by RabbiOlivier | Dec 27, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
VaEira Exodus 6:2 – 9:35 Know Thyself to be Enslaved Every year, as I meet the text narrating the plagues of Egypt, I am confronted with the same paradox. God commends Moses to ask Pharaoh to free the Hebrews. Pharaoh refuses. God brings down a plague. Pharaoh...
by RabbiOlivier | Dec 20, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Shemot Exodus 1:1 – 6:1 Beyond Fear And Morality This week we open the Book of Exodus. Jacob and his sons settled in Egypt as Joseph, then Viceroy, invited them to. After that generation dies out we are told, “the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they...
by RabbiOlivier | Dec 16, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayechi Genesis 47:28 – 50:26 Conditioned Happiness Last week as I studied the Torah portion, after reading numerous rabbinic commentaries, an image emerged of Jacob’s soul-to soul connection to his son, Benjamin. Upon reading...
by RabbiOlivier | Dec 6, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayigash Genesis 44:18 – 47:27 Joseph: Accountability and Free Will Chapter 45 is pivotal in the Book of Genesis. Joseph, Jacob’s favored son, who had been second-in-command of Egypt for the past nine years, reveals himself...