Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yetze [Genesis 28:10–32:3] is a personal favorite, in that it is my Bar Mitzvah portion. Coincidentally [or not] it is the Bat Mitzvah portion of my wife, Carol. And, my Hebrew name is יעקב [ya’aqov, Jacob], who is the main character. The parashah begins with Jacob heading northeast, to the land of his uncle Lavan, as he flees from his brother Esau. The parashah ends with Jacob on his way back to Canaan, with two wives and two handmaidens s, in tow, with 12 children [11 boys and a girl], and much flocks, p ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Toldot [Genesis 25:19–28:9] is the sixth of the weekly parashiyot in the Book of Genesis. The toldot, or generations, from which the parashah takes its name, belong to Isaac. Eilleh toldot yitzhaq ben avraham, avraham holid et yitzhaq: this is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac. After a couple stories about Isaac, one of which concerns the birth of Jacob and Esau, the narrative frame shifts to Jacob and Esau. Part of our conversation is devoted to an evaluation of Isaac as patriarch. Does ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Hayyai Sarah [23:1–25:18] is the fifth of the weekly parashiyot in Sefer B’reshit [the Book of Genesis]. It begins with the death notice of Sarah, and continues with the first acquisition of land by Avraham in Canaan. This is the basis of the subsequent Jewish claim to the Land. Canaan is the place where Avraham the Hebrew buried his dead. In fact, this burial is the first mention of burial in the Torah. Heretofore, the death notice was simply a death notice, often accompanied with a note on the years the dec ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yera [Genesis 18-22] is the 4th weekly parashah in the Book of Genesis. It primarily consists of a series of events in the life of Abraham: the visitation of the angels/messengers of God with the news that Sarah will give birth to a son, Avraham’s discussion with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, a second iteration of the wife-sister story, this time featuring Avimelekh instead of Pharaoh, and the binding of Isaac. There are also stories about the fate of Lot and his family who had been living in So ..read more

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Lekh L’kha [Genesis 12:1–17:27] is the third parashah in the Book of Genesis. It opens with God’s dramatic call to Avram, instructing him to leave “his land, his birthplace, his father’s house, to go to the land that I [God] will show you”. Because this is the opening verse of the new parashah, it is easy to forget that Avram has already left his land and his birthplace with his father Terah, his nephew Lot, and his wife Sarai for the land of Canaan, making it as far as Haran, just two verses ago. This call ..read more

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Pre-recorded last week ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Because Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah fall on Shabbat and Sunday, we have another special edition of Parashah Talk. The parashah for this Shabbat is Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17, from parashat Re’eh, which is also read on the last day of Passover and second day of Shavuot. It is Deuteronomy’s festival calendar. Ironically, this calendar does not mention Sh’mini Atzeret. Our conversation took up in turn, the holidays of Hoshanah Rabbah [Friday, October 6], Shmini Atzeret [Shabbat, October 7], and Simchat Torah [October ..read more

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. The parashah this week is a special Torah Reading for Sukkot. This may be familiar to those who remember the Torah reading from the second day of Passover, 6 months ago, and it will be repeated again on Sunday in communities observing two days of yom tov [holiday]. The Torah reading comprises the sacred calendar of Leviticus. Of special note is verse 23:40, from which the rabbis derive the commandment to gather the four species [etrog (citron), palm branch, myrtle, and willow] and 23:43, which gives the reason for b ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. When either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, this week’s parashah, Ha’azinu [Deuteronomy 32] is also Shabbat Shuvah, with a special haftarah [Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:15-27, according to the Ashkenazic tradition recorded in the Etz Hayim]. Though the Shabbat takes its name from the first word in the Hosea text [as Shabbat Hazon, the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, takes its name from the first word of its haftarah, Isaiah 1:1-27, and Shabbat Nahamu, the Shabbat following Tisha B’av, takes its name from the first ..read more

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. It is the week before Rosh Hashanah [which begins this Friday evening, September 15, 2023], so the weekly parashah is replaced by the special Torah readings for the holiday: on Saturday, Shabbat, we read Genesis 21; on Sunday, we read chapter 22. Rather than speak directly about the Torah reading this week, we spoke instead on the emotional highlights for us of Rosh Hashanah, and in particular, the prayers or texts that speak to us most directly. Unlike the other holidays, where we might prepare the house by removing ..read more