Va’era  Exodus 6:2-9:35  By Jen Smith  Va’era opens with a line that feels almost like a divine sigh:   “I appeared [to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] … but by My name, I was not known to them.”  God is hinting that we are on the cusp of something new. Not just new miracles, but also a new way of being Free.  Until this […]

Sh’mot Exodus 1:1-6:1 By Jen Smith If Vayechi was the quiet closing of a book, Sh’mot is the abrupt opening of a new one – with a completely different tone. Genesis ends with a family. Exodus begins with a census. Genesis is intimate and personal. Exodus opens with bureaucracy, forced labor, and a new Pharaoh […]

Vayechi Genesis 47:28-50:26  By Jen Smith  Parshat Vayechi opens with a quiet paradox: “And Jacob lived…” Sounds like the perfect beginning, until you realize that the entire portion unfolds under the shadow of death. Jacob prepares to leave this world, and Joseph follows soon after his father. And with them, the book of Genesis comes to an end.  In Jewish mysticism, rather than an ending, this is […]

Vayigash Genesis 44:18-47:27 By Jen Smith Vayigash is one of the most emotionally intimate passages in the Torah. After years of betrayal, silence, and longing, Judah steps forward (vayigash elav – and he drew near) and everything changes. Joseph decides he can no longer hold back, so he reveals his identity to his brothers, cries […]

Miketz Genesis 41:1-44:17  By Jen Smith  Parshat Miketz begins with timing: Miketz shnatayim yamim – At the end of two years. Two years of waiting. Two years of silence. Two years in which Joseph remains suspended between promise and fulfillment.   In our Jewish tradition, waiting is never empty; it is a hidden stage of becoming.  Pharaoh’s dreams come to him because something unseen has ripened. Before wisdom can appear in the world, […]