WHAT A CHANGE of pace. Ya’akov Avinu was forced, due to his mother’s advice to put his life in danger to save the brochos from going to the wrong person (if that is even possible in God’s world), to leave his Torah cocoon for the world of anti-Semites, murderers, and cheats for just about the rest of his life. They certainly took their toll, as a weary and worn out Ya’akov told a wondering Pharaoh:

THE JEWISH PEOPLE have had many enemies over the millennia, but most of them were descendants of either Yishmael or Eisav.

LAST WEEK’S PARSHA was a laugh. This week’s parsha is to cry for. It’s never easy losing a spouse you love, especially if you had something to do with it.

THEY SAY THAT laughter is the best medicine. Though it is definitely not always the best medicine in every situation, it is certainly a good one in the right place, at the right time. Who doesn’t feel healthier after a good, hearty, endorphin-stimulating laugh?

THE VERSE SAYS, “Chochmah m’ayin timatzei—Wisdom, where can it be found?” (Iyov 28:12). But it is one of those beautifully short and seemingly simple verses that, in the world of Kabbalah, speaks universes…and then some. This one is literally the foundation of all of Creation and life.