As we begin the book of Shemos, Sefer Ha’Geula, we find the Israelite nation deep in the Egyptian exile and enslavement. It was a time of back-breaking labor, a time of persecution and pain, it was a dark time when all hope seemed lost. And...
The Book of Bereishis closes with this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayechi Yaakov, And Yaakov Lived - a parsha in which both Yaakov Avinu and Yosef Ha’Tzadik die. In a book full of drama, personal and inter-personal struggles, and much emotion, the stories and lives of...
In a sefer full of drama, Parshas Vayigash is perhaps one of the most dramatic parshios in the book of Bereishis. We are told of the famous and fateful encounter between Yosef and Yehudah over the fate of Binyamin. We read of the dramatic revelation...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayeishev, Yaakov Avinu’s family is thrust into turmoil, upheaval and mourning, with the abduction, sale and sudden absence of Yosef, the beloved son. As the parsha opens, the verses describe the disunity between the brothers and Yosef, as their hatred and...
This week’s post is dedicated to a dear friend and learning-partner who pointed out the dots over “and kissed him” to me… With many thanks. In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayishlach, Eisav and Yaakov meet again for the first time in twenty years. Fearing the wrath...
It is another erev Shabos Kodesh when we find ourselves numb, in shock, without words…yet again! The collective pain as we check our phones, our computers, our email yet again, and in disbelief, we read the news…yet again! We reach out to each other for...
Part II of a Two-Part Series on Tefillah, presented by Mrs. Michal Horowitz and Mrs. Zahava Farbman, at the Young Israel of Woodmere on Monday, November 9, 2015. We ask that you please share this shiur link with others as well. https://michalhorowitz.com/Store/mp3/SpecialEvent/YIW-Tefila-II-11.9.15.MP3 ...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Chayei Sarah, Sarah Imainu dies and is buried in the Me’aras Ha’Machpela. The Torah then records, in great and precise detail, the quest for the next matriarch who would become the wife of righteous Yitzchak. Avraham sent his faithful servant, Eliezer,...
Part I of a Two-Part Series on Tefillah, presented by Mrs. Michal Horowitz and Mrs. Zahava Farbman, at the Young Israel of Woodmere on Monday, November 2, 2015. We ask that you please share this shiur link with others as well. https://michalhorowitz.com/Store/mp3/SpecialEvent/YIW-Tefila-I-11.2.15.MP3...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayeira, Avraham Avinu is tested with his tenth, and most difficult, test: Akeidas Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac. “Take your son, your only one, the one that you love, Yitzchak, and go for yourself to the land of Moriah, and...