by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 2, 2015 | Lifeline
Yaakov blesses all of his sons before he dies. But before this, Yosef takes his sons Ephraim and Menashe to see their grandfather, who gives them a special blessing — first and foremost, by elevating them to have the same status as his own children. Throughout...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 26, 2014 | Lifeline
If there is one lesson to be learned from this week’s reading and those of the past few weeks, said Rav Asher Rubenstein zt”l, it is that G-d runs the world, and He has a Plan. We can either follow the plan, or we can fight the plan, but it’s going...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 12, 2014 | Lifeline
I was once driving with my wife, way back in the pre-GPS days when you actually had to remember directions. She was driving, and approached a T in the road with her left-turn signal on. “Wait!” I said. “Not left, definitely not left!” We...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 5, 2014 | Lifeline
The Medrash tells us many things not found in the written text of the Torah. It is, in fact, crucial to our understanding, because otherwise many passages could be misunderstood and misconstrued. Sometimes, however, statements in the Medrash appear to conflict with...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Nov 28, 2014 | Lifeline
In Jewish sources, our forefather Yaakov is always identified with the character trait of honesty, of dedicating himself to truth. Sometimes this seems difficult to understand — after all, he deceived his father in order to claim the blessings of the firstborn...
