In Kaifeng, a city in China, there used to be a street called “The Lane of the Sinew Plucking Religion”.
I’m assuming it rolls off the tongue in Chinese.
Which religion is being referred to with this pithy statement?
Why Judaism of course.
In this week’s Torah portion of VaYishlach, our forefather Jacob experiences many challenges. He is poised to reconnect with his brother Esau, and that is an experience he is not looking forward to having.
They parted on bad terms with Esau resolved to murder Jacob, resulting in a quick exit on Jacob’s part.
Now after an absence of 20 years, Jacob is coming home and he expects that Esau will keep good on his promise.
Jacob is afraid.
But not only was he going to have to battle his brother on a physical plane, there was also a spiritual fight that needed to take place. And so the night before meeting Esau, Jacob fights the angel of Esau. He emerges victorious but not without a wound.
In the process of vanquishing the angel of Esau Jacob was left with an injured thigh.
Therefore we have a Biblical commandment to commemorate that incident and we are not allowed to eat the sciatic nerve of an animal.
Hence the catchy name of the boulevard in China.
What is the deeper meaning of this Mitzva?
The Sefer HaChinuch, a 13th scholarly work which details the 613 commandments and explains the reasons behind them states, that the purpose of this commandment is to hint to the Jewish people that when we are in exile we will experience many difficulties from the nations of the world, especially from Esau’s descendants. But we should remain secure that although we may be injured, we are not lost.
At some point in the future, we will be redeemed from these trials and tribulations. Therefore, we need to remain strong in the face of these challenges and maintain our faith.

This past week I had to have a medical procedure.
The miracle of modern medicine means that with diagnostic tools we can save lives. So even though it is unpleasant it’s worth the effort.
Prior to the procedure I was all prepped and ready to go, lying on a gurney with an iv in my arm waiting my turn.
It’s a very vulnerable time.
Somehow your life flashes before you as you pray for a good outcome and good results.
As I was lying there I overheard the interchange in the cubicle next to mine.
Apparently the occupant had finished her procedure and the nurse was trying to wake her up.
I listened as the nurse cajoled and did whatever she could to waken the patient. It was tough going. The patient did not want to relinquish the sweet bonds of sleep.
It actually reminded me of the many times I had to wake up my teens for school.
Same words of encouragement, same attempts to rouse the sleeping beauty.
Finally she was successful.
The patient mumbled “why did you wake me, I just want to sleep “?
This weeks Torah portion is called Vayetze and it chronicles the journey of our patriarch Jacob as he runs away from home to escape the murderous intentions of his brother Esau.
Exhausted from his wanderings, Jacob stops along the way and falls into a deep sleep.
During this sleep Jacob experiences a vivid dream.
He sees a ladder connecting heaven to earth and he sees mystical, spiritual beings ascending and descending the ladder.
When Jacob wakes up from his dream he realizes that the spot he chose to take his rest was a holy place, apparently the place where heaven touches earth.
Then Jacob says that he was in such a holy place and he missed the opportunity to make the most of it by sleeping through the experience.
If he would have realized the sublime nature of this spot, Jacob would’ve capitalized on the opportunity to pray and connect with Gd. Instead he chose to sleep to escape reality and missed the chance of a lifetime.
Regret is an emotion with which we can all relate. How often do we realize just a moment too late that we could have taken the opportunity to compliment, to notice, to connect.

