Robin Meyerowitz Early Childhood Director In this week’s  parsha, Vayeishev , Yaakov gives his favorite son Yosef the famous multicolored coat. Consumed by jealousy, Yosef’s brothers throw him in a pit. At that moment, we think of Yosef almost as a nobody. Nobody important, no one who would ever accomplish anything in life, just a boy who bragged about his dreams. However, as it says in Psalm 118:22, אבן מאסו הבונים היתה לראש פינה The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.   Yosef became the foundation stone of the Jewish people and our history.   Yosef had two prophetic dreams in which his brothers and parents bowed down to him. This made his brothers and even his father angry for assuming that they would bow down. However, as we all know, that turned out to be true.   Rabbi Yehuda Appel wrote this week that it is never easy to give fair and equal treatment to all of your children. He shared an example of a rabbi who, at his son’s  shalom ...

Noah Klein Class of 2025 In the beginning of this week’s  parsha ,  Vayetzei , Yaakov makes his way to Haran to find a wife. In the middle of his journey, he lies down on a rock and dreams of a stairway of angels going up and down between earth and heaven. Then  Hashem  appears to him and reaffirms Avraham’s  brit , describing how the Jews will be as numerous as the dust of the earth.   How we read the  pesukim  describing Yaakov’s encounter can shape our understanding of the spiritual relationship between him and  Hashem .  Pasuk  28:13 reads “וְהִנֵּה ה’ נִצָּב עָלָיו,” which, based on the meaning of עָלָיו, can reveal two different types of connections between  Hashem  and Yaakov. Rashi, based on the  Midrash , says that  Hashem  stood  above  Yaakov in order to guard him, reflective of a father-son, protective connection. However, some translations of the  pasuk  interpret עָלָיו to m...