Collections of Thoughts and Poetry

#dina #jacob #deena #yaakov #vayishlach #genesis #breisheet #parshathashavua #parshapoetry #poetry #rape #silence #voice Dear Readers, I struggled mightily with this post. The women of Torah who are raped and abused never speak. and when I read about women whose voices are absent, I like to try to give them a voice, if only for a few moments. In Parshat Vayishlach, we get an introduction to Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. Dinah and her family, recently arrived in their new ho

#whoknows #thegatewaytoheaven #whoknew #heavenwashereandididnotknowit #parshatvayeitzei #yaakov #jacob #vayeitzei In Parshat Vayeitzei, Jacob flees from the wrath of his brother. How alone he must have felt as he journeyed back toward his mother's homeland. Was he feeling powerless or powerful? One can never know, but despite what he felt, during the night he was visited by a dream of angels descending and ascending a staircase and when he woke in the morning he knew that

#whatwouldyougive #wordshavewings #parshattoldot #yaakovandesav #yaakov #jacobandesau #stew #redlentils #redlentilstew Parshat Toldot tells the story of Isaac and Rebecca and their children Esav and Jacob. The story is detailed, and in a few paragraphs details the complicated relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children. This parsha helps us to understand the characters of each of the players in this family drama. Today we will pause and think for a mom

#wearefamily #family #bcholdorvador #isaac #jacob #rebecca #esau #yitzhak #rivka #esav #yaakov #competition #withloveweruin #mothersandfathers #familydynamics As much as I want to write happy and fun poems about next week's parsha, Parshat Toldot, I have always found the story of Ya'akov and Esav to be so tragic. M'farshim create an unsavory description of Esav in the Midrash, and at this point relationships and family is ripped apart. I understand that my reading is not t