On a recent visit with our grandchildren I experienced one of the wonders of nature.
Our grandchild was sitting in a high chair attempting to eat on their own. When this tiresome and messy activity became boring we moved on to the laws of gravity.
The little one dropped the spoon over the side of the tray and I picked it up. This continued for a few minutes as our grandchild became more and more animated by the exercise. As soon as I retrieved and returned the spoon it would once again get thrown over the side.
My grandchild cackled gleefully and I, the willing accomplice, continued in the process. The faster the spoon fell, the more quickly I retrieved it. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more.
After all, this is how to teach the laws of gravity is it not?
Gravity pulls everything down.
Except a flame.
If you hold a candle in any direction the flame will always go up.
That is an analogy for the Jewish people. Our essence, our very nature is in an upward attitude.
In Egypt it never rained. So the people never looked up. They worshipped the Nile at their feet and did not have an attitude of uplift.
In this week’s Torah portion called Toldot, there is a strange interaction between our Patriarch Issac and the local Philistine population.
Abraham, Isaac’s father, had dug wells throughout the land in an effort to improve the lot of the people. The indigenous Philistine people were jealous of Abraham and in a petty show of anger, stopped up the wells. Now Isaac comes along and reopens or redigs the stopped up wells.
The Torah is measured in each word, and the stories that are written have to be of an eternal nature.
What lessons can we learn from the effort Isaac expends to unstop the wells of his father?
Rabbi Moshe Tarragin teaches us that Isaac is the patriarch who is entrenched in the Land of Israel. By digging wells he is anchoring us into the Land. The well is also a metaphor of Isaac deeply rooting the teachings of Abraham within the national psyche. He does not need to bring in new values, rather he will deepen those inherited from his father, Abraham.
Rabbi Tarragin also shares Nachmanides teachings about the nature of a well. The water of a well can reach far beyond its confines and have a distant impact. The waters of a well spread outward. That is why each of the three well mentioned in our Torah portion allude to three edifices whose impact will extend far beyond their walls. Each well that Isaac dug up is an allegory to one of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem.
The first well was an allusion to the first Temple which was built during a time of strife.
The second well had a name which alluded to a time of confrontation which occurred in the second Temple period with the Chanukah story. Finally the third well was named Rechovot which means expansion. That will be the third Temple, which, like a well, will expand beyond its borders and will nourish the entire world. It will flourish and so will all humanity.

When I was newly engaged, I spent the Shabbat of this weeks’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, at the Yeshiva, the Rabbinical seminary, where my future husband was studying. My then Chattan, or fiancé, had tragically lost his mother a few years prior. On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, the mother in law I never knew, collapsed and passed away. It was of course a source of grief for my husband and his whole family. Is verse in this weeks Torah portion brought my husband some comfort. His mother’s name was also Sarah, and the verse describes that Isaac brought his bride Rivka into the tent of his mother Sarah and he was comforted. The Torah is teaching us that Rebecca emulated the ways of Sarah, and by bringing life again to Sarah’s legacy, she brought comfort to the mourning Isaac.
The Torah portion is called Chayei Sarah which means -the life of Sarah. But the title seems to be a misnomer because the subject of the Parsha is about her death, not her life.
Rabbi Y. Frand, a teacher in the above referenced Yeshiva teaches that although the Parsha is about Sarah’s death it really is a reflection of her life and the legacy she left behind. Even though the Parsha shares details about Sarah’s demise it also directs us to understand that we, the Jewish people, are only here, thousands of years later, because of Sarah. What she left behind is alive.
There is a famous phrase
“You can’t take it with you”, as Rabbi Frand humorously states, you will never see a hearse with a luggage rack.
But the real meaning of that phrase is that when a person leaves this world it’s not about what she can take but rather what she has left behind.
A legacy.
The impact one makes on the world is defined by the children they leave as well as the mitzvot, the good deeds, the charity they leave, the impact they have made on the world.

I feel really blessed.
I have just arrived in Israel to spend some time with my dear Mother and then to participate in the long awaited Trip 17.
Jwcatlanta partners with Momentum to bring women to Israel for a week long immersive experience. We have been so blessed to take 16 groups to date. Hundreds of Atlanta women have journeyed with us to Israel on this unique mom centered trip.
Trip 17 was supposed to go two years ago. The women were poised for the trip of a lifetime.
Then came October 7!
The trip was canceled, our hearts were broken by the travesty and horrific tragedy that occurred in Israel.
The following year we were set to go once again.
Yet, it was not meant to be.
It was not the right time.
And now we are waiting for our Trip 17.3 sisters to come home.
Before I left the States, I called my Rabbi and shared that I was traveling to Israel with a group of women and I asked for a blessing.
He responded that it was just the right time to go to Israel (balm to our souls Trip 17), because the portion we have coming up is Lech Lecha.
This is how Gd commands Abraham our forefather to begin the journey to the Land which He will show him.
At the time Abraham did not know where that Land is, but we know that it was the Land of Israel.
Much ink has been spilled on the words Lecha Lecha and much commentary is found for those words.
The literal explanation is that Gd was telling Abraham just to go, the destination and change of venue would be good for him.
Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, 20th century rabbi, teaches that Gd wasn’t giving Abraham a physical destination but rather a commandment to go to himself. In other words it was to be a journey of self exploration to discover his own soul and essence.
Another explanation is given by the Chassidic Master, Rabbi Alter, the first rabbi of the Ger dynasty, who shares a fascinating insight. He posits that Gd was actually saying Lech Lecha to everyone at that time. But it was only Abraham who was on a spiritual journey of self refinement and connecting to Gd, who heard the message and then acted upon it.
By embarking on this
Lech Lecha journey Abraham becomes the primary example of how to live a meaningful life.
So as Shoshana Judelman, an educator in Israel writes, Abraham personified all the aspects of Lech Lecha.
“Physically, Abraham has to leave the place where he grew up and the way he was used to doing things. But Lecha Lecha also means go for yourself. To yourself. On a spiritual and and psychological level this journey would be one of even deeper personal growth and refinement.
And it’s meant for all of us.”
She quotes Rabbi Elimelech of Luzinsk, Polish 18th century Chassidic master, who explains that Lech Lecha is a “call to come out of our comfort zones”
(I doubt that was his original language)
It means reexamining ourselves and making sure that our behaviors are properly aligned with our exalted mission.

