Vayikra sources -- 2013 edition

by aliyah

rishon (1:1)

sheni (1:14), missing

shelishi (2:7)

revii (3:1)

chamishi (4:1)

shishi (4:27)

shevii (5:11)

maftir (5:24)

haftara (Yeshaya 43:21), with Malbim, Ibn Ezra

by perek

perek 1 ; perek 2 ; perek 3 ; perek 4 ; perek 5


meforshim
Geonim

R' Saadia Gaon(882-942) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Arabic translation of Torah, here  at Temanim.org. This is a beautiful PDF, with the Chumash text, Rashi, Onkelos, and Rav Saadia's Tafsir. All of these have nikkud, which is a very nice feature. It also designates the Temani and standard aliyah breaks, and two commentaries, Shemen HaMor and Chelek HaDikduk, on the kriyah, trup, nikkud, and dikduk, on the basis of Yemenite manuscripts, which would be worthwhile even absent the other features. Quite excellent, overall.
2. The same Arabic translation, the Tafsir,   here at Google books. No nikkud, Chumash text, Rashi, or Onkelos. But there is a brief supercommentary by Yosef Direnburg at the bottom of each page. 
3. Collected commentary of Saadia Gaon on Torah, selected from the writings of various Rishonim and from his commentaries on other works.

Ibn Janach (Spain, 990-1050) -- see Wikipedia 

Rishonim (11th - 15th centuries)

Not really Abarbabel

Judaica Press Rashi in English and Hebrew (France, 1040 - 1105) -- ואני לא באתי אלא לפשוטו של מקרא ולאגדה המיישבת דברי המקרא, דבר דבור על אופניו

Chizkuni (France, 13th century) -- see Wikipedia  

Daat -- with Rashi, Ramban, Seforno, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Rabbenu Bachya, Midrash Rabba, Tanchuma+, Gilyonot 

Rashbam (France, 1085-1158) -- see Wikipedia 

1. here (and Rashbam), in a printed text, collected and corrected from printed texts and manuscripts, with citations and brief supercommentary by David Rosen.
2. At Daat, color coded and copy-pasteable.

 Abarbanel  (Portugal, Italy, 1437-1508) -- see Wikipedia -- there is a section on his exegesis 

Baal HaTurim (Germany, Spain, 1269-1343) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Baal Haturim - short, consisting of gematriot and the like
2. Baal Haturim (HaAruch), consisting of perushim, often drawn from Ramban
3. Torat Hatur -- when the Tur (in his halachic work) cites pesukim from this parasha. Not very helpful, IMHO. Though the supercommentary on the Tur on the bottom is nice.

Rabbenu Ephraim  (France, 12th and 13th century) -- see Jewish Encyclopedia entry --  "He was the author of "Perush 'al ha-Torah," which consists chiefly of gemaṭria and "noṭariḳon." He largely followed Eleazar of Worms."

Some fun sources on the megillah

1. Yeshua Gedolah on Megillas Esther, by Rav Yonasan Eibeshitz.

2. Gishmei Bracha and Torah Temimah on Megillas Esther, by R' Baruch HaLevi Epstein.

3. Meshech Chochma on Megillah.

4. Ibn Ezra with supercommentary Mechokekei Yehuda on Megillah.

5. Minchas Shai on the Megillah.

6. Aharon ben Yosef the Karaite on the megillah, for which you would need this djvu browser plugin. Some really wild stuff, I think, especially for a Karaite... I'm wondering if it is Purim Torah. Maybe not.

