Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Our guest this week is Rabbi Robert Scheinberg of the United Synagogue in Hoboken, NJ. Rabbi Scheinberg, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, has been the rabbi of the United Synagogue since ...

Polonius, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is presented as sincere (the sincerity of the shallow), but also as an insufferably garrulous and “tedious old fool.” The character of Polonius is the one who says ...

As Jacob leaves his parents’ home at the behest of his mother, Rebecca, the Torah declares that Rebecca was the mother of both Jacob and Esau (Genesis 28:5). At first blush, this seems to be an ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

This is an adaptation of Looking Forward, a weekly email from our editor-in-chief sent on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. Download our ...

Jerusalem Post / Judaism / Torah Portion Parashat Toldot: The struggle between Rome and Jerusalem This tension between the heroes of Rome and the sages of Jerusalem will not last forever. The prophet ...

Standing before his father Isaac, Jacob claims that he is his brother Esau (Genesis 27:19). While some commentators rationalize Jacob’s behavior, others insist that, for the rest of his life, he is ...

There is a classic debate as to whether children are the product of nature or nurture. The dichotomy of Yaakov and Eisav would seem to be a vote for nature being the dominant factor in a child’s ...

The entire being of Moses was the Torah that he brought to his people. The Torah was more than something he taught. It was what he was. It was his G-d within him. Yet, when it came to a choice between ...