Alexis Levy - Assistant Director Parshat Vayechi Parshat Vayechi draws the curtains on Sefer Bereishit but also on the lives of our Avot. Yaakov, lying on his deathbed, calls Yosef to him before blessing all of his children. Yosef is told that he is receiving a special portion...
Shira Melamed - Director Parshat vayigash This week’s parsha is loaded with much action, drama and content. There are family reunions, years of unsaid words finally spoken, and much more. But the one pasuk I would like to focus on is what Yosef told his brothers after he disclosed...
Tali Karp - Educator Parshat Vayeshev In the beginning of this week’s parsha, Parshat Mikeitz, Pharaoh has two dreams. Pharaoh awakes perturbed and seeks interpretations for these dreams. His advisors are unsuccessful in helping him until the Sar Hamashkim, the butler, remembers Yosef who had previously interpreted his...
Lani Margolias - Educator Parshat Vayeshev Studies show that over 70% of teens are not happy with the way they look, and that percentage increases as they get older, especially with women. When did looks and the emphasis on appearances become a focus in our society? The truth...
Estee Lightstone - Educator Parshat Vayishlach Bnei Yisrael get their name in this week's parsha! It is the event of Yaakov fighting with the angel that Hashem changes Yaakov's name to Yisrael and thereby, we are named The Children of Yisrael. What is so significant about this...
Rav Effie Kleinberg - Educator Parshat Vayetze We read this week about the journey of Yaakov to build the Jewish people together with Rachel and Leah. On the way to Haran where he eventually marries Rachel and Leah, he stops and has the incredible dream about the ladder...
Miri Idan - Educator Parshat Vayelech Rivka, our mother, shows us a woman who removed herself from her home, her family and the place where she grew up. She did "lech lecha" in an emotional and practical way. She went after Eliezer, Abraham's servant, in order to...
Rav Yehoshua Felberg - Educator Parshat Chayei Sarah The death of Sarah Imenu is a sobering event in the biblical narrative. Although the encounter with “death” goes back to the earliest chapters of Genesis, this is the first time we encounter a detailed description of the aftermath and...
Esther Farkovits - Educator Parshat Lech Lecha This is it. The opening story of our father Avraham. We might have heard many stories about his childhood and young adult life. Stories brought by the midrash about breaking idols, jumping into fires etc. However, the first time we...
Ellie Ausubel - Educator Parshat Noach Two Types of Tzaddikim Our parsha opens with an introduction to Noach and his family and closes with an introduction to Avram and his family. The Torah gives what appears to be a glowing report of Noach – describing him as "a...