Shemot sources -- 2013 edition

by aliyah

rishon (Shemos 1:1)

sheni (1:18)

shlishi (2:11)

revii (3:1)

chamishi (3:16)

shishi (4:18)

shvii (5:1)

maftir (5:22)

haftara (Yeshaya 27:6)

by perek

perek 1 ; perek 2 ; perek 3 ; perek 4 ; perek 5

perek 6

meforshim

R' Saadia Gaon(882-942) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Arabic translation of Torah,  here at Temanim.org. This is a beautiful PDF, with the Chumash text, Rashi, Onkelos, and Rav Saadia's Tafsir. All of these have nikkud, which is a very nice feature. It also designates the Temani and standard aliyah breaks, and two commentaries, Shemen HaMor and Chelek HaDikduk, on the kriyah, trup, nikkud, and dikduk, on the basis of Yemenite manuscripts, which would be worthwhile even absent the other features. Quite excellent, overall.
2. The same Arabic translation, the Tafsir,  here at Google books. No nikkud, Chumash text, Rashi, or Onkelos. But there is a brief supercommentary by Yosef Direnburg at the bottom of each page. 
3. Collected commentary of Saadia Gaon on Torah, selected from the writings of various Rishonim and from his commentaries on other works.

Ibn Janach (Spain, 990-1050) -- see Wikipedia entry

Rishonim (11th - 15th centuries)

Not really Abarbabel

Judaica Press Rashi in English and Hebrew (France, 1040 - 1105) -- ואני לא באתי אלא לפשוטו של מקרא ולאגדה המיישבת דברי המקרא, דבר דבור על אופניו

Chizkuni (France, 13th century) -- see Wikipedia  

Daat -- with Rashi, Ramban, Seforno, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Rabbenu Bachya, Midrash Rabba, Tanchuma+, Gilyonot 

Rashbam (France, 1085-1158) -- see Wikipedia 

1. Here (and here), in a printed text, collected and corrected from printed texts and manuscripts, with citations and brief supercommentary by David Rosen.
2. At Daat, color coded and copy-pasteable.

Abarbanel (Portugal, Italy, 1437-1508) -- see Wikipedia -- there is a section on his exegesis 

Baal HaTurim (Germany, Spain, 1269-1343) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Baal Haturim -- short, consisting of gematriot and the like
2. Baal Haturim (HaAruch), consisting of perushim, often drawn from Ramban
3. Torat Hatur -- when the Tur (in his halachic work) cites pesukim from this parasha. Not very helpful, IMHO. Though the supercommentary on the Tur on the bottom is nice.

Rabbenu Ephraim -- (France, 12th and 13th century) -- see Jewish Encyclopedia entry --  "He was the author of "Perush 'al ha-Torah," which consists chiefly of gemaṭria and "noṭariḳon." He largely followed Eleazar of Worms."

Rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi -- (Provence, Egypt and elsewhere, 1279-140) -- A pashtan and rationalist Jewish philosopher. References Rambam, Ibn Ezra, and Abarbanel. He also focuses on dikduk and trup. See Wikipedia entry.

1. Ibn Caspi  -- in Mishneh Kesef, volume 2 -- a running commentary with generally short comments on pesukim, though with occasional long discourses.
2. Ibn Caspi - Tirat Kesef -- lengthy discourses on philosophical points raised in the parsha.
3. His supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, different from his commentary (here and here)  explaining the sodot of Ibn Ezra

Ralbag (France, 1288 - 1344) -- medieval Jewish philosopher. See Wikipedia

R' Shlomo Ibn Gabirol

Ibn Gabirol -- not until Bo -- (Spain, 1040-1058) -- see Wikipedia

R' Yosef Bechor Shor (France, 12th century). See Wikipedia entry. Student of Rabbenu Tam. "Even more than Rashi, to whose exegetical school he belonged, he confined himself to literal interpretations (peshat). Anticipating later Biblical criticism, he assumed the presence of duplicate narratives in the Bible, and he strove to give rational explanations to the miraculous stories."

Meiri -- (Catalan, 1249 – 1310) -- see Wikipedia entry. This is a collected commentary, culled from his other works.

