B"H Yom Yom Based on Day by Day in Jewish History 
by Rabbi Abraham P. Bloch z"l (KTAV) 

[NOV 22] U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution approving the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state at the expense of Israel (1974) 
[NOV 23] Anti-Jewish riots in Bucharest Romania took the lives of many Jews (1563) [NOV 25] Charles IV issued Letters of Protection to the Jews of Strasbourg (1357). Two years later, 1000 Jews were burned and the rest baptized. 
[NOV 26] Recapture of Rostov by Russian forces (1941) marked the first major setback for the Germans. 
[NOV 27] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee for the relief of Jewish war sufferers was established (1914). It was on Erev Shabbat Vayeitzei, wherein we read of Yaakov's pledge to give one tenth of what he will have to G-d. This is the classical expression of Jewish voluntary charity. 
[NOV 29] The Jews of Augsburg Germany were massacred (1349). The United Nations voted in favor of partition of Palestine (1947). This constituted "permission of the nations of the world", thereby nullifying one of the "oaths" impeding mass Aliya. (simplification of a complex issue) 

Hasidic Wisdom, from the book by Simcha Raz (Elkins/Elkins)

Not only are great eaters and drinkers gluttons and drunks, but so are idle chatterers as well - the former with what they put into their mouths and the latter with what they let out.
- Rabbi Chaim Meir Yechiel of Moglenitza 

If pride were not mentioned in the Torah, I would not believe that you could find such a trait among human beings. 
Constructed entirely of clay, I cannot imagine how they can boast so. And they - their whole lives a passing shadow - like a potsherd...
- Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev

Rite and Reason by Shmuel Pinchas Gelbard
It is customary not to call two brothers or a father and son to the Torah one after the other (Shulchan Aruch) 
REASON This is because of the pasuk in T'hilim (19:8): "The testimony of HaShem is faithful." Since close relatives are not acceptable as witnesses together, we do not call them up to the Torah one after the other (Beit Yosef). 
REASON This is because of the danger of AYIN HARA. 
Some follow the practice of reciting immediately before Y'H'YU L'RATZON at the end of the Amida, a pasuk that begins with the first letter of his/her name and ends with the last letter of the name. 
REASON This is based on Micha 6:9: "And the man of wisdom shall see your name." From here we derive that whoever daily recites a pasuk of the written Torah (Tanach), beginning and ending with the same letters as his own name, is saved from GEHINOM (Rashi). 
Ed. note: Anyone who would like to take this custom upon himself and needs help finding a suitable pasuk can contact Phil at the Center (ext. 207) for a computer-assisted search of Tanach.

ArtScroll Series Mesorah Publications Ltd.
WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein
R' Shmuel Salanter was once lecturing in his yeshiva when a woman came to him with a question. "Rebbe", she said, "I left some meat which had not been kashered on a ledge and my cat stole it. What is the status of the cat?" The students could barely contain their mirth at this ridiculous question. But R' Shmuel treated her query like any other. He took out a volume of Shulcan Aruch, studied it pensively for a while, and told the woman, "The cat is treif. From now on you should be more careful not to leave meat unattended." 

After the woman left, R' Shmuel told his students, "You will have to rule one day on a wide variety of questions. You must treat each question, no matter how silly, with the utmost seriousness. If you laugh at someone's question, he or she will never again consult you, even when there is a serious halachic question."

Excerpted with the permission of the copyright holder

From the Desk of the Director
Dear Torah Tidbits Reader,

Parshat Vayetze introduces us to Rachel and Leah’s individual struggles to shape the destiny of the Jewish people. With Rachel we associate charm and beauty, Ya’akov’s immense sacrifice for her, and the tragic circumstance of her death. Consequently, like Ya’akov, we tend to favor Rachel.

Leah, often regarded as the product of a swindle, spends her entire sorrowful life attempting to win Ya’akov’s affections. Yet, ironically, after Ya’akov’s death, it is Leah - and not Rachel – who is buried alongside him. Rashi suggests that Rachel lost this privilege because she was willing to forgo intimacy with Ya’akov for the sake of sweet smelling duda’im, while Leah, although humiliated, “most surely hired [Ya’akov] with my son’s mandrakes” (Ber. 30:16).

In essence, notes Rabbi Steinsaltz, Leah and Ya’akov’s relationship was deeper and more productive than meets the eye. Leah gave birth to several children who become the mainstay of Jewish continuity through the House of David. Also, the stability of both priesthood and prophecy owed tribute to Leah’s son Levi. And even today, Judah outlives Yosef’s son Ephraim. 
Paradoxically, Rachel became the symbol of the weeping woman, the “shechina in exile.” In contrast, Leah’s display of constant love and enduring loyalty in the face of adversity earned for her the title of the “shechina redeemed.”

Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center