Shlomo Skinner 
Queen Vashti is only mentioned a few times in the Bible. But her actions opened the way for Esther to become queen and save the Jewish people.
In this article I am only trying to understand Vashti. There are many interesting details in Megillat Esther that are not investigated here.
The dictionary I keep near my desk offers several definitions for the word “queen.”
Not all of them are relevant to our topic, but let’s look at those that are.
Most people are not familiar with the topic of levirate marriage. Therefore, the command of levirate marriage seems very strange.
This article will look at examples of levirate marriage in the Bible and the Talmud.
Joseph the son of Jacob had two dreams when he was 17 years old.
Years later, Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years.
I suggest that this repetition of the number 17 can give us a new insight into when Joseph’s dreams were fulfilled.
One of the main purposes of marriage is to have children that can be raised to become productive members of the community. Sometimes a husband dies before his marriage has produced children.
It is at sad times like these that yibum or Jewish levirate marriage plays a role.
This is an edited transcript of the video I posted to YouTube back in 2012. The video was of very poor quality so I’ve taken it down.
I have been asked several times, who is Jacob in the Bible?
This article will answer that question. However, this is not an attempt to write a full biography of Jacob.
Rather, I will look at the basic facts of Jacob’s life and his family.
During a Friday night talk, the rav of my shul suggested that Yaakov / Jacob was not a prophet.
After his talk I asked him for more details. He told me that since God only spoke to Jacob in dreams, that meant he was not a prophet.
Parshat Vayechi is the 12th and final parsha in Sefer Bereshit (also known as Genesis).
This parsha is verses Genesis 47:28 – 50:26, or a total of 85 verses.
Here is a brief summary for each aliyah.
Parshat Vayigash is the 11th parsha in Sefer Bereshit (also known as Genesis).
This parsha is verses Genesis 44:18 – 47:27, or a total of 106 verses.
Here is a brief summary for each aliyah.