Teachings
Below are the teachings from our weekly Torah Studies. If you would like to join us, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can let you know where and when we meet.
Vayechi (And He Lived) B’resheet/Genesis 47:28-50:26
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- Created on Saturday, 11 January 2020 13:05
Torah Portion: Vayechi (And He Lived) B’resheet/Genesis 47:28-50:26
Haftorah Reading: I Kings 2:1-12
Tonight, we read the last portion of Genesis. This portion covers the end of Jacob’s life as well as that of his son Joseph. It is interesting that the name of this portion is, “And He Lived,” but then goes into great detail of Jacob’s last days. If you remember we saw this same thing in the portion about the death of Sarah. What point do you think is being made here in our portion and also in the one about Sarah? I believe the important point being made is how have we lived our life; how did we spend our days? I pray for each of us this urgency of living over-rides the death that comes to us all.
Vayigash(And He came) B’resheet/Genesis 44:18-47:27
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- Created on Saturday, 04 January 2020 14:37
Torah Portion: Vayigash(And He came) B’resheet/Genesis 44:18-47:27
Haftorah Reading: Ezekiel 37:15-28
Tonight’s Torah section begins with one of the most dramatic scenes in Torah. It begins with Judah coming to Joseph and basically whispering in his ear. He relates how he is ready to take his brother Benjamin’s place and become a slave. He goes on to explain how taking Benjamin would be a death blow to their father Ya’akov.
Mikketz (And Then It Came to Pass) B’resheet/Genesis 41:1-44:17
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- Created on Saturday, 28 December 2019 14:17
Torah Portion: Mikketz (And Then It Came to Pass) B’resheet/Genesis 41:1-44:17
Haftorah Reading: I Kings 3:15-4:1
Tonight, we celebrate the 7th night of Chanukah as well as study our Torah portion called Mikketz. I think as we go through this we will see some connections between the two subjects. After our study we will do Havdalah to mark the end of the Sabbath and then light the 7th candle of the holiday.
First let’s look at Chanukah and see what spiritual insight we gain from this holiday. To begin, let’s look at a little history about this holiday. The setting is Israel about 2200 years ago. Israel at the time was under the rule of the Greek Empire. Alexander the Great had conquered the known world years before. As a result, Greek culture was introduced across the known world. Part of the Greek culture was to introduce their own religious faith and life, both centered on the worship of the physical body and philosophy. The Greek system of religion was basically based on the worship of mankind and this was the focus of their culture. They promoted intellect and the beauty of the human body as ideals to be held up for admiration and even worship.