A triplet of deviation plays a starring role in our parsha... What binds them? For one, the obvious motif of misleading, i.e. falsely representing Divinity in order to intentionally distance another from authentic Divine desire. The last millennium has been no stranger to its share of contemporary false prophets espousing visions, notions and ideals that feel so right and remain ever so vacuous! Second, all three find Jews preying on fellow Jews wielding their influence abusively.

The Lord wants partners and investors, not employees and onlookers. He wants Menschen!

The Kohen Gadol connection, exile’s function, the goel hadam’s role, the definition of unintentional and a general sense of is this the wild west need deep analysis... But in the end, it's all about the climate...

The Jew hated himself, assumed God felt the same way and then projected beyond. We who are intimately familiar with our own flaws are our own worst enemies.

Unfortunately, it still remains the annual rite of a Jewish summer, a jarring contrast to the free-spirited summer fun that occupies Western society; we commonly refer to it as the three weeks; it is a time referred to as bein hametzarim, depicting a people caught in calamity with no place to turn.

A Jew is always on the road and his life is constantly under construction – a dynamic work in progress.

“All’s well that ends well” is one of many pithy maxims that enter our world from the backdoor of Western culture. Most aphorisms seem harmless enough, but to examine more closely: If it ends well, then is it all good?

On Friday nights, when the men were returning home from prayers at the Machpelah Cave, they would stand outside of Beit Hadassah and serenade these heroic women with the traditional Friday-night song Eishet Chayil, A Woman of Valor.