This week’s Torah portion is called Noah.
It is the story of the flood which Gd wreaked upon the world. The morality of the generation of Noah had tanked.
Moral turpitude was the norm.
People were focused on their own needs and desires to such a degree that all boundaries were destroyed.
Gd felt that there was no returning from such gross misconduct and the world was irreparable.
The world was slated for destruction.
Noah, a righteous person, was tasked with building an ark, a floating haven which would protect the future of humanity and the animal kingdom.
Noah was given strict instructions on the dimensions of the ark.
Gd also told Noah how to create a source of light by installing a “tzohar” in the roof.
Tzohar is an unusual word and the commentaries differ on what it actually was.
They conclude it was either a window, think skylight, or some kind of precious jewel which emitted light.
What’s the difference between the two?
A window’s light comes from the outside.
The precious jewel had its own inner light.
It’s an interesting conversation, but do we really care about the nature of the lighting in the Ark? How is it a relevant lesson for us today?
A window opens up to the outside world. It allows light to come in from the outside.
So too every aspect of our lives has access to divine light. Our job in this world is to open a “window” to allow that light and goodness to permeate our lives.
A window is also the portal to the outside world. Sometimes we really want to focus only on ourselves. We don’t want to open a window into someone else’s suffering or another’s loss.
We would rather remain oblivious.
Gd says put a window into your ark. Do not allow yourself the chance to look away when someone needs you.
Former hostage Elya Cohen just got engaged to his longtime girlfriend. He was released eight months ago. Why did he wait until now to propose to his girlfriend?
Cohen said in many media interviews that he wouldn’t marry until his fellow hostages were released from captivity.
How poignant that someone who was trapped for so long, lived in a reality of a window flung wide open, seeing the sorrows of his friends. He could not rejoice while they were trapped in the dark.
Cohen never shut the window on his fellow hostages.

I have started writing this post numerous times.
I write and then I erase my words and start over.
I can’t get seem to get it right so I keep beginning over and over again.
There is so much in my mind and heart which I’m sure is reflected in yours as well.
The elation and disbelief at the return of the hostages.
I can’t stop watching the unbridled joy of reunions between loved ones and I cry again and again.
Then the sadness that is the lot of those whose loved ones are not returning alive and the pain that accompanies their arrival back to the bosom of their families as they return to the embrace of the soil of the Land of Israel. And the pain of the families who still await the arrival of their beloved ones, who pray to provide the dignity of a Jewish burial.
I’ve gone and written that.
But I want to begin again.
These words seem so paltry in the face of the reality they are meant to describe.
How can I commit to the written word the majesty of Matan Angrest, weak and pale, a recently released hostage of but a few days who
Insisted on attending the funeral of Captain Daniel Perez, his commanding officer.
He said he had to attend to honor Daniel h’yd who will be his commander forever.
And we hear of Rom Braslavski who was held in horrifying conditions. He was told he would get food if he would convert to Islam. He refused categorically. When he returned he said “I am Jewish…I am strong”
Matan Angrest was tortured by his captors. But he did not let them break his spirit and insisted on getting a siddur which incredibly he was given.
There are no words to plumb the depths of these heroes whose faith was strengthened in the dungeons of Gaza.
They clung to that faith and it carried them through.
It is hard to imagine how these people can return to life.
To begin again.
But Gd, at this very time says just the right word.
Breishit
In the beginning.
It’s a time of new beginnings.