Rabbenu Yonah -- not until Bo -- (Catalan, died 1263) -- see Wikipedia

Seforno (Italy, 1475-1550) -- see Wikipedia

Sefer Zikaron of Ritva -- not until Yitro --(Spain, 1250–1330) -- see Wikipedia

Tzror Hamor -- "containing interpretations according to both the ordinary sense and the mystical method of the Zohar" -- Rabbi Avraham Sabba (Spain, Portugal, 1440-1508) -- see Wikipedia

Posts so far for parshat Vayeshev

2011

1. Abarbanel asks about yibum, Yehuda, and Boaz -- Abarbanel's 19th doubt in Ki Seitzei is about the incident with Yehudah and Tamar, and how that meshes (or does not) with the laws ofyibbum. Yehuda was a father to the deceased, not a brother! And how comehalacha does not recognize this as effective, patterned after Yehuda. Abarbenel's 20th doubt is about theyibbum described in sefer Rut. Was he a brother or a distant relative? Where was the spitting for Ploni Almoni? This all seems to contradict the laws ofyibbum and chalitza.
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2. Abarbanel on Yehuda and Tamar's "yibbum" -- As described in the above post, Don Yitzchak Abravanel asks some incisive questions about the nature of the apparent yibbum by Yehuda and Tamar. Here, he resolves those questions. It was certainly not a complete yibbum, for yibbum is for brothers, not fathers. (And he explains why.) Tamar took the steps necessary, but it was certainly not Yehuda's intent. And this particular joining does not form the pattern for subsequent yibbum.
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3. Yehuda and Tamar, and Boaz and Rus, as performing real yibbum -- My own thoughts about the points raised by Abarbanel. Could we find a way for the actions of Yehuda and Tamar, and of Boaz and Ruth, to be actual yibbum, rather than just 'customary' yibbum, or no yibbum at all?
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4. Targum Yonasan in support of a minhag taus --  Birkas Avraham debunks a support to a minhag taus from Targum Yonasan. The targum states 'and she called his name Onan, for ברם upon him his father would in the future mourn.' However, they should not interpret it as  'and she called his name Onan, for ברם [only] upon him [and not his older brother Er] his father would in the future mourn.' Rather, it should be understood as  'and she called his name Onan, for ברם [also] upon him [just as upon older brother Er] his father would in the future mourn.'
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5. Vayeshev sources -- further improved.
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6. YU Torah on parashat Vayeshev.
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7. Why did Yaakov only await fulfillment of the *second* dream?  Perhaps because only celestial bodies bowing goes out of the natural order; or maybe, the purpose is to stress that Yaakov's criticism of the second dream was a sham, to try to keep peace among the brothers.
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8. Ibn Caspi on the Zakef on כְּתֹנֶת בְּנִי --  How it is appropriate placement by the baalei hamesorah. I agree, and it is obvious. Yet, the comment is worth noting.
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9. Shadal on the trup on הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת --  Shadal corrects the erroneous trup; and Wickes makes the same suggestion, finding two texts which have it. After all, should בַּעַל really be separated from הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה? Then, Shadal differs with a different aspect of trup. And he also gives his thoughts on the etymology and meaning of הַלָּזֶה.
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10. Ibn Caspi and the trup on מַה פָּרַצְתָּ עָלֶיךָ פָּרֶץ -- The words מַה פָּרַצְתָּ עָלֶיךָ פָּרֶץ can mean "With what strength you have strengthened yourself!" Alternatively, as Ibn Ezra suggests, it can mean two statements of מַה פָּרַצְתָּ (how have you breached) and עָלֶיךָ פָּרֶץ (the guilt of the breach is upon you). Ibn Caspi and others find support for Ibn Ezea's parse in the tipcha on מַה פָּרַצְתָּ.
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11. What is the role of shalshelet? Should we darshen the psik of it? What about the shalsheles leads to these various interpretations?
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12. Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev on the role of the shalsheles on וימאן -- In a recent post on Vayeshev, I cited Birkas Avraham, who gave several reasons for a shalsheles. I added some ideas, from others. But while he mentioned the Kedushas Levi, Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, he only listed the first of the reasons the Kedushas Levi gave. In fact, there are quite a number of other reasons offered there. Here, without added commentary, I present the various reasons offered.
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13. Kedushat Levi: how the סריס Potifar could have been informed בשעת תשמיש --  Harmonizing two contradictory Rashi's, that Hashem transformed Potifar into asaris when he bought Yosef for משכב זכר purposes, and that Potifar's wife falsely accused Yosef when she was בשעת תשמיש with her husband.
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14. Tamar's judgement as Torah Law, Noachide Law, Contemporary Law -- Which one is it, and when? Ibn Caspi says that the death penalty was Noachide law while freeing her from the same was contemporary law.

