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...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 22, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayeishev Genesis 37:1 – 40:23 Embracing Imbalance Vayeishev, the name and first word of this week’s Torah portion has caused much ink to be spilled. Vayeishev is translated in English to mean: “And he settled,”...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 1, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Toledot Genesis 25:19 – 28:9 Breaking Free From The Great Teachers At the opening of our Torah portion, we find Isaac pleading with God, in the presence of his barren wife Rebecca, that she might — after twenty years of waiting...
by RabbiOlivier | May 31, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Sh’lach L’cha Numbers 13:1 – 15:41 Why The Spies Were Wrong This week, in Torah, we meet again the story of the twelve elders, leaders of the Hebrew tribes, whom Moses sends to spy upon the Land of Canaan ahead of the...
by RabbiOlivier | Mar 15, 2013 | Torah Reflections
Mah Nish’tanah? What Has Changed? Although we closed the Book of Exodus last week, with Passover around the corner, its stories linger still in our consciousness. This is the time of the year, personally, when I delight in re-opening the Passover Haggadah and in...