Posts Tagged: Vayigash
The Torah and Nietzsche: How Hard Times Can Make You Stronger
The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), initiated a form of modern philosophy known as “existentialism,” which posits that human beings are each individually...
Shabbat Vayigash: How to Conduct a Successful Negotiation
Is there a set formula for negotiations? We see two examples in this week's reading from the Torah. It begins with Judah approaching Joseph to...
Parshat Vayigash: Does My Father Love Me?
It is one of the great questions we naturally ask each time we read the story of Joseph: Why did he not, at some time...
Joseph: The World’s First Psychotherapist
The phrase “Jewish thinker” may mean two very different things. It may mean a thinker who just happens to be Jewish by birth or descent -- a...
The Story of Judah Shows the Power of Change
The sequence from Bereishit 37-50 is the longest unbroken narrative in the Torah, and there can be no doubt who its hero is: Joseph. The...
If We Reframe Our Emotions, We Can Achieve Anything
Maimonides called his ideal type of human being -- the sage -- a rofe nefashot, a “healer of souls.” Today we call such a person a psychotherapist, a word...
The Story of Joseph and the Dawn of Forgiveness
There are moments that change the world: 1439 when Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press (though the Chinese had developed it four centuries before),...
