Questions of Life and Legacy: VaYehi 2017
This final parashah of Genesis bears a cryptic title: Vayehi, “He (that is, Jacob) lived.” Well, of course he lived, and soon he will die, but how has he lived? What legacy does he bequeath? These are the questions that concern Vayehi. What is the Torah’s final judgment of Jacob, a man who has wrestled, mourned and rejoiced,…
Judah, don’t tether your donkey to a grapevine. Shabbat VaYehi 5777
In the August Wilson play, “Fences,” recently brought to screen with stand-out performances by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, the male protagonist Troy torments his son Cory to the point of driving him from home at 17. We learn that Troy had been driven off by his own father at 14, and so the cycle…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 