It has been all over the news in the past couple of weeks: Lance Armstrong is a liar and he admits it.  Well, I must say that knowing what we all know about him lately, it is not very surprising that he is a liar and consistently lied about his doping throughout much of his…

Parashat Vaeira – Holiness is Relationship As you are probably aware from the Passover Seder, we have four different cups of wine or grape juice. Each one, we are taught, refers to a verb that God uses in the Torah to describe the process of the Exodus from Egypt. One of those words is והוציתי…

The parasha that we read this week begins the book of Exodus.  In it, we read what Pharaoh says at what we can imagine to be the beginning of his reign when we ‘arose and did not know Joseph.  He says, 9 וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־עַמּוֹ הִנְֵּה עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּֽנּוּ: – “And he said unto…

The parasha this week has Joseph, the vizier of Egypt and newly-self-revealed brother of those who sought to kill him many years ago, sending his brothers back to Canaan to get their father, Jacob.  He is not angry with them but sends them on their way by saying, וַיְשַׁלַּ֜ח אֶת־אֶחָ֝יו וַיֵּלֵ֞כוּ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֭ם אַֽל־תִּרְגְּז֝וּ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ:…

The latest heartbreaking tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT has given rise to the question that keeps coming back after every kind of tragedy, sickness, act of depravity.  It is a question that no one has answered despite their best efforts.  That question is, of course, ‘Why did God allow this…

The story in this week’s parasha is interesting in that Joseph is asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream of the seven fat cows and the seven skinny cows.  Joseph says something interesting after explaining that the dream means seven good years of harvest and seven bad years of harvest.  He says: וְעַתָּה֙ יֵרֶ֣א פַרְעֹ֔ה אִ֖ישׁ נָב֣וֹן…

Pursuing What? In this week’s Torah portion, Joseph is certainly at his most immature.  He does not realize what is in store for him nor how he will see God working behind the scenes in his life.  All he has now are dreams and he will gladly share his ‘wisdom’ with whomever he wants, especially…

The Torah portion for this week is Vayeytze and it describes the famous incident of Jacob’s dream with the ladder ascending to heaven with angels coming up and down the ladder.  The set-up for the dream uses strange language, though, and it is instructive to see what it can teach us. The text says, “vayifgah…

  The Torah portion for this weeks begins with a famous story, albetit, rather unusual.  Abraham has just been circumcised at 90 years old (!) and is sitting by the opening of his tent when he sees three strangers either pass by or appear in front of him (the text is sort of ambiguous about…

FROM CHAD MCCLELLAND I wasn’t sure what to expect at the NFTY-GER New Member Kallah. Right off of the bus, new faces showered me with smiles. I met so many friends and can’t wait to see them again at the next event. I also got a chance to better know Salty members. Living in a…