Joseph and Judah each embark on their own personal odysseys toward leadership.
True prayer begins with gratitude, which reflects trust and acknowledgment of God’s greatness. Then, it elaborates on every concern and worry.
The ladder symbolizes the mission of a Jew: to ascend and elevate, to sanctify the physical, and to uplift the mundane toward the sublime.
To try, to fall, to fear, and yet to keep going: that is what it takes to be a leader. That was Jacob, the man who at the lowest ebbs of his life had his greatest visions of heaven.
“And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.” Words of Torah from the Admor Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto, Parashat Chayei Sarah.