
The Mitzvah Minute newsletter brings the beauty of Torah learning to your inbox — exploring mitzvot, parsha insights, and timeless Jewish wisdom in a clear, uplifting format. Browse our latest issue below, or explore past editions to keep growing one mitzvah at a time.

“כַּבֵּד אֶת־אָבִיךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּךָ”
— Exodus 20:12
Kibbud Av Va’Eim is one of the Torah’s foundational mitzvot — honoring not only our parents’ presence, but their dignity, legacy, and emotional well-being.
Chazal, Rambam, and the Sefer HaChinuch explain that true honor often expresses itself through restraint:
what we withhold, what we protect, and what we choose not to say.
In Mikeitz, Yosef models this mitzvah in its most demanding form — honoring his father from afar, guarding Yaakov from pain, and carrying his family’s dignity even while ruling a foreign empire.
Explore the full mitzvah →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/613-mitzvahs/respect-your-father-and-mother
Even in exile, Yosef honors his father — through restraint, compassion, and integrity. This essay reveals how true Kibbud Av Va’Eim is carried not by closeness, but by character.
Explore the full Essay (3 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/respecting-parents-in-exile-yosefs-hidden-kibbud-av-vaeim---mitzvah-584----honor-your-father-and-mother

Mikeitz marks the ketz — the turning point. Pharaoh’s dreams end Yosef’s imprisonment and begin redemption, as famine brings the brothers to bow, unity is tested, and the path to healing quietly opens.
Read the Parsha insights and commentaries →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/parshiyot/mikeitz
Parshas Mikeitz teaches that waiting, silence, and darkness are often where Divine purpose is quietly at work.
Read Lessons from Parshas Mikeitz (9 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/finding-divine-purpose-in-the-darkness-before-the-light---parshas-mikeitz----lessons-for-today

Miracles Without Headlines
This essay explores what we learn from Parshas Mikeitz and Chanukah — that Hashem’s light often appears through quiet persistence, not headline-making miracles.
Read the full essay (6 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/a-light-in-the-palace-why-mikeitz-always-meets-chanukah---miracles-without-headlines

Wisdom With No Ownership
Yosef’s single word — bil’adai — defines a Torah model of leadership: wisdom without ego, authority without ownership, and greatness that points beyond itself.
Read the full essay (7 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/biladai----leadership-without-self---wisdom-with-no-ownership
This essay uncovers what miketz truly means — the moment when darkness completes its purpose and redemption arrives with Divine precision.
Read the essay (10 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/when-darkness-finishes-its-work----the-ketz-of-redemption---miq-ets-sh-natayim-yamiym----and-it-was-at-the-end-of-two-full-years
This essay explores how Yosef’s test of Binyamin becomes a living model of teshuvah — proving that true repentance is choosing differently when the same moment returns.
Read the essay (8 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/the-test-of-binyamin-can-love-rewrite-memory---brothers-at-a-crossroads----teshuvah-in-real-time
This essay reveals how Yosef turns economic power into chesed — feeding the world with humility, responsibility, and fear of Heaven.
Read the essay (10 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/the-economics-of-chesed-yosefs-grain-policy---feeding-the-world-with-fear-of-heaven
This essay explores how Yosef’s years of silence and waiting were not abandonment, but Divine preparation — shaping faith, humility, and trust in Hashem’s timing.
Read the essay (9 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/the-silence-is-part-of-the-story-what-yosef-learned-waiting---forgotten-by-man-remembered-by-hashem
This essay reveals how Yosef’s hidden tears shape his leadership — showing how strength, accountability, and compassion can coexist in the work of healing.
Read the essay (4 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/the-tears-yosef-hides-compassion-toward-those-who-harmed-you---mercy-behind-tough-love
This essay explores how Yosef uses judgment guided by compassion — teaching that true justice seeks healing, not just fairness.
Read the essay (4 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/inside-the-goblet-justice-beyond-the-letter-of-law---lessons-in-compassionate-judgment
This essay explores how Yosef’s being unrecognized becomes a model for Jewish history — and how redemption begins when we learn to truly see one another.
Read the essay (5 - min read) →
https://www.mitzvah-minute.com/divrei-torah/recognition-deferred-a-pattern-of-jewish-history---parshas-mikeitz----seeing-and-being-seen
Parshas Mikeitz reminds us that the most important chapters of our lives are often written quietly. Yosef rises to power in a single moment, but only after years of waiting, silence, and unseen growth. What looks like delay is often design. What feels like darkness may be shaping the exact strength we will soon need.
Throughout Mikeitz, we learn that greatness is not loud. It is found in restraint instead of revenge, in compassion instead of control, in faith that endures when recognition does not arrive on time. Yosef teaches us how to honor others even from afar, how to lead without ego, how to judge with mercy, and how to trust that Hashem’s timing is never late.
As Chanukah’s lights glow beside this parsha, we are reminded that one flame is enough to begin. A small act of integrity. A moment of patience. A choice to heal instead of harden. These are the quiet ways redemption enters the world.
This week, may we carry Yosef’s light into our own waiting places — believing that the darkness has a purpose, that the story is still unfolding, and that when the moment comes, the door will open exactly on time.


Dive into mitzvot, prayer, and Torah study—each section curated to help you learn, reflect, and live with intention. New insights are added regularly, creating an evolving space for spiritual growth.

Explore the 613 mitzvot and uncover the meaning behind each one. Discover practical ways to integrate them into your daily life with insights, sources, and guided reflection.

Learn the structure, depth, and spiritual intent behind Jewish prayer. Dive into morning blessings, Shema, Amidah, and more—with tools to enrich your daily connection.

Each week’s parsha offers timeless wisdom and modern relevance. Explore summaries, key themes, and mitzvah connections to deepen your understanding of the Torah cycle.
