Bo 5783 Exodus 10:1 – 13:16  Rabbi Baht Weiss   My mother used to have a weekend and summer home in the Catskill Mountains.  It was very peaceful and beautiful, and my mother enjoyed going there but it was a lot of maintenance for one person.  It was a significant distance from her primary residence in […]

VaEra 5783 Exodus 6:2 – 9:35  Rabbi Gary Pokras  The defining narrative of the Jewish people is the Exodus from Egypt – how God redeemed us with an outstretched hand and led us through the Wilderness towards the Promised Land. That story, arguably, begins at the Burning Bush with this verse:  God said: I Myself […]

Shemot 5779 Exodus 1:1 – 6:1  Rabbi Gary Pokras   The end of the book of Genesis focuses on the men – on Jacob and his sons. The Exodus from Egypt, in contrast, begins with five courageous women: Shiphrah, Puah, Yocheved, Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter.   A new pharaoh has risen in Egypt and enslaved the Hebrew […]

VaYigash – 5783 Genesis 44:18 – 47:27  Rabbi Gary Pokras  This week the Joseph story reaches its dramatic climax. Joseph has severely tested his brothers to see if they have changed their ways. Judah, the ringleader who threw Joseph into the pit and then lied to their father about what happened, finally makes a real […]

Miketz – 5783 Gen. 41:1—42:27  Rabbi Baht Weiss   This week’s parsha is almost always read during the week of Hanukkah.  Although that is only a coincidence of the calendar, we can find thematic connections.  Just as Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the weak over the powerful, the parsha begins with Pharaoh’s dream of the lean […]