by katie@betalef.org | Nov 2, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Toldot: Genesis 25:19 – 28:9 “Breaking Free From the Great Teachers” At the opening of our Torah portion, we find Isaac pleading with God, in the presence of his barren wife Rebecca, that she might— after twenty years of waiting— finally bear...
by katie@betalef.org | Oct 26, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Chayei Sarah: Genesis 23:1 – 25:18 “Seeing Through the Veil of the Mind” The unfolding of the biblical narrative brings us to the close of one chapter—that of Abraham and Sarah’s journey—and the opening of a new one—that of their son Isaac and...
by katie@betalef.org | Oct 20, 2021 | Torah Reflections
VaYera: Genesis 18:1 – 22:24 “Beyond our Ego’s Idea of Justice” In his life’s storyline, Abraham did not always rise to the occasion of his ethical challenges. Yet this aspect of his story is worthy of praise: his standing up to...
by katie@betalef.org | Oct 12, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Lech lecha: Genesis 12:1 – 17:27 “Heading Home” Lech Lecha marks the beginning of the Patriarchal story in the Book of Genesis. We have traveled through the confusion of Creation and the Flood, and now we are about to embark on our spiritual...
by katie@betalef.org | Oct 6, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Noah: Genesis 6:9 – 11:32 “A World Filled with Violence” Our, then, 10-year-old daughter, Amalya came home one day from the Jewish day-school she attended, with an assignment: to write a short essay about the first verses of Noah, this week’s...
by katie@betalef.org | Sep 29, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Bereishit: Genesis 1:1 – 6:8 “The Kabbalah of Creation” I love the esoteric interpretation by Nachmanides—Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, born in Spain (1194-1270)—on the first verse of Genesis: In a beginning God created the heaven and the earth....
