A Story of Miraculous Hostage Rescue When our patriarch Abraham [Avram] was forced to leave the land of Canaan due to a famine (Genesis 12: 10), he sought refuge in Egypt. Despite his efforts to protect his wife, Sarah [Sarai] was abducted by the Pharaoh who ruled at that time. Miraculously, God sent a plague upon the house of Pharoah and Sarah was immediately released unharmed. This miracle, related in this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha(Genesis 12:1–17:27), is the same miracle we fervently

Choose Life Not Death In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera (Genesis 18:1–22:24), God commands Abraham to circumcise his son Isaac eight days after his birth. Thirty-seven years later, God tests Abraham by commanding him to offer his son on Mt. Moriah. Contrary to the prevalent pagan custom, God uses this test to demonstrate to Abraham that the Jewish people must reject human sacrifice and embrace life. The prophet Samuel put it this way, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). Toda

The Miraculous Possession of Israel Our Sages explain that the Torah begins with the creation story to empower the Jewish people with a response to those who challenge their right to the Land of Israel. The reply “God created the world, and He gives it to whomever he desires,” although beautiful, always left me with another question. If the Jewish people can claim that God gave Israel to them, why can’t the nations make the same claim when they conquered the land? When the nations conquered th

Peace Treaties and Genuine Peace After a dispute with Abimelech, king of the Philistines, Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath (Genesis 21:30:21) to live in peace. Later, in this week’s Torah portion, Toldos(Genesis 25:19–28:9), Isaac reaffirmed the oath with Abimelech (Genesis 26:28). Isaac’s son Jacob, as well as his descendants, honored this peace treaty. Hundreds of years later, when King David prepared to conquer Jerusalem, he was confronted by the reality that Jerusalem was inhabited by

Peace Will Prevail Over All Mankind Our forefather Jacob endured twenty years of abuse and deception from his father-in-law Laban. Jacob’s attempts to make peace were rebuffed by Labam, as it says, “Jacob noticed Laban’s facial expression and saw that he no longer felt toward him as he had previously” (Genesis 31:2). Later, in this week’s Torah portion, Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10–32:3), Jacob takes his family and flees from Laban. Then Laban “took men with him and chased after Jacob” (Genesis 3

Dwell in the Land in Peace In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43), our forefather Jacob experienced some life-changing events. Although Jacob feared that he would have to fight his brother Esav when “he saw Esav coming and with him four hundred men” (Genesis 33:1), his deep brotherly love prevailed, and war was avoided. Yaacov was rewarded for his efforts to make peace and received the complimentary name Yisroel, which means “prince (שר) of God,” because “you struggled

Is Rabbinic Judaism from God? Missionaries attempt to discredit Judaism by asserting that it is not biblical and merely a “man-made” religion based on rabbinic traditions. In response to this erroneous claim, I point out that rabbinical authority is based on specific biblical passages, including: “Judges and officers, you shall appoint” (Deuteronomy 16:18-20), “Act according to the law they [the judges] instruct you and the judgment they tell you” (Deuteronomy 17:11), and “It is not for m

Good and Evil Can’t Coexist Following biblical commandments is an opportunity to demonstrate our love of God. It is also the only way finite beings can connect with an infinite Creator. According to Jewish thought, the commandments are the will and wisdom of God; therefore, when we fulfill a commandment, we connect to God’s essence. This is one of the reasons the Hebrew word mitzvah, or commandment, also means a “connection.” Even if we don’t understand the reason for a particular commandment