Hal Miller

Shabbat Parashat Bo - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   Then all these slaves of yours will come down to me and bow to me saying, leave,   you and the entire people who are at your feet. And after that, I will go forth." And he   went forth from Pharaoh's presence in burning anger. [Shemot 11:8] What is Moshe telling Pharaoh here? Why would Pharaoh's slaves come bow to Moshe and tell the Jews to leave Egypt? And if they did, why would that make a difference to anything, such that after

Shabbat Parashat Va'eira - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   God spoke to Moshe and to Aharon and commanded them to the children of Israel and to   Pharaoh king of Egypt to take the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. [Shemot 6:13] Breaking this verse down leaves us with some questions. "God spoke to Moshe and to Aharon" is pretty straightforward but the next word, va'yitzaveim, is not. There is also a question of what God wanted the two brothers to do "to the children of Isra

Shabbat Parashat Shemot - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   And He said, "for I shall be with you, and this is the sign for you that I have sent you: when you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." [Shemot 3:12] There is an obvious question here, "what sign?" It is not clear and obvious from the verses what this refers to. A simple reading would indicate that the sign that God sent Moshe to save the people is that they will worship on Mount Sinai, but how

Shabbat Parashat Vayechi - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   Yosef then removed them from his knees and he prostrated himself with   his face toward the ground. [Bereishit 48:12] Did Yaakov actually have his grandsons sitting on his lap? What does the Torah mean that "Yosef then removed them from his knees"? We know from Bereishit [41:45] that Pharaoh gave Yosef a wife at the time Yosef interpreted the king's dreams. Yosef had interpreted that God was ready to implement the famine plan

Shabbat Parashat Vayigash - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   And you are commanded (to say) do this. Take for yourselves from the land of   Egypt wagons for your small children and for your wives, transport your father   and come. [Bereishit 45:19]   The sons of Israel did so, and Yosef gave them wagons by Pharaoh's word,   and he gave them provisions for the journey. [Bereishit 45:21] There are many questions involved with the wagons described here. Why did Pharaoh command Yosef to t

Shabbat Parashat Mikeitz - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller    And the seven years of famine began to approach, just as Yosef had said,   and there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was   bread. [Bereishit 41:54]   All the land of Egypt hungered, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread.   So Pharaoh said to all of Egypt, "Go to Yosef. Whatever he says to you, you   should do." [Bereishit 41:55] The first of these two verses ends by telling us that in

Shabbat Parashas Vayeishev - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   Then Yehudah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's   house until my son Shelah grows up" for he said "Lest he also die like his brothers."   So Tamar went and lived in her father's house. [Bereishit 38:11] Why did Yehudah push Tamar aside? Our verse gives a reason, "Lest he also die like his brothers", but is that his only thinking? Rashi writes, "he would push her away with a straw for he did

Shabbat Parashat Vayishlach - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   Then God said to him, Your name is Yaakov. Your name shall no longer be   called Yaakov rather Yisrael shall be your name. And He called his name   Yisrael. [Bereishit 35:10] A few weeks ago we read [17:5] "your name shall no longer be called Avram but your name shall be Avraham". The wording in Hebrew is virtually identical with our verse. Or HaChayim notes that the Gemara "Berachot 13 states that anyone who calls Avraham

Shabbat Parashat Vayeitzei - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   Let me pass through your whole flock today. Remove from there every speckled   or spotted lamb, every brownish lamb among the sheep and the spotted or speckled   among the goats, that will be my wage. [Bereishit 30:32] After Lavan asked Yaakov what he wanted for pay, Yaakov proposes an interesting deal. But the text leaves much room for interpretation. He begins by saying that he will pass through the flock 'today'. We see

Shabbat Parashat Toldot - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller   And dwell with him for a few days until your brother's wrath subsides. [Bereishit 27:44] What did Rivka mean, telling Yaakov to go to Lavan "for a few days"? The trip alone would take far more than that, in each direction. Most likely, Eisav would not have forgotten what Yaakov did to obtain the blessing for quite some time. When was Yaakov supposed to return, and how would he know when that was? In parashat Chaye Sarah [Berei