Mikeitz

Commenting on Pharaoh’s words, “Is there anyone found like this, a man filled with Godly spirit”, the Midrash praises the Avos and Yosef in a manner that, according to the Sefas Emes, implies a fundamental distinction. While the Avos are praised with terms that relate to their bond with the transcendent realms of spirituality, Yosef…

In Likutei Moharan, (Torah 10), Rebbe Nachman of Breslov zy”a speaks about the terrible malady of arrogance and the manner in which one may break free. Emblematic of Rebbe Nachman’s exalted teachings, this lesson spans an astoundingly kaleidoscopic range of Torah sources and concepts which extend far beyond the scope of this short column, but…

“And Yosef said to Pharaoh, ‘The dream of Pharaoh is a single dream…’” Our Sages teach that a fundamental duality exists at the foundation of the Jewish identity: the inclinations toward alignment with, and separation from, the will of Hashem; yetzer hara and yetzer tov. The common experience is that these forces are polar opposites.…