Vayishlach

בס״ד 

Vayishlach

To kill his brother Yaakov,

Esav sends young Eliphaz,

But instead Yaakov convinces him,

To take all that he has.

On his return he sends across his wives,

Their servants and his kids,

Then returns beyond the Yabok,

And sends over all that’s his.

Now, there’s nothing in his pockets,

No possessions, and alone,

Just the way he left Canaan,

When he ran away from home.

As he left he must re-enter,

But with a tikun on his birth,

He wrestles Esav’s guardian angel,

And this time comes out first.

Vayeitze

בס״ד

 Vayeitze

I

Four flocks were required,

To open the well.

Four flocks were required,

And the last was Rachel’s.

Four Mothers were needed,

For Bnei Yisrael.

Four Mothers were needed,

And the last was Rachel.

II

Of Lach, and Luz, and Armone…

Trees used for dyeing wool,

From these Yaakov chose the rods,

He filled the runnels full.

He knew what he was doing,

Our capable Ish Tam,

When he set these rods before his sheep,

And those of Uncle Lavan.

Toldos

בס״ד 

Toldos

“My Son, may your curse be on me”, she said,

But to what curse was she referring?

The curse that Yitzchak never gave?

Or was something else occurring?

We know what will happen with Yaakov,

Yosef will disappear with no trace,

And for 22 years Yaakov will suffer the thought,

That he’ll never see Yosef’s face.

But in Egypt he’ll be reunited,

With Yosef his beloved boy,

And spend his few remaining years,

At last comforted, in joy.

But not so with Rivkah Imenu,

Whose fate won’t be the same.

She deflects the curse from her son,

But never sees him again.

Chayei Sarah

בס״ד 

Chayei Sarah

“Well, well, well, three holes in the ground”,

As the old expression goes.

One might think a well is just a hole,

From which fresh water flows.

But Hagar dovened at a well,

And her prayer was answered, we see,

And Yitzchok, too, goes there to pray,

At the well Be’er-Lechai-Roi.

Eliezer’s prayer is answered, too,

At that well in Aram Naharaim,

When Rivkah draws waters of chesed,

From a spring that is full of mayim.

Now, water is the source of life,

For everything that grows,

And mayim rhymes with chayim,

As everybody knows.

So when, perchance, your path is dark,

Doubts clouding your einayim,

Seek vision from the Font of light,

From Whom flows mayim chayim.

Vayeira

בס״ד 

Vayeira

One kindness requested by

Avraham our Father,

When he left Haran,

From Sarah our Mother:

That wherever HaShem

Should send us to wander,

Tell everyone there 

We are sister and brother.

Could it be that the reason

Was in order to test,

Which people or nation 

Was the worst or the best,

When it comes to regard

For the One who’s above,

And has yirah in balance 

With the middah of love?

Only Pharoah of Egypt 

And Avimelech of Gerar,

Failed in this challenge,

And took ahavah too far.

And this speaks very well 

For the rest of humanity,

Whose yirat Shamayim 

Restrained such profanity.

Lech Lecha

בס״ד 

Lech Lecha

Avram’s journeys may seem aimless,

Nothing seems to go as planned,

But for his Children to inherit,

He must tread the entire Land.

He started out in Haran,

Then to Shechem, Beit El and Ai,

And then way down to Egypt,

Where he almost lost Sarai.

Then he headed back up to the South,

Lot preferred the fertile plains.

Avram rescued Lot way up in Dan,

And took nothing for his pains.

He strode along from East to West,

From North to South and back,

We trace his steps on Derech HaAvot,

Along that well-worn track.

Noach

בס״ד 

Noach

Eretz is the Adamah,

She brought forth a different tree.

Adam is from Adamah,

His fall was from the tree.

Noach is Ish HaAdamah,

His fall was from the vine.

Dor HaMabul corrupts the Adamah,

Their fall was from being unkind.

Dor HaFlaga makes bricks from Adamah,

Their fall was from worshipping self.

All because Eretz thought she could de better,

Than the Creator of the Universe Himself.