2010

1. Was Sarah buried in the Valley of Chevron? A variant text in the beginning of parashat Chayei Sarah, present in the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch. And why I believe the masoretic text to be better. This relates strongly to parashat Vayeishev as well.
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2. Vayeshev sources -- expanded. For example, a lot more meforshei Rashi.
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3. Is Vayikirah malei or chaser? An instance in which our Masoretic text is malei while the Samaritan text ischaser. This goes against the grain. Should we therefore lend credence to the Samaritan text?
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4. Why would the shivtei Kah try to kill their brother? After all, isn't this a violation of lo tirtzach? And didn't the avos and, by extension, the shevatim, keep all 613 mitzvos?
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5. How did Reuven save Yosef by casting him into a pit filled with Snakes and Scorpions? If there was no water, but instead snakes and scorpions, then how was Reuven saving him by casting him into the pit?
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6. Why Didn't The Brothers Try To Stone Yosef To Death? So asks Hillel, in a comment on my previous post. In that previous post, I suggested that they had determined that Yosef was a choleim chalomot, and thus a navi, sheker. And so they wished to put him to death as a false prophet. In this post, I explain how their actions were more precisely in line with the halacha of executing a navi sheker.
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7. According to Sporno, why does Yehudah reference 'monetary profit'? After all, the point is judgement, not revenge! The answer is that Yehudah doesn't really, literally. But this just goes to show how derash, introduced by Rashi, gets totally ingrained as peshat in our minds.

2009

1. Vayeshev sources -- links to an online Mikraos Gedolos, plus more than 100 meforshim on the parsha and haftorah. Thus, updated from last year.
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2. Is tzadeka mimeni one statement or two? Pashtanim arguing on midrash. Once again, midrashim vs. many pashtanim about how to explain a specific pasuk. In this instance, it is something that seems midrashic in the first place, whether tzadeka mimeni is one statement, or two separate statements. Onkelos, Targum Pseudo-Yontan, the gemara, Bereishit Rabba, and Rashi all treat it as two separate statements, either both by Yehuda, or the latter by Hashem. But many of the other meforshim explain it otherwise, as a single statement, that she is more righteous than I. And more interesting that pashtanim arguing on midrash is Ibn Caspi's point, that the derash is at odds with the trup, and that since trup is from Anshei Knesset HaGedolah and reflects Hashem's intent, we cannot argue on it..
   And further thoughts on tzadeka mimeni -- As discussed in a previous post, saying that tzadeka mimeni are two separate statements ("she is righteous; the pregnancy is from me"; or else "the situation is from Me") is at odds with the trup, which has no pause between them. Yet Rashi endorses this as bothpeshat and midrash. And it appears that so does Ibn Ezra. Here, I give further thought to what could influence this explanation -- the word yakir and the otherwise absence of an admission by Yehuda.
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3. The Aramaic translation of the bad word -- Shadal on the correct girsa in Onkelos; I think perhaps a good example of lectio difficilior. The proper Aramaic translation of dibatam -- is it dibbehon or tibbehon. But nothing exceptionally innovative here.
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4. Moral lessons from parashat Vayeishev -- Some straightforward lessons about interpersonal relationships, from Ralbag. Some of which are fairly obvious when you just stop and consider the story carefully. Some of it, of course, it a matter of how one parses the Biblical narrative and associated midrashim.

