The Weekly Mission- Torah Portion by Isaiah Rothstein

Parshat Vayigash 5771 (10’) Tragedies are in our midst. A fire caused either by terror or natural causes left forty-two families without their brothers, sisters, mothers, husbands and wives. In addition, head Rabbinical officials in Israel have declared days of fasting because our water reservoirs have decreased drastically, there is no rain. Death and sickness are found on synagogue bulletins, and to top it off, somewhere concealed within our being the “soul of life,” [i] which was beathed into man on the sixth day of creation, weakens in hunger for some care and “meta”ical attention. [ii] But we, what do we say? How do we justify ourselves? We say it’s too hard. There is so much bad in the world, there is so much pain, loss and darkness, how can I do anything? We fall into a deeper sleep. We say our nation, and our world is helpless. My friends, we sit in a generation orphaned without leaders. Friends, we must stand. Because if we do not stand the results could be cataclysmi...

Parshat Vayeishev 5771 We all have a deep and intense yearning to connect with our roots. We all want to connect with the history, concepts and ideas of what made us who we are. Memory is sometimes so incredible, but at other times so fleeting. People tend to do whatever it takes to capture a memory. But sometimes pictures just don’t cut it. Yosef, like the rest of our forefathers, was blessed with the ability of rising to the top. Yosef went from being a slave to becoming a master practically overnight. Yosef fought a battle with his evil inclination when his master’s wife constantly tried to seduce Yosef into lying with her. When she grabs Yosef’s garb, the Midrash says that he saw his father’s face and he ran. “ Now Israel loved Yosef more than all his sons since he was a child of his old age… (37:3)” What is the Torah trying to tell us when it says that Yosef was “a child of his old age”? RASHI points out that Yaakov was in his old age when Yosef was born, which allowed ...

Parshat Ekev (5770’) As we continue through this portal called time, we are never truly humbled by where it has been, and all the people who are linked through it. I can construct my thoughts that will tell me that my “ancient” thoughts as a ten-year-old are my greatest of experience. But then we realize, that this portal is slightly greater then you or me. Our experiences are just one of the many points on time graph through history. Our Jewish nation has been fighting through this continuous exile to be strong, to remember the past, and to long for the future. But yet, I mumble, my eyes wander, and instant gratification is the value that runs the place that I am told is home. We are a people with stubborn hearts, thick heads, and a “what I deserve,” mentality. The journeys from Egypt until now has led us to incredible heights and lows, and in this week’s Torah portion, after so much struggle, the Jewish people reach their final moment at the borders of Israel. The tests through...

Parshat Dvarim In this week’s Torah portion we start the new book of Dvarim. As I learned this week’s portion I imagined the last 30 minutes of a movie where everything all seems to come together. The Children of Israel–led by Moses- are at the border of Israel ready to enter the land. Not knowing the sins of their ancestors, the Jewish people of this generation are excited, determined and inspired. They are ready to enter into the land of Israel to serve HaShem with reverence, pride and commitment. Moses sees the excitement and deems it necessary to tell the story that the young generation did not live. The story of their fathers, the reminder of the obstacles, failings and prevails. “We journeyed from Horeb and we went through the entire great and awesome wilderness that you saw. By the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as HaShem our G-d commanded us, and we cam until Kadesh barnea… See—HaShem, your G_d has placed the land before you; go up and take possession, as HaShem, G-...