Jacob goes down to Egypt and begins a comfortable period of life thanks to Joseph’s proximity to Pharaoh’s regime. But immediately after Joseph leaves the scene, Pharaoh changes and begins to harass the group of immigrants which is multiplying uncontrollably. Pharaoh’s struggle with the children of Israel becomes apparent when he clearly instructs the Hebrew midwives to prevent the continuity of the Jewish people by saying “any son born must be thrown into the Nile.” The midw

Every Monday after school we learn about Emunah and Bitachon in Hashem. We learn about the differences between Faith and Trust. One of the most important things we learned is that you're always responsible for your actions but you're not responsible for your results. You have to always remember Hashem puts you in a situation because he knows that only you could handle the situation. Hashem always wants what's best for us.

In our parasha we confront the status of exile for the first time in our Jewish history. Yaakov and his sons find themselves in Galut with no happy end in near sight. Rashi even says that in order to demonstrate that feeling our Parasha doesn’t start in a separate paragraph. That is to show the deep darkness that Galut symbolizes. Outside of the homeland and with no independence, Am Israel is depressed and out of fresh air. The Midrash teaches that in order to spark a bit of

Yishmael is a different story. Why? Before Yaakov Avinu passed away he blessed his sons. This started not with his direct sons, but with his grandsons Efraim and Menashe. When doing this he crosses his arms so that his strong hand would be on Efraim, the younger brothers head. When asked why he explained that Efraim’s descendants will be more righteous than his older brother Menashe’s. The situation is still quite strange because the Midrash Rabbah tells us that Hashem saved

In our parasha we confront the status of exile for the first time in our Jewish history. Yaakov and his sons find themselves in Galut with no happy end in near sight. Rashi even says that in order to demonstrate that feeling our Parasha doesn’t start in a separate paragraph. That is to show the deep darkness that Galut symbolizes. Outside of the homeland and with no independence, Am Israel is depressed and out of fresh air. The Midrash teaches that in order to spark a bit of

Every morning after Shacharit we learn two Halachot from Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. Topics vary from Hilchot Tfillin to Halachot regarding all types of Chagim. It is a pleasure for both of us to learn together since we’re both interested in Halacha L’maase. We both rub each other in the way that can both teach each other the language that we’re most comfortable with – Yoni speaking English, and Asael speaking Hebrew. In relation to the end of Yaakov’s life that we see in this Par

As Jacob’s death is approaching, Jacob calls Joseph and begins to prepare him for what to do after his death, but suddenly there is a verse which seems unrelated to the context: “And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died unto me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some way to come unto Efrat, and I buried her there on the way to Efrat – the same is Bethlehem.” (Genesis 48:7) The Midrash says that at this point, at the beginning of exile, Jacob begi

There is a mitzva to light a candle to honor Shabbat. There are three reasons for this: 1) to honor Shabbat, as a banquet without light is of no significance; 2) for oneg Shabbat, because one who cannot see his food does not enjoy it; 3) to bring shalom bayit (peace in the home), because one who cannot see his furniture and belongings trips over them and gets angry and irritable. It is so important to have light at the Shabbat table that the Sages stated that one who does not