This week we read of the Revelation of the Divine Presence on Mt. Sinai, and the Ten Commandments (which actually contain fourteen of the 613 Commandments, and are more precisely translated as "the Ten Statements"). The Medrash says that Sinai is related to the...

Our reading begins, "And G-d said to Moses, come in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may place these signs among them" [10:1]. This seems to contradict the idea of free will, which is a core concept in Judaism. Much as...

Rav Yaakov Galinsky zt'l tells a story he attributes to Rabbi Yisrael Mayer Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim. There was a gemstone dealer from St. Petersburg who traveled all the way to Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland) to a sale. Even today, this trip takes more than a day by...

“And Yosef could no longer hold back, from all those standing around him…” [45:1] For months, Yosef had kept up appearances. He treated his brothers coldly, as if he did not know who they were. Now, however, he “could no longer hold back.” He declared himself to be...

In this week's reading, Yosef is sold, enslaved, and taken to Egypt, where he is purchased by Potiphar, chief executioner to Pharoah. He soon earns Potiphar's trust, such that Yosef is entrusted to manage Potiphar's house and all his property [Gen. 39:1-4]. This works...

The Torah says that after Yaakov left his parents, fleeing from his brother Esav, "he came to the place" [28:11]. Rashi explains that he came to Mount Moriah, the same "place" mentioned previously, when Avraham brought Yitzchak to that same place, the site of the...