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ב"ה

Vayeira 5769 - November 14, 2008

Living
How to Be a Father

It’s the first dialogue there is between a father and his son in the Torah. It starts like this:
Isaac to Abraham: “My father?”
Abraham to Isaac: “Here I am, my son.”
Presidential Coattails

By the millions, Obama motivated us to register to vote. Excited by the prospect of change that Obama is promising, many of the new voters, and many of the veterans too, voted straight Democratic...
Doesn’t Everyone Deserve the Chance to Have a Child?

"We were dealt a blow today," my wife said softly. "But I don't want to be angry at G‑d. As we enter the next chapter of our lives and we will not let bitterness or melancholy darken it."
It's Not About the Money—Really!

We can debate all day who the best second baseman is; what is objectively verifiable is who the highest paid player is. The math is very simple: I make more than you, hence I am more valuable than you!
Living in Sderot

You don't think. You run. You have twenty seconds.
The Jewish Woman
The African Violet

After school, I would journey alone from a world defined by the future to a world that had no future. What would I say to Grandma? How could I tell her that I was making plans for later, for what I would be doing once she was no longer here?
Woman as Conqueror?

Fat and pregnant with maybe fifteen smaller versions of herself. It crosses my mind that these matriyoshki are a visual model for a secret of the universe...
Parshah
The Parshah in a Nutshell
Abraham is visited by three angels and is promised a son. The city of Sodom is destroyed, and Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt. Sarah gives birth to Isaac at the age of 90, Hagar and Ishmael are banished, and G‑d orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.
What Kind of G‑d Would Ask You to Sacrifice Your Son?

Skeptic: Now if that's not the epitome of everything wrong with religion... Believer: Aren't you leaving out a very important part of the story?
Sometimes the Greatest Gift is One You Don't Give

Receiving often has strings attached. Often, recompense in terms of gratitude and a feeling of indebtedness are expected. So is it wise to be on the receiving end?
Humility is Teachability

Why did Abraham bother to coerce stubborn guests into reciting a prayer? What was the value of forcing his guests to pay lip service to a belief in G‑d; it was, after all, insincere?
The Boy or the Bottle?

Just because the bottle may be empty don’t throw away the child
Flow Chart of Goodness

A person must seek out a spiritual livelihood with all the intensity of his strength, just as he seeks a material livelihood.
— Hayom Yom, Cheshvan 14
Print Magazine

Due to the limitations of your reality, some of your best friends can enter only incognito.

In fact, the really big ones sometimes sneak in disguised as ugly monsters and vicious enemies. Otherwise, the guards at the gate would never permit them entry.

These are the events optimists call “blessings in disguise.”

Here’...

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