2008

1. Vayeshev sources -- online, by aliyah and perek in Mikraos Gedolos, and by meforshim, at JNUL. And in the comment section, a discussion of Zuleika, wife of Potifar, which will soon be its own post.
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2. Two noteworthy comments about the nature of peshat, and the one of Vayeshev is the famous comment of the Rashbam.
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3. Parallels between the incident of Tamar and Amnon, and parshat Vayeshev. I note a few of them, and there is a more developed discussion in the comment section.
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4. What in the world is kesonnes passim? And how only Yosef and Tamar were tznius. Or not tznius. And then it develops from there. What does it mean that it reached pas yadav?
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5. What sort of Petil did Yehuda give Tamar as surety? And how, after Ramban rejects the idea it was tzitzis, as sacrilegious, Baal HaTurim suggests it was his tefillin. And much more.
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6. Zuleika, the wife of Potiphar, in the Koran and in Sefer HaYashar. And how I think that this particular midrash might be no more than a borrowing from the Koran.
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7. Who was in the pit? A 4-year old take on parshat Vayeshev.

2007

1. The appropriately named Er and Onan, and Hevel, and Machlon and Kilyan. What a choice for names!
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2. Bar Kochva as the gilgul of Shela -- from Rav Chaim Vital.
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3. Which Daughters comforted Yaakov? Did he have more than one?
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4. What did the wife of Potifar ask Yosef to do? And the danger of euphemisms in obscuring the actual intent.
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5. Why Mention that Yosef Got Lost? Dramatic tension, no witnesses, plausibility of the story that he was attacked by wild animals.
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6. The Shevatim Keeping The Torah
   and expressing willingness to perform kisui hadam. humor.
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7. Midianites as a Generic Term
   and as it relates to the sale of Yosef.

2006

• Tamar's Scarf in the News
• whether Islamic style headscarves are what ancient harlots wore.

2005

• Reuven's Return
• As repentance. I analyze various aspects and textual cues of this midrash, and how Rashi reinterprets or correctly understands the midrash.
• The Chronology of Yehuda's Marriage
• Was Yehuda's marriage subsequent to, or co-occurring with the general timespan of Yosef's sale. This is predicated on the meaning of baEt hahi.

2004

1. Yaakov/Yosef Parallels While in a previous post I mentioned parallels between Yosef and Esav, a midrash highlights many parallels between the lives of Yaakov and Yosef.
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2. Shortsighted Foresight People who see the future via prophecy or astrology, but misapprehend what they see.
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3. Clothes "Make" The Man Twice, Yosef's clothing serves as a mark of identity
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4. Mistaken Identities -- How many times does the theme of mistaken identity come up in Tanach?
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5. Choice Garments and Goat Bits -- Parallels between two sibling rivalries.

2003

1. In Chutzpah! I note that the brothers are shepherding in Shechem, which they had destroyed in the previous parsha. Although Yaakov initially feared a reaction from the neighboring towns, the pasuk (Bereishit 35:5:) tells us that the fear of God was put into the inhabitants of the towns and the hostile reaction did not surface. Here they are, initially shepherding in Shechem, perhaps even the flocks taken as spoils from Shechem, and Yosef has no fear to go to Shechem alone to see how things fare. Also, Tg Yonatan has two points about the sale of Yosef: it being preordained, and being linked to the destruction of Shechem.
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2. In Dibatam Ra'ah I discuss the word נַעַר as a verb in the second pasuk of Vayeishev, in Bereishit 37:2. The midrash gives three bad things the brothers did, or appeared to do, that Yosef reported - eating 'ever min hachai, treating the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah as servants, and secual improprieties. I show how these might be derived from the pasuk. Finally, Tg Yonatan gives on sin - that he saw them eat the ears and tails separated from the live animals. I give Perush Yonatan's explanation for this, as well as a possible derivation from the text.
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3. In Where Does the First Pasuk Belong? I note the relationship between the first pasuk which says that Yaakov settled in the land of his forefathers, with a similar statement about Esav in the previous parsha. I suggest it logically belongs to the previous parsha. This may relate to the order of the narrative, such that the story of Yosef actually precedes the birth of Binyamin and thus Rachel's death. Some proofs that Binyamin is not yet born - Binyamin is not mentioned; Yosef is called the ben zekunim - son of old age; and Yaakov asks "will I and your mother bow down before you?" implying that Rachel, Yosef's mother, is still alive.
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4. In Brand Name Recognition? Or Lack Thereof? מהר"א אשכנזי, based on Islamic practice, explains Yehuda's command that Tamar be burnt is a command to brand her forhead to label her a harlot. The presence of the mark is the reason harlots would typically cover their faces, and the pasuk says that Tamar did this when pretending to be one.
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5. In A Baaaad Report I suggest that on a peshat level, rather than דִּבָּתָם רָעָה meaning an evil report, it actually means a report as to how the shepherding is going. Proofs to this effect - nowhere do we see explicitly what the bad things he reported were, nor that the brothers hated him for it. Further, it seems to set up the story such that we understand why Yaakov sends Yosef after his brothers to find out how the shepherding is going - this is his role.

