WUPJ Library

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Brad L. Bloom MSW DD, Congregation Beth Yam , Hilton Head, South Carolina Jacob spends a night in the desert after fleeing his brother Esau. He has left Be’er Sheva and was headed to the old country of Haran to seek out the family from his ethnic roots. He camps out […]

Recent Issues Rabbi Rene Pfertzel, The Liberal Jewish Synagogue , London, UK / Keren Or , Lyon, France Vayetze : and (Jacob) came out. This is a very interesting way of starting a new parasha, but, of course, it is not a story about a coming out as we could understand this expression today. But […]

By: Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, Vice President, Philanthropy, World Union for Progressive Judaism Learning from Jacob, the Weekend Warrior of Faith There is a popular expression: “In every life a little rain must fall.” That is not only true, but very much reflected in the philosophy and the teachings of Judaism. Judaism is an imminently […]

By: Rabbi Josh Jacobs-Velde , Rabbi of Congregation Ohev Tzedek , Youngstown, Ohio Heading into a Place of “Divine Anger” For this teaching, I would like to draw on the psychological-spiritual wisdom of Hasidism, particularly the teaching of the Chernobler rebbe, Menachem Nahum Twersky. Also known as the Me’or Eynaim (the title of his most […]

By: Rabbi Howard Cooper , Director of Spiritual Development, Finchley Reform Synagogue , London, UK Jacob’s Dream and the Inner Journey If, as the poet Stephen Spender observed, “the language of a nation, embodied in its literature, is its spiritual life”, then the twelve verses that contain the dream of the patriarch Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22) […]

By: Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, Vice President – Philanthropy, World Union for Progressive Judaism “The Rabbi and the Rosary” All stories that teach a lesson are “true,” but some are also factual. This story is true and factual… Based on an event that occurred in 1999 Although my role as Program Chair of the International […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Lisa J. Grushcow, D.Phil., Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom , Montreal, Canada Identity and Authenticity “These are the generations of Isaac son of Abraham; Abraham begat Isaac” (Gen. 25:19). The rabbis who commented on the opening words of our parasha were anxious. The presenting problem was the repetition: if the Torah has already […]

By: Rabbi Lea Muehlstein, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue , Northwood, United Kingdom Sibling Rivalry Most of us bear these scars: marks on our body that remind us of the downside of having siblings. When my sisters and I were little, my mum used to say: “bis der Erste weint – until the first one […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Natan Landman, author of Make It Short, Rabbi: Brief Jewish Lessons from Scripture and Take Words with You: Sermons and Addresses of a Lifetime What Goes Around, Comes Around “Now, my son, listen to me: flee at once to Haran to my brother, Laban. Stay with him a while until your […]

By: Rabbi Reba Carmel, Reconstructionist Rabbi since 2009, freelance writer, teacher, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Dialogue Group Sara’s Tent and the Next Generations Isaac then brought her (Rebekah) into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his […]

By: Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky, Beit Shalom Progressive Synagogue , Adelaide, South Australia Fraternal Strivings This Shabbat, our congregation will celebrate the b’not mitzvah of fraternal twin girls. In our small synagogue, we have only three or four b’nai mitzvah celebrations in a year, so the girls had their pick of Torah readings, and this was […]

By: Rabbi Richard G Lampert, Rabbi Emeritus, North Shore Temple Emanuel , Chatswood, NSW, Australia Recent Issues “ This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac ”(Genesis 25: 19). Our sages hold that there is nothing superfluous in the Torah – if something is repeated, there must be a reason for […]