What Did the Sea See? The week’s Parsha begins with the Jewish people leaving Egypt. What was Moses doing at that time? Moses took the bones of Joseph with him… The Midrash states that the splitting of…
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Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) Snow in the Siddur: A Daily Reminder We Often Miss [A short message inspired by the recent barrage of snow in the Northeast] I was humbled recently during morning prayers; it was…
This week, the Jewish community in Charlotte was the unfortunate recipient of Jew hatred; a vile antisemitic poster was placed on the door of the Charlotte Jewish Day School. An old story, perhaps apocryphal, came to mind.…
Imagine being on vacation in Puerto Rico. You’ve just picked up your rental car and are on your way to the hotel but stop for dinner. You park your rental car in a paid parking lot and…
Expanding the Narrow Places: What We Carry Inside The book of Exodus opens the story of our exile, but it also invites us to notice something deeply human; the way fear and insecurity, when left unexamined, can…
As You Move Forward in Life Don’t Leave Your Story Behind At the end of the book of Genesis, Joseph turns to his family before his death and makes a surprising request; he asks them to take…
“I may be dreaming but I’m not sleeping” The climax of one of the Torah’s most dramatic stories is when Joseph, Egypt’s Viceroy, reveals his identity to his unsuspecting brothers. For the past 22 years, his father…
Trust Without a Résumé [While Joseph is still in prison, Pharaoh dreams of cows and sheaves and demands that someone interprets his dreams. The wine steward remembered Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, mentioned it to Pharaoh, and Joseph…
How Do I Say No When Everything Inside Me Wants to Say Yes? We live in a world overflowing with temptation—food, social media, technology, gossip, shortcuts, and addictions, but long before smartphones, distractions, and modern pressures, Joseph faced the same…
Sometimes You Don’t Need a Lecture — You Need a MemoryIn this week’s Torah portion, there’s a quiet verse that is easy to miss. It describes the death of Devorah, the nursemaid of Rebecca (Rivka): Devorah, Rivka’s nurse, died……