How do you deal with people and situations that leave a bitter taste in your mouth? Find out by analyzing a strange story that takes place in this week's Torah reading about the bitter waters at Marah. Why does Midrash say that the waters became bitter only after the Jews arrived? Why did the waters […]

Which takes precedence in Torah—the person or the group? Does Judaism promote an individualist society or a collectivist society? For an understanding of the true nature of Jewish identity, we look at the first mitzvah performed by the Jewish people while still in Egypt, the Pesach offering. Based on Michtav Klali Pesach 5739 reprinted in […]

Hashem told Moshe to deliver his messages to Pharaoh in Hebrew, a language that Pharaoh did not even understand. Why was this? And what surprising lesson can we learn from this about effective communication? How is this skill also useful in dealing with our own ego when it refuses to listen to reason? Based on […]

What is the most important idea to know in Judaism? The name of the second book of the Five Books of Moses is known as Shmos in Hebrew, meaning "names." How is "names" a fitting title for a book about how the Jewish people descended into and left Egypt? Based on Likkutei Sichos vol. 6, […]

Before his passing, Yaakov asks his son, Yosef, to bury him in Chevron although he did not do the same for Yosef's mother, Rachel. Yaakov then proceeds to explain his reasons to Yosef, as Rashi says, "I know that your heart is troubled with me about that." But why was Yosef troubled? Did he doubt […]

"And to his father [Yosef] sent... from the best of Egypt." Says Rashi: "This is old wine." Why did Yosef specifically send his father old wine after twenty-two years of no contact? We know you can be nostalgic for the past but can you be nostalgic for the future as well? Find out how there […]

Why did Yosef have the same dream twice? And how is this different than Pharaoh who also had the same dream twice? The answer lies in understanding how each of us simultaneously lives in two realities--the spiritual and the material. This is also connected to the time-honored custom of giving "gelt" (gifts of money) to […]

"And [Yosef] asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in prison... 'Why are your faces sad today?'" (B'reishis 40:7.) How did this seemingly small act of asking two fellow prisoners how they were feeling lead to a massive ripple effect? What does this teach us about the enormous power of "small" acts of kindness? How […]

Following their dramatic showdown, Yaakov tells Eisav that he will meet him at Mt. Seir, but never shows up there. Based on this story, the Gemara says that if a non-Jew asks a Jew where he is going the Jew should name a point beyond his immediate destination lest the non-Jew lie in wait for […]

The Torah tell us that Rachel was beautiful but that Leah had "bleary eyes"? On a deeper level, this describes two personality types—the conventional spiritual beauty of the perfect tzadik and the unconventional spiritual beauty of the struggling penitent. It is the latter who has a special power to take on the spiritual darkness of […]