by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 16, 2026 | Lifeline
Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky zt”l says something on this week’s reading that could have been drawn from current events, though his twelfth yahrtzeit will be next month on the Jewish calendar. In this week’s reading, Moshe and Aharon come before Pharoah, to...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 26, 2025 | Lifeline
This week’s reading begins, “And Yehuda approached him,” [44:18] confronting Pharoah’s viceroy, his brother Yosef, on behalf of their brother Benyamin. Rashi says he now spoke harshly, with sharp words. My teacher, Rav Asher Rubenstein...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 19, 2025 | Lifeline
Because of the way the Jewish calendar is built, and the Torah readings are laid out, our reading this week is almost always read on Chanukah—in 17 out of the 19-year cycle. We read this portion, about the redemption of Yosef from prison, during the holiday, and in...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 12, 2025 | Lifeline
In our reading this week, Yosef (Joseph) refuses the advances of his master’s wife, and is thrown into jail. He was entirely innocent, and she had lied about what transpired. He would have been fully justified to wallow in his own sorrow, dealing with no one....
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 5, 2025 | Lifeline
One of the advantages of writing and publishing Divrei Torah online is that it’s very easy to go back and look at one’s own previous work, whether to get inspiration or even to share again a Dvar Torah that today’s audience may not have seen. This...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Nov 20, 2025 | Lifeline
In this week’s parsha, Avraham went to Abimelech, King of Gerar, to complain about a well of water that Avraham’s servants dug to provide water for his people and flocks, but which Abimelech’s servants had stolen. Instead of simply apologizing and taking...
