Marcia Berneger

In this week’s Parshah, Vaera, God continues speaking to Moses. God remembers the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring them to the Promised Land as Israel. God hears the Israelites suffering as slaves now and tells Moses to let the people know they will soon be free. [Marcia Berneger]

This Parshah contains a very strong message:  Any child can grow up to become a hero. As a baby, Moses shouldn’t have survived. Through the courage of his mother and sister, he not only survives, he grows up in Pharaoh’s court. Then disaster strikes and he becomes an outcast, living in the desert. But God sees something strong in Moses and chooses him to lead the Jewish people to freedom. Even when Moses objects, God pushes him into accepting that role. As Moses faces Pharaoh, things grow worse instead of better and helping the Jewish people seems like a distant dream. [Marcia Berneger]

On Saturday, Jews around the world read Parshah Vayechi,  the last Parshah in the first book of the Torah. We’ve gone from the creation of the world all the way through to the lives of our three forefathers. We end with the final words of Jacob, our last forefather. Jacob asks Joseph to take his body our of Egypt and bury it in the cave with Abraham and Isaac. Joseph promises to fulfill his father’s request. Jacob then blesses Joseph’s two sons. Just as Jacob tricks his father into blessing him, he now switches the blessings for Joseph’s sons. Ephraim. the younger son is given the blessing to become the father of a great nation. Menasseh, the older son, will also be important, but Ephraim with be head of the greater nation. [Marcia Berneger]

Last week’s Parshah ended with Joseph accusing Benjamin of stealing Pharaoh’s cup. Benjamin would not be allowed to return home because of it. In this week’s Torah portion, called Vayigash, we see  Joseph’s brother, Judah, pleading to be the one who stays behind. Since Benjamin means so much to Jacob, Judah is afraid their father will die if they return without their youngest brother. [Marcia Berneger]

In Parshah Mitketz, the story of Josef continues. Pharaoh has two frightening dreams. In the first dream, there are seven healthy cows grazing in a lush field, followed by seven skinny, starving cows. The skinny cows eat the healthy ones. In his second dream, there are seven healthy stalks of grain followed by seven skinny ugly ones. The skinny grain eats the healthy ones. Pharaoh searches for someone to interpret his dreams. [Marcia Berneger]

It’s Hanukah! Time to celebrate! Spin the dreidel, light the menorah, fry the latkes, and don’t forget the presents. These are all Hanukah traditions. But what is the real reason we celebrate? [Marcia Berneger]

Parashah Vayeshev is the story of Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Jacob loved Joseph and favored him over his other sons. He even gave Joseph a beautiful coat, often called the Coat of Many Colors, or even the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph wore his coat all the time and his brothers got very jealous. [Marcia Berneger]

The Torah portion read earlier today in synagogues was Vayishlach. Jacob wants to meet with his brother Esau. But Jacob fled from his home years ago to keep away from Esau. Jacob tricked his father into giving him the blessing his brother was supposed to receive. He stayed away because he knew how mad Esau was. But now, Jacob sends many cows, donkeys and sheep to his brother, hoping to make up for what he did. [Marcia Berneger]

We see in this Parshah that Jacob worked for fourteen years to get to marry Rachel. He didn’t give up, but kept working toward the goal he wanted. [Marcia Berneger]

Parshah Toldot, which was read this weekend in synagogues, tells the story of Isaac’s two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob is the third of our three forefathers—our line of ancestors who came before—the first three generations who formed the foundation of Judaism. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca in last week’s story. This week, Rebecca gives birth to twin sons. The second one born (the “younger” son), Jacob, was born holding the heel of his brother, Esau. [Marcia Berneger]

The story about Isaac is said to have taken place about 4000 years ago. In those times, women didn’t have an important role in what happened, especially to them. Husbands were chosen for them and their main job was to care for their children.The story about Rebecca is special because not only does her family ask her if she wants to go with the servant (a total stranger taking her to some unknown man in a far-away city)), but she then goes against what they wanted to do. Instead of staying with her family for ten more days, she agrees to step into the unknown future and go with the servant. [Marcia Berneger]