To be continued...

Posts so far for parshat Toledot

2013

1. Eat this red lentil stew; it will put color in your cheeks!

2012

1.  Did Avraham call anyone 'My Master' besides Hashem?  According to Meshech Chochma, he did not, and so was of the select few to be called an eved Hashem. But it is not so simple, according to Rav Yechezkel Abramsky's son. According to one opinion, Adonay at the start of Vayera is chol. Then, I weigh in with what I think is an even stronger counter-example, עַל-עַבְדְּכֶם.

2. Even at three, Rivkah didn't absorb from her negative environment -- But we may derive from here, notes Rabbi Chaim Hirschenson, that one must be careful in the chinuch of children. I consider how much of this lesson is to be derived from Rashi and how much from the underlying midrashim.

3. Who named Yaakov? Rashi says it was either Hashem or Yaakov. What prompts the midrash, and how could one darshen this even as, contrariwise, one darshens the naming of Yishmael? The Levush HaOrah considers the question, and then I do too.

4. YUTorah for parashat Toledot

5. How to understand כַיּוֹם in Yaakov's request to purchase the birthright -- Shadal notes a girsological variation in Onkelos, and then points us to sefer Yud Aleph Resh, Savyonita, and Rashi and Ramban. Ramban discusses the meaning of the strange phrasing in Onkelos, זַבֵּין כְּיוֹם דִּלְהֵין.  I present and translate these sources.

6. The Torah Temimah on Esav's Five Sins Torah Temimah -- He explains the derashot in the gem
ara in Bava Batra, fixes a broken girsa in a way that turns out to correspond to manuscripts, and explains why Rashi goes to a distant location to explain an Aramaic word, rather than simply looking to Onkelos on our own pasuk. I weigh in on some of this at the end.

7. Is וְהֵבֵאתָ to be pronounced mile'eil or milera? Shadal points to an interesting comment in sefer Yaar, that good manuscripts and Rashi support it being mile'eil, against our present reading.

2011

1. What in the world does נַחְשִׁרְכָן mean? in all of its variants.
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2. Ibn Caspi on the Avos keeping the entire Torah -- He endorses the idea, kind-of. In one instance, as a restrained and coded rejection. In another, as a philosophical co-opting of the idea. Also, Chizkuni and my own approach to understanding the pasuk that sparks all this.
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3. Toldos sources -- further expanded and improved.
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4. YU Torah on parashat Toldot.
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5. Darshening pesiks in parashat Toledot -- One is indeed a pesik, and one should indeed be darshened. Though I argue on the details. There is a vertical bar after Machalat, and there is a derasha that has Esav's sins forgiven with his marriage. Does this bar indicate the need for distancing oneself from one's past actions? There is a vertical bar after the Shem Hashem in Avimelech's words to Yitzchak. Should this indicate that the wells ceased when Yitzchak left? Read on to find out!
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6. Rivkah darshens a pasuk -- An amusing remez from the Vilna Gaon.
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7. Did Avraham specifically keep eruv tavshilin or erev techumin? An analysis by the Gra.

