by Tuly | f 28, 2021 | Chayei Sara
The Torah says that Ishmael was a wild child, whose bad behavior caused him to be kicked out of the household of Abraham. Sarah sees Ishmael’s evil practices and banishes him and his mother Hagar out of their home. Ishmael goes on to become a thorn in the side of his...
by Tuly | f 28, 2021 | Chayei Sara
My grandfather, Rabbi David Stavsky always loved sharing his insights into the weekly Torah portion. Every year, when we would read about the burial of Sarah in Hebron, my grandfather would ask, how did Abraham and Ephron settle on the price of 400 silver shekels for...
by Tuly | f 28, 2021 | Chayei Sara
This is the first story in the Torah to take place at a well, but not the last. Here, Eliezer travels to a foreign land, stops at a well where he encounters a future bride, a series of hurried movements, and running around to bring news of the stranger’s arrival,...
by Tuly | f 27, 2021 | Chayei Sara
After 175 years, Abraham passes away and the Torah uses a very specific formula to describe what happens to him: he was gathered to his kin. Isaac (Genesis 35:29) and Jacob (Genesis 49:33) are similarly described, as are Moses (Deuteronomy 33:50) and Aaron (Numbers...
by Tuly | f 26, 2021 | Bible Study, Chayei Sara
A 2014 article in the New York Times, “Camels had no Business in Genesis” argues that although camels appear frequently in Genesis, they weren’t even domesticated until several hundred years after the Patriarchs lived, implying that the Bible can’t be true. The...
by Admin | f 14, 2016 | Bible Study, Chayei Sara
In June 1948 the five-week-old State of Israel desperately needed weapons and the Irgun arranged for a ship full of armaments to arrive at the Tel Aviv port. Upon arrival of the ‘Altalena’, David Ben Gurion demanded the weapons be turned over to the Hagana. When the...
