Rebecca
It matters less where you grow up than how you grow up.
Growing up in the Mesopotamian region of Padan Aram (northern Iraq/Syria/southern Turkey), surrounded by idolatrous pagans, Rebecca remained pure and innocent, righteous and refined. Eliezer, Abraham’s chamberlain, discovered this diamond in the rough and, before long, Rebecca and Isaac were married. They made their home in the land of Canaan, later to become Israel, and birthed twin boys, Jacob who would birth Israel, and Esau who would sire Edom. Rebecca continued the blessings of her mother-in-law, Sarah, and passed on the legacy to all of us.
Messenger or Matchmaker
Ultimate commitment is when an independent thinker chooses to dedicate himself to a cause greater than himself, to be a messenger and extension of it.
Read MoreThe Plot Thickens – Jacob & Esau: Two Nations
We now have before us Abraham, father of all nations, Ishmael father of the Arab/Muslim world, Esau, father of the Roman/Christian/Western world and Jacob, father of the Jewish world.
Read MoreThe Determined Chooser
“Choice vs. Determinism.” How much control do we really have over our actions?
Read MoreThe Married Life
The ultimate manifestation of divine truth requires a union of the spiritual and the physical.
Read MoreVayeitzei: Marriage: Destiny or Chance?
Is marriage predestined or dependent on your efforts? There are many opinions but all agree that though G-d’s predestined it we have the power to change it.
Read MoreToldot: The Power of Human Exertion
Who fully grasps a concept, one who immediately comprehends it, or one who must struggle to understand it? Part five of Samech Vov discusses this question, and examines the value of human exertion.
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