Midrashic Monologues

In Torah, Isaac blesses Jacob, the second of his twins, only after his wife Rebecca arranges what appears to be an elaborate ruse to disguise Jacob like his older brother Esau. Was Isaac fooled or was something deeper at play? In this Midrashic Monologue, we discover how Isaac and Rebecca’s partnership allowed to creatively blend God’s oracle with Isaac’s fatherly love for his sons. I heard that some tribespeople have been whispering behind my back - saying that my wife Rebec

In this Midrashic Monologue, we join Isaac, Rebekah, and their twins for their evening meal. Imagining the questions these young boys might have asked about love and marriage, we allow the adults to reflect on the day that they met, the love that they share, and the relationship that they have built together. It happened when we gathered for our evening meal. I was ladling stew into everyone’s bowls when I realized that Jacob and Esau were having one of their “twin conversati

In Parashat Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah), we learn that our biblical matriarch Sarah lived 127 years, she died, and Abraham purchased he

During and after the devastating events of Abraham’s almost-sacrifice of his son, Isaac, the Torah fails to provide insight into the character’s inner struggles. We believe that this event, known as the Akedah (the “binding of Isaac), must have had profound and long lasting impacts on all of the biblical characters. In this Midrashic Monologue, we take time to sit with Abraham and hear his version of this story. Even as I held up the knife, I knew that I had failed. In my pas