2010

1. Why כי עקרה הוא is correct --  and how the Samaritan correction is a correction, rather than original.
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2. The meaning of Padan Aram -- Is the Aramaic or Arabic etymology better?
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3. Was Yaakov Avinu the first Askan? While reading over parashat Toledot, it struck me that, at least on a peshat level, there is ample precedent for what the various askanim are doing. It is simply maaseh avos siman labanim.
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4. How to spell 'goyim' -- and how I would justify the Masoretic reading. Plus the strange, counter-intuitive vowel pattern provided by the Masorah, and its significance.
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5. The mercha kfula in parshas Shmini -- How shall we account for it? There is also a mercha kefulah in parashat Toledot, and this post considers all five of them in the Torah.
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6. Esav the Deceiver, pt i -- I try to address why Yitzchak and Rivkah's displeasure over his choice in wives doesn't prove that Yitzchak was in the know.
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2009

1. My novel interpretation for the duplication of Betulah and veIsh lo yedaah, which I label ridiculous. Then it turns out that it is not so novel, as Maharal says a very similar thing. I have a post planned about just why I considered my own interpretation silly, which has to do with peshat in derash. {Update: See post #7, about how Rivkah was just big for her age.}
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2. The three-fold ambiguity of verav yaavod tzair -- syntactic, lexical, and spelling. And how this may be a deliberate ambiguity, such that the text is multivalent. Also, An earlier assertion of multivalence in verav yaavod tzair -- in Radak, alongside Ibn Caspi I mentioned earlier. Plus, some analysis.
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3. Did Hashem speak directly to Rivkah? For various commentators, it might depend on whether Hashem generally talks to women, as well as what doresh means and what vatelech means. Towards the end, I suggest that Rivkah prayed, and that Hashem responded to her in a direct revelation.
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4. Was the kiss on the mouth, or elsewhere? Trying to make sense of Ibn Ezra's assertion that neshika which is "to" someone is on the hand or cheek, while neshika directly is on the lips. I think it is more plausible, and grounded in sevara and dikduk, than some supercommentators give him credit for.
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5. Was Yitzchak poor? The dispute between Ibn Ezra and Ramban, and my thoughts on some elements of their dispute.
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6. Rivkah, just big for her age! My analysis of why I considered my suggestion (above) ridiculous, and an analysis of how my methodology in general differs from that of Maharal. I don't see the need to harmonize as much, and if the harmonization introduces surprising details which we would have therefore expected to see explicitly mentioned by Rashi, or the midrash, itself, then I would surmise that this was not the intent of the author of the midrash.
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7. The merits of a Baal Teshuva vs. those of an FFB -- based on Toledot, with Rivkah and Yitzchak's prayers.
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8. Did the Pilgrims wear tzitzis? Nope, it's Esav!

2008

1. In Shadal's Vikuach, he discusses how Ibn Ezra's interpretation of kulo kaaderet seiar goes against the trup.
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2. Cross-listed from Vayikra, Shadal's theory about small letters can help explain the small kuf in katzti bechayai -- it follows the word Yitzchak, which ends with a kuf. See inside.
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3. From Whence the 10 years before Yitzchak and Rivkah begin trying to have children? A discussion on how it comes from textual concerns, as opposed to imposed moral values.
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4. Two Whole Goats? Does Yitzchak really have that big an appetite? How are we then to understand the preparation of two goats for Yitzchak's meal, on a peshat level?
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5. Will that be one placenta or two? Rabbenu Bachya, vs. Ibn Ezra, vs. Rashi, on how many placentas there were, and whether Yaakov and Esav shared a single placenta. If they did, they would have to be identical twins, though I do not think Rabbenu Bachya necessarily realized that.
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6. Did Yaakov stray after his eyes in falling in love with Rachel, rather than just taking Leah and returning to his parents? I take issue with this explanation by Rabbenu Bachya, on a peshat level, but in the comment section, Rabbi Joshua Maroof (of Vesom Sechel) makes a compelling argument in his favor, on a peshat level, that the Biblical text does not look favorably on Rachel. Perhaps fodder for another post.
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7. Who or What Was Achuzat? The name of Avimelech's friend, or a group of people. I favor Rashi, even on the level of peshat.

