Rabbi Josh Breindel

Vayishlach: We Need Stories to Counter the Narrative of Endless War

by Rabbi Josh Breindel
Let’s find courage together by sharing our stories about the world we wish to create; the world we want our children to inherit. As Herzl famously said about the State of Israel, “If you wish it, it is no myth.” It’s similar for crafting a world of peace: By telling our stories, they become no myth; our words become an act of redemptive creation.
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Meeting the Other Face to Face

by Rabbi Danielle Stillman
In the grand scheme of the occupation, individuals or small groups coming together might seem like a small thing, but Jacob and Esau’s meeting shows us just how powerful personal moments of meeting and reconciliation can be.
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Wrestling With Our Inner Jacob and Israel

by Rabbi Alex Braver
To me, Jacob feels human for his fearfulness — and even more human for his backsliding. Some of us may carry ourselves with confidence and consistency as we fight for what’s right, but others — and I’ll include myself here — may have moments of glorious God-wrestling, after which we may retreat back into our more cautious selves. This doesn’t make us pushovers; it  just makes us human. 
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Peace is Easy: When Everything Has Gone So Far Afield, How Do We Make Peace?

by Rabbi Rachael Bregman
A D’var Torah for Parshat Vayishlach by Rabbi Rachael Bregman I live in the land where Trump and Biden signs face off from across property lines. We are told daily that our brothers, our neighbors, are a threat to our lives, are our enemies, because of how we vote. My “other” is not an abstraction,...
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Discomposing Our Culture of Toxic Masculinity

by Rabbi Sharon Brous
Rabbi Sharon Brous calls for an end to toxic masculinity as we read about the rape of Dina in this week's torah portion, Vayishlach.
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Wrestling With Our Fear (Parshat Vayishlach)

by Rabbi Rachel Silverman
Commentary on Parshat Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4 – 36:43) Alone. Anxious. Curled in the fetal position, recalling and recoiling from the memories of a similar night years before. Scared of what tomorrow might bring. Sure, this sounds like how many of us spent election night. But it is also how we imagine Jacob’s fitful night before...
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True Shalom for Planet Earth

by Rabbi Jay Asher LeVine
“‘Shalom! Shalom!’ (They say.) But there is no Shalom.” (Jeremiah 6:14) The prophet Jeremiah lambasted the leaders of Jerusalem for declaring that everything was well and for making light of the very real dangers he perceived. Of course, they didn’t listen. The role of prophet seems designed for frustration. A prophet (1) calls out foreseeable disaster;...
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First They Came

by Rabbi Michael Adam Latz
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz's response to Pastor Martin Niemoller (z"l)'s "First they came" poem: "First they came for the African Americans and I spoke up— Because I am my sisters’ and my brothers’ keeper..."
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Of Migrants and Midwives

by Rabbi Elliot Baskin
While we know the names of Shifra and Puah, the Egyptian midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh and saved Jewish baby boys, in Parashat VaYislach we meet an unnamed midwife who is present for the precarious birth of Benjamin. According to Genesis 35:16-19, while our migrant ancestors were on an arduous journey en route from Beth El...
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Appropriate Responses

by Rabbi Paul Jacobson
The rape of Jacob’s daughter Dinah by Shechem and subsequent verses (Bereshit, chapter 34) is one of the most disheartening episodes in the entire Torah. Where is Dinah’s voice in this narrative? What did Dinah think and feel? Who comforted her after such a frightening episode? Sadly, shockingly, we never hear from Dinah. She speaks...
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