I hope you all had a meaningful Yom Kippur.
I am not a great faster.
But as I was walking to synagogue I thought about some testimonies of women who survived the Holocaust. They spoke about fasting for Yom Kippur in Auschwitz.
Lily Ebert of blessed memory was a young woman when she arrived in Auschwitz in 1944. She relates that when Yom Kippur came-she fasted.
She wanted to show Gd that even in that terrible place she would not let Him down.
Ruth Brand was a young teenager and she too fasted in the concentration camps. Everyone told her there was absolutely no need for her to fast, she was subsisting on the barest of rations. But Ruth insisted. For her it was a form of resistance. She said adherence to faith gave her something to hold on to in dark times.
So who am I to complain?
I was inspired by these great women and thank Gd I made it through.
After the fast was over I heard some powerful words from another inspiring woman, Raquel Kirschenbaum.
She shared a feeling which rang true for me.
After Yom Kippur concluded we are on a high. We prayed and connected and did all we could to have a meaningful and elevated experience.
But there is a little anxiety at the end of the day.
Because we have had other such fasts that seemed to go really well but then the ensuing year was not what we hoped.
Raquel teaches a lesson from this week’s Torah portion, Haazinu which is Moses’s last message to the Jewish people. One of the messages Moses teaches is that Gd is comparable to a Rock whose ways are righteous.
Why the choice of a rock as a metaphor?
A rock is steady - it presents constantly as it should, unmoving.
The Hebrew word for a rock is Tzur צור.
If you take the same letters and change the vowels you can also read the word as Tzayar צייר a painter.
Raquel spoke about a talent show she once saw. A contestant on the show was given two minutes to portray her talent. The contestant explained that she was going to paint a picture in those two minutes. She starts by throwing black paint all over the canvas. Her time is quickly running out and the judges are losing patience. But just as she’s out of time she throws some white powder at the canvas and turns the whole thing upside down. And to the absolute shock of the judges, there is an incredibly beautiful picture of a woman.
This is the message of the Portion and Post Yom Kippur blues.

Rosh Hashana is in the books.
That actually means more than what one might think.
In the books is a colloquial expression which means
“it has been officially recorded or completed”.
But on Rosh Hashana there were books opened that have not been closed yet.
We are still in the middle of the story.
The Talmud teaches us that on Rosh Hashana there are books opened-the Book of Life for those who are completely righteous, the Book of Death for those who have been judged as completed wicked and the Middle Book - for those in the middle.
Neither here nor there.
We all want to be inscribed in the Book of Life.
The good news is that the story is still a work in progress.
Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the New Year. We have the opportunity to begin afresh and choose the path forward.
Will we stay stuck in old bad habits or do we want to take a new path.
So Rosh Hashana is in fact an opportunity, it is an assessment of what we want for ourselves in the coming year.
We are therefore gifted with this time period of the Ten Days of Repentance which lead up to Yom Kippur to continue the process.
Mrs. Chani Juravel, a popular lecturer and therapist shared the following thoughts to help concretize this process.
She shared that when she was at the beginning of her career she had a very scary supervisor. The woman was intimidating and although Mrs. Juravel wanted to share her mistakes and challenges with this supervisor in order to improve at her craft, it was difficult. Nonetheless she persevered and reviewed her missteps with the supervisor.
On one occasion when there was another error, the supervisor asked Mrs. Juravel what she was going to do with all these “mess ups”?
Chani thought perhaps the message was she should quit as she was faltering.

I was in synagogue and I noticed something very powerful.
A father and his son.
The father was protectively leaning over his son during the service.
I soon saw why.
The son was clearly challenged.
During the service the son let out some loud spontaneous guttural responses. The father gently put a hand on his son’s back during those outbursts.
But mostly the son sat calmly, allowing his father to pray.
He only got agitated one other time.
When it was the time to return the Torah to the Ark, the son, jumped out of his seat. Clearly this was the regular reaction for him.
His Dad was ready.
He guided his son to the Torah processional and helped his son to kiss the Torah.
Then they returned to their seats.
Rosh Hashana is coming.
Sometimes we do not know what to say.
It’s not the time for us to speak out our sins.
It’s a time to coronate Gd as the King.
Queen Elizabeth of England died on September 8, 2022 which was in the middle of the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashana.
This week, just before Rosh Hashana, once again British royalty in the form of the King of England was in the news, displaying the pageantry which is best shown by the British.
It’s interesting timing.