2007

1. Is Esav the Bad Brother? Is Yaakov? The theme of sibling rivalry, and the danger of reading our own values into the text.
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2. Esav's mantle of hair, and its possible implications, such that it was worn by false prophets, or prophets in general, such that it might fit in with Esav's misleading nature.
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3. Is Edom equal to Rome and Christiandom? Shadal says no, and that the prophecies about Esav and Yaakov in this week's parsha have already been fulfilled. Plus a very large comment section. And then, in Is Obama a 'Dark Horse' Candidate to be Gog, I touch on this same topic, and discuss it with yaak of Yeranen Yaakov, in the comment section.

2005

• Further thoughts on the Sons of Ketura (2005)
• A continuation of a post on Chayyei Sarah, in considering whether genealogical sections happened right then or whether some high level ain mukdam in terms of tracts with different purposes (macro and micro zoom levels) is at play here. In terms of Toledot, even though the first pasuk mentions Yitzchak's birth, he was clearly born before.
• I Am | Esav (is) Your Firstborn (2005)
• I consider various motivations as input into the midrashic statement that Yaakov did not lie by making this statement. The obvious religious motivation (making Avot paragons of virtue), philosophical motivations (given philosophical requirements of a navi being absolutely truthful, syntactic motivation, accentual motivation (trup), thematic motivation, motivation of textual parallels, and literary motivation. Thus is not (simply) a case of whitewashing actions of the Avot. Read for more details.
• More Thoughts on "Anochi Esav Bechorecha" (2005)
• In terms of the parsing of "It is I | Esav is Your Firstborn," I note how Hebrew is a pro-drop language, how including the pronoun is done usually for emphasis, and how this emphasis is read into the midrash.
• The Parallelism of "Anochi Esav Bechorecha" (2005)
• Discussing the parallelism between Yitzchak's question and Yaakov's answer. After demonstrating the parallelism, I question whether beni in this case means literally "my son" or more generally a kind address to one younger than you. Parallel to Rut, where Boaz calls her biti in a near identical address and response.

2004

• A Neo-midrash on Yaakov and Esav's Sibling Rivalry (2004)
• Based on a Hebrew cognate in Amharic, on the word gadala, meaning to kill or fight.
• And the Older Shall Serve the Younger? (2004)
• or the younger shall serve the older? I think the former is what makes the only sense, on a peshat level, and argue on Rabbi Sacks' interpretation. Also, the meaning of rav and tzair.
• Making A Break For It (2004)
• The basis of Yaakov trying to get out to a bet midrash and Esav trying to get out to a house of idolatry, while yet in the womb.
• Towards a Theory of Drash (2004)
• That there is always a local, linguistic cause, as well as thematic reasons to choose a specific interpretation. The derash reinforces the message which is already present on the peshat level.
• The Near Miss (2004)
• Yaakov leaving the tent just as Esav arrives. And the midrash's textual basis.
• Fetal Fighting (2004)

2003

• וַתֵּלֶךְ לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת-ה - A drash of lidrosh to mean bet midrash (2003)
• How Rivka consults Hashem. A discussion and summary of several opinions
• Esav's Wife: Easy on the Eyes (2003)
• and the midrash linking Yitzchak's blindness to Esav's wife's idolatry. And how the new wife he took was a realization of this -- וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו, כִּי רָעוֹת בְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן, בְּעֵינֵי, יִצְחָק אָבִיו. Check it out.

to be continued...