We seem to be off by about one week.  Generally, we can detect a correspondence between the weekly Torah portion and at least some current events.  Last weeks’ encounter between Jacob and his brother on some level corresponds to the ongoing contest of wills between Israel and the American president regarding how to deal with Iran.  The Biblical encounter ended when Jacob’s brother got a sudden “love rush” and kissed and embraced Jacob.  No such rapprochement has occurred between Washington and Jerusalem, at least not yet.   However, the Biblical narrative has moved on, even while the US-Israel contest remains in full force.  This week it is Jacob’s son Joseph who is the protagonist, and Joseph takes the action down to Egypt.  Even though it looks like Joseph was having a hard time in Egypt, he ended up on top.  Moreover, whatever he seemed to be doing in Egypt was a mere front for what was really taking place.  So, we also need to be aware of the “soul” dimension in everything that we are doing – Joseph certainly was, and that’s how he came out on top.  For more on that, visit us at http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly   And if you have a hankering for more soul food in the form of books, go to http://www.jewishspiritualbooks.com/shop   Look forward to seeing you there!