Yitzchak (Isaac) calls for Esav (Esau) to receive the blessings reserved for his firstborn son. Following the instructions of his mother Rivka (Rebecca), Yaakov (Jacob) poses as Esav before his blind father, wearing Esav's clothing and disguising his arms to resemble...

It's not enough to "talk the talk;" so we learn from this week's reading. In public, Ephron declared that he would give Avraham the Cave of the Patriarchs for free, but then he expected a massive payment of 400 Centurions (the equivalent of 40,000 silver coins). For...

The Torah uses various names for G-d, and each one expresses a unique manifestation of G-d's interaction with the world. One of the lesser-known names is "Sha-dai." The literal translation of this name is "Who - Enough" which the Sages expand to "The One Who said to...

When Lemech named his new son (at the end of last week's reading, Gen. 5:29), he called the boy "Noach", saying "this shall comfort us (yeNaCHameinu) from our work and the difficult labor of our hands." But the name Noach was prophetic in a different vein, as the name...

"If you don't get the best one available, you might as well not have any." "You can't do it. It's impossible; they're expecting too much from you." "Why do you trust them? The whole thing is questionable and unclear." Do these doubting comments sound familiar? We may...

There was once a man, whom we will call Andy, who was diagnosed with a rare and severe illness. Unique conditions often call for unconventional treatments, and he was advised to try psycho-physical therapy: he was told to find someone who lives in complete joy with no...