The story of Yehudah and Tamar is a strange and fascinating one. How can it be that the dynasty of kings, and the final redeemer himself, is a result of a seemingly promiscuous encounter between Yehudah and a woman he thought was a prostitute? And what does the story of Tamar teach us about the way we live our own lives?
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The wife of Ovadia and the Shunamite woman are two women mentioned at the beginning of Malachim II, in conjunction with the leadership of Elisha, the prime student, and successor of Eliyahu HaNavi. They are mentioned one right after the other and in the Haftarah of Parshas Vayeira, both stories are read.
Why are these stories so important? Who were these women and what did they do that was so important that they are talked about every year as the Haftarah of two of the most major incidents in Jewish History – the birth of Yitzchak and Akeidas Yitzchak? And what can they teach us about how to deal with the difficulties in our lives?
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When you read the story of Chana and Penina on Rosh Hashana, Penina reads very much like the villain. The second wife of Elkana, Penina taunts Chana, Elkana’s first and primary wife, knowing full well the misery she is causing and does it anyway. Yet the commentaries say something astonishing – they say she was a righteous woman whose actions against Chana were completely well-intentioned.
How do we interpret this? And if Penina was indeed righteous, why was she punished so severely, by losing eight of her ten children? And what lesson does she teach us about Rosh Hashana and prayer?
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Chana was the mother of Shmuel, one of our nation’s greatest prophets. She was childless for many years and suffered greatly at the hands of her husband’s second wife, Penina. The Navi goes into great detail about her story, and it is the Haftarah on the first day of Rosh Hashana.
Why do we read about Chana on Rosh Hashana? What is it about her story that contributes something to this very holy day, and what lessons can we learn?
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Bruriah was the daughter of one of the Ten Martyrs, the wife of Rabbi Meir Ba’al NaNes, and one of the most righteous, outspoken women of her time. She introduced new concepts into Jewish law, routinely schooled the great men around her, and ardently supported her husband and her family. Yet many of the stories mentioned about her are worrisome and strange, and it is difficult to know what to take from them. Ultimately, is Bruriah a role model, or a cautionary tale?
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Often times, when we get inspired, we start something new, make a change, do something awesome, only to have it fall by the wayside when things get tough, or boring, or routine. How do we maintain our focus and not lost that initial spark? Rachel took the ultimate chance by marrying Rabbi Akiva on the very distant hope that he would become a great scholar. How did she keep going even when he disappeared for twenty-four years, left her with nothing, and gave her no help? Find out in this week’s podcast.
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The story of David and Batsheva is a crazy one at first glance – David sees a beautiful (MARRIED) woman, has an affair with her, has her husband killed and then marries her. What!? But upon deeper inspection, we can learn lessons of faith, leadership, and what royalty really means, as well as some takeaways for this crazy Corona Crisis.
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Michal, daughter of Shaul, was the much-beloved wife of King David. She helped him escape her father’s assassination attempts, remained loyal to him throughout years of separation, and loved him for years. Yet she remained unable to accept her husband for who he was and ended up being punished severely for not supporting David when he wanted her there with him. What is the lesson here? Is it a lesson in how to treat your husband? Or is there a deeper issue that we can take out of this incident?
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Most people have heard of the niece of Yaakov Avinu who brought out her harp and sang to Yaakov about his son Yosef still being alive. But what else do you know about her? Turns out, she was a pretty important person in history, and she was the one who held her family together in the most difficult of times. Who was Serach, and what can we learn from her?
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How much do you know about Elisheva, the wife of Aharon HaKohein? Probably not much, since there is only one passuk in the Torah about her, and she has no speaking lines. Yet her name and essence means royalty, and she is the definition of leadership. Why? How could someone so quiet and enigmatic define leadership? The answer gives us some meaningful ideas about what real leadership is, and how we can incorporate that into our own lives.
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