Voices of WRJ
By Diane Pont, 12/07/2018
Parashah Mikeitz begins with Joseph’s accurate interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams. Joseph, the favorite of Jacob’s 12 sons, had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. After years of imprisonment, Joseph was released from slavery due to his foretelling of the seven years of plenty followed by seven years of want. Upon his release from the pit where he was held captive, Joseph was elevated to the second highest position in Egypt. Preparation for the years of want did not extend to the land of Joseph’s father and brothers and famine was rampant throughout their land. Jacob sent... Read More
By Cynthia Wolf, 11/30/2018
In 2012, the year before WRJ celebrated our 100th anniversary, my mitzvah participation while a member of the WRJ Executive Committee was to write 12 D’vrei Torah all of which had the theme, “Women’s Voices Deepen Our Jewish Legacy.” One that I wrote for our centennial year was entitled “Tamar: Conscious Choices and Choosing One’s Own Destiny” and is based on Parashah Vayeishev (Genesis 38: 1 – 30). And, of course, I used “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary” as my companion. Parts of this blog came from that D’var Torah, improved by some grammatical edits and some rethinking of the subject.... Read More
By Linda Ferguson, 11/23/2018
The setting is in the land of Shechem in Canaan, where Jacob and his family are staying after their brief reconciliation with his brother Esau. Usually, I would begin by summarizing the story but we run into problems right from the second sentence: “Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area saw her, he took her and …… ??????” Some versions read “raped” her, others “subdued” or simply “lay with” her. Sexual intercourse is obviously implied, but was it consensual on... Read More
By Alison Auerbach , 11/16/2018
In this week’s Torah portion Jacob is fleeing from his brother and is on his way to Haran when he stops at a “certain place” (Genesis 28:11). He settles in for the night, uses a stone as a pillow, and has a dream. Yes, that dream, of ladders and angels and the comfort of the eternal. When Jacob arrives in his stopping point for the night it is described merely as a “certain place,” not a sacred place or a holy place, not even a named place. It is simply a spot between where he has been and where he is going. Rabbi Rabbi Allison RH Conyer clarifies, “This mysterious place is both unknown... Read More
By Nicole Villalpando, 11/09/2018
The story of Rebekah can be a great cautionary tale of how not to be a “good Jewish mother.” You know the stereotype: an anxious mother who fawns over her children and then uses guilt to get her children to make the choices she wants them to make. Like that “good Jewish mother,” Rebekah frets over the well-being of her children. She wants them to grow up to be the people she wants them to be. She mettles with their life’s paths even when they are in their 40’s. She hasn’t learned to let go at all, especially in the case of Jacob. Rebekah plays favorites. She schemes in this week’s... Read More
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