Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

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By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz When Yoseif arrived, his brothers took his coat (a very visible symbol of their issues) and tossed him in the pit. The brothers sat down to eat and they saw an Ishmaelite caravan approaching. Yehuda suggested that they sell Yoseif as a slave to the Ishmaelites. While this discussion was going […]

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Vayeishev – R’vi’i

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By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz It’s not discussed much, but the brothers did have lives of their own. Here, we are given an insight into Yehuda’s life. Yehuda had three sons, Er, Onan and Sheilah. Er was married to a woman named Tamar, but he committed some undisclosed sin and died prematurely. Yehuda instructed Onan to […]

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Vayeishev – Chamishi

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By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz Potifar prospered because of Yoseif, so the young Hebrew was soon running the Egyptian’s household. Yoseif was responsible for every aspect of Potifar’s home and nothing was withheld from him except for the food Potifar ate. (The commentators say that this was a euphemism for Potifar’s wife, i.e., that Yoseif could […]

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Vayeishev – Shishi

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Mrs. Potifar couldn’t leave things well enough alone. She was attracted to the handsome youth and decided to break her husband’s one rule. Yoseif resisted the advances of his mistress, saying that he could never betray Potifar, who had placed so much trust in him. Mrs. Potifar would not relent, so Yoseif started to avoid […]

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Vayeishev – Sh’vi’i

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By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz Soon after this, two of Pharaoh’s servants managed to get themselves tossed into prison. One was a wine steward and the other was a baker. Yoseif was assigned to the section where these two were imprisoned. One night, each of these men had a dream. When Yoseif saw that they were […]

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II Chronicles – Chapter 10

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Rechavam inherited the throne from Solomon and he went to be crowned at Shechem. (Shechem is a place where bad things historically happened. For example, Jacob’s daughter Dina was raped in Shechem and Joseph was sold there – see Talmud Sanhedrin 102a). Things did not go well. Yeravam, a prominent person, had criticized Solomon regarding […]

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II Chronicles – Chapter 9

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This chapter details Solomon’s visit from the Queen of Sheba. In our synopsis of I Kings chapter 10, we discuss how the term “malkas shva” may mean that Solomon entertained a delegation from Sheba rather than a woman. (You can read more about that in The Nach Yomi Companion volume 1; here, we’ll just go […]

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II Chronicles – Chapter 8

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Building the Temple took seven years and Solomon’s palace took another thirteen. After all this was accomplished, Solomon settled the cities Hiram had given him. (Refer back to I Kings chapter 9 – Solomon and Hiram had exchanged the gift of cities to one another, though Hiram thought the cities Solomon gave him were not […]

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II Chronicles – Chapter 7

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Solomon finished his prayer and a heavenly fire descended and consumed the sacrifices. The kohanim were still unable to enter because of the cloud of G-d’s Presence. The people bowed down and praised G-d with the familiar refrain of “ki tov, ki l’olam chasdo,” that He is Good and His mercy is everlasting. Solomon and […]

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II Chronicles – Chapter 6

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Solomon saw that G-d desired to cause His Presence to rest in an impenetrable darkness (manifested by the cloud at the end of chapter 5), which is why Solomon had built G-d a permanent residence. Solomon blessed the gathered people and praised G-d for fulfilling what He had said to David. From the time the […]

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