Infertility

Found 11 Search results

1. Roni Akara

   Haftarot: Ki Tetze

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   In this haftara, the prophet copes with the desperation and absence of hope for the future, which are created in the reality of exile. The literary device used to describe this state is the metaphor of infertility. The comfort of the present reality does not alleviate the distress of their future futility as a nation. The prophet offers comfort by making the future redemption more tangible. The haftara ends with God's promise that the covenant will always be valid, and never reconsidered.

2. The Difference Between "Roni Akara" and "Aniya So'ara"

   Haftarot: Noah

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   Infertility symbolizes the lack of hope for a better future, even if the present reality is tolerable, while desolation represents present suffering with the hope of a better future.

3. Sarai and Hagar

   Rabbi Ezra Bick

   Sarai offers her maid-servant Hagar to Avram. What motivates her offer? What is she afraid of? His lesson will compare Sarai's offer with Rachel offering Bilhah to Yaakov. What was the result of Avram's marriage to Hagar? Why is Sarai angry at Avram? Why does she mistreat Hagar?

4. The Naziriteship of Shimshon

   Haftarot: Naso

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   Manoah and his wife appear to be passive characters, which don't even pray to God to resolve their infertility. On the other hand, Shimshon is a described as energetic, passionate, and impulsive. His nazirite is meant to channel these qualities to a positive place. Parashat Naso presents the nazirite as a mitzvah that leads to kedusha, while the haftara emphasizes the problems that stem from becoming a nazir.

5. Hannah's Child

   Haftarot: The First Day of Rosh Hashana

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   The haftara of Rosh Hashana relates the story of Hannah and the birth of Shmuel. Sarah, Rachel and Hannah were all infertile, and according to the midrash they all had babies on Rosh Hashana. They all made the ultimate sacrifice for a greater cause. Sarah and Rachel took in another wife for their husbands, and Hannah sacrificed the very son she had prayed for. The secret of merit on Rosh Hashana is giving up personal dreams and aspirations for the ultimate goal of serving God.

6. The Birth of Shimshon the Nazirite

   Rabbi Michael Hattin

   Once again, in the Book's final gasp, the sorry cycle of Israelite treachery and Divine counter-wrath is stated, but this time the oppressors have a new identity.  Gone are the Canaanites, Moavites, Midianites and Ammonites of earlier cycles, now replaced by a foe far more menacing and more fierce: the Philistines.

   The character of Shimshon is introduced as a Nazir from birth which demands an in depth investigation of the laws of the Nazir. 

    

7. Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Many similarities exist between the infertility, ultimate birth and near death experience of Yitzhak and the son of the Shunamite woman. Is the death of the son a criticism of the mother who failed to raise this miracle child in a worthy fashion or is it a criticism of Elisha who overstepped his limitations as a prophet? Geihazi's repeated failures in the story might attest to his flawed personality. However, perhaps his failure is meant to teach Elisha that his success as a prophet depends on a direct, non-bureaucratic contact with the common people.

8. Hannah and Self-Sacrifice

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

9. Haftarat Vayera: the Widow and the Oil

   Rabbi David Silverberg

10. Yaakov vs. Yosef: Am I in Place of God?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

11. Yaakov and Yosef: Responding to Anxious Relatives

    Rabbi David Silverberg