Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

The 10th Commandment tells us not to covet what our neighbor has. Not to be jealous of them for their success. Rather that we should learn how to be successful from them.

The first "commandment" in the Decalogue is not a commandment but a statement. God is introducing Himself and pointing out that what comes next is not from man but from Him. That this was the purpose of the Exodus.

Jethro arrives to the Israelite camp and gives Moses advice that entails the necessity of preparing the next generation of leaders. As it happens it is the Yahrzeit of my mother-in-law who was a teacher and felt this was her calling.

Dotan & Aviram are two characters in the Torah who just want to cause trouble for Moses. They are agitators of the worst kind. They cause trouble and don't take responsibility for their complaints.

The crossing of the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) is the seminal moment when the Jews realized what being free entails. We have to make our own decisions and act upon them.

Before the Jews travel to Egypt Judah has to set up the infrastructure of a Jewish society. This will allow the Jews to live according to their ways while in Egypt.

When Judah approaches Joseph he does so as a proud Jew. This teaches us that we should be proud of who we are.

Judah & Joseph represent two different types of leaders. Each has positive abilities. The Torah shows how they need to work together

Judah shows trued leadership when he takes upon himself to save Benjamin by being willing to be taken prisoner in Benjamin's place. True leadership is based on taking action and taking responsibility for that action.

Yehudah Steps Forward This week we begin Parashat Vayigash , and we left last week’s parashah on a dramatic cliffhanger. Binyamin has been framed. Yosef—still unrecognized by his brothers—has deliberately arranged events so that Binyamin, the youngest brother and the other son of Rachel, appears guilty and is about to be taken as a slave. This is not cruelty; it is a test . Yosef remembers exactly...

The story of Joseph testing his brothers is important. Did his brothers repent for what hey had done to him? He does this by testing them under similar circumstances. This is how you will know if someone really made repentance.

Our enemies do not care if they benefit from their hatred. All they care about is attacking. We, on he other hand care about building and making the world a better place through hard work and keeping God's Commandments.

Esau does not plan for the future. He wants what he wants, and he wants it now. Jacob thinks things through. He plans for the future by working today.

The key word for this week's portion is jealousy. Esau is jealous of Jacob. He felt that he was tricked into giving up his birthright. The truth is that he would not have died if he had waited a little to get food. He blamed Jacob for his bad judgement.

The problem with Esau is that he wants instant gratification. Jacob is into delayed gratification. That is what sets off the entire fight between them. And this is why Esau really loses his birthright.

When Abraham dies, Ishmael and Isaac bury him together. They know that they cannot live together but are not fighting each other. By building boundaries they keep the peace between themselves.

The states that Isaac married Rebecca and then he loved her. What we are being taught that that our love for our spouse grows with time.

The conditions that Abraham lays down in what to look for in a wife for Isaac, he is showing that he is concerned about his grandchildren & their morality.

After burying Sarah Abraham realizes that the urgency of getting Isaac a bride. This shows us that Abraham knew that his time was up and now Isaac was the leader. That the mission was what was important, not him.

The Torah makes the point that Abraham bought the tomb in which Sarah was to be buried to stress that we have the title to the land. That even though God has promised us the land, we can show that we have a deed to it.

In this week's portion we learn about the death of Sarah and the respect that we owe those who have passed away. This is one of the main issues in the Torah. No matter what the reason that a person dies we are required to respect their bodies.

The story of the binding of Isaac is about the trust that we should have in God. That no matter how bad the situation seems to be, we know that we are under God's protection.

One of the most important lessons we can learn from the Torah is that we are not entitled to leadership. It has to be earned through our hard work and diligence.

Lot's daughters thought that the world had been destroyed. They took action to repopulate the world. If they had waited a little, they would have discovered that they were wrong. We forget that humans have seen worse that what we are experiencing.

When the angels came to save Lot, he refused to go with them. He could not believe that Sodom was about to be destroyed. This is an oft repeated story. When faced with the truth of their situation many refuse to believe the obvious.