ב"ה
Vayeitzei 5764 - December 5, 2003
Climbing the Ladder
According to the ancient mystics, all actions of man -- indeed all workings of creation -- derive from two general forces: love and awe. More specifically, there is "lower awe", "lower love", "higher love", and "higher awe" -- in that order
According to the ancient mystics, all actions of man -- indeed all workings of creation -- derive from two general forces: love and awe. More specifically, there is "lower awe", "lower love", "higher love", and "higher awe" -- in that order
Parshah
Vayetze in a Nutshell
Jacob rests on his way to Charan and dreams of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. Laban tricks Jacob into marrying his daughter Leah. A week later, Jacob also marries Rachel. He works for Laban for 14 years, then escapes with his wives and children.
Jacob rests on his way to Charan and dreams of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. Laban tricks Jacob into marrying his daughter Leah. A week later, Jacob also marries Rachel. He works for Laban for 14 years, then escapes with his wives and children.
Women in the Synagogue
The issue is even more baffling than you think. Most of the guidelines for prayer, we learned from a lady named Chana who lived about 3000 years ago. Yet all the dominant roles in communal prayer are given to men!
The issue is even more baffling than you think. Most of the guidelines for prayer, we learned from a lady named Chana who lived about 3000 years ago. Yet all the dominant roles in communal prayer are given to men!
Story
A Prerequisite for a Blessing
He was perched on a white steed, accompanied by an entourage of soldiers. He wore a flashy uniform, and a glossy medallion, indicating his high rank, hung from his neck...
He was perched on a white steed, accompanied by an entourage of soldiers. He wore a flashy uniform, and a glossy medallion, indicating his high rank, hung from his neck...
Living
How to Apologize
"If you are lost in a forest," a chassidic master once asked his disciples, "are you better off being lost while walking or while riding on a horse?"
"If you are lost in a forest," a chassidic master once asked his disciples, "are you better off being lost while walking or while riding on a horse?"
The deeper significance of "May G-d add to me another son" (Rachel's words upon the birth of Joseph, Genesis 30:24) is: may this child merit to transform an "other" into a "son"
— Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch ("Tzemach Tzeddek", 1789-1866)
Print Magazine
Due to the limitations of your reality, some of your best friends can enter only incognito.
In fact, the really big ones sometimes sneak in disguised as ugly monsters and vicious enemies. Otherwise, the guards at the gate would never permit them entry.
These are the events optimists call “blessings in disguise.”
Here’...
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