition tells us that the descendants of Jacob experienced just that – divine protection in the face of overwhelming odds. to a passage from Bereshit Rabbah (81), a classi...
Our ancestors certainly did. And sometimes, just sometimes, they got one. Take Jacob, for instance. He's been through the wringer, hasn't he? Deception, exile, wrestling angels… yo...
We find him at a crucial point in his life, facing a Divine encounter that echoes a previous one. The text in Bereshit Rabbah 82: “God appeared…again.” That little word "again" is ...
One fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, dives right into this thorny issue. Specifically, it tackles Jacob's bl...
The Torah tells us in Genesis (35:20) that "Jacob established a monument upon her grave; it is the monument of Rachel's grave until today.” But what does it really mean to establis...
Our ancestors knew a thing or two about the struggle to find that peace. Take Jacob, for example. We read in (Genesis 37:1), "Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, i...
Take the story of Joseph, for example. He's often portrayed as the righteous, almost-too-good-to-be-true figure. But was he always? Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of r...
We're looking at the story of Joseph, the favored son, being sent to check on his brothers. It all starts with the line: "His brothers went to herd their father’s flock in Shekhem"...
to a passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, and unpack some of the ideas around yibum, or levirate marriage. The story begin...
The Torah certainly understands that feeling. Take this little phrase we find in (Genesis 38:12): "The days accumulated…" Sounds innocuous. But in Bereshit Rabbah, the classic coll...
