One of the coolest things about the parshanut (Torah commentary) series we're doing at Builder's Blog (a project of Bayit: Your Jewish Home) is that our friend, colleague, and fellow builder Steve Silbert is sketchnoting each week's d'dvar Torah. Each week a different builder writes the d'var Torah, mining the parsha for teachings that can fuel and inspire us in our building work, and each week it's amazing to see how Steve opens up our words visually.

This week I'm "on," and I wrote about Rivka and parashat Toldot -- and I absolutely adore what Steve did with my words. Here's a glimpse of what I wrote -- this is one of the pieces of the essay that I like best, and it's part of what inspired Steve's sketchnoting this week:

Rivka’s Questions, And Our Own: Building Lessons From Toldot

Part of a yearlong series about building and builders inspired by the Torah cycle.

...This week’s Torah portion is called Toldot, “Generations.” All of us who seek to build the Jewish future do so on the foundations laid by previous generations. It’s on us to honor the foundations they placed, even as we open ourselves like Rivka to surprises — and embrace new interpretations, spiritual technologies, and ideas that our forebears couldn’t have imagined...

...We may no longer drink from the literal wells of our ancestors, but their spiritual wells still flow — especially when we delve into them ourselves to ensure that they’re still open. All who seek to build Jewish life can draw new sustenance from old sources, laying pipe to bring reach hearts and souls that are thirsty for meaning. We can deepen our ancestors’ wells, drawing up vision and hope, new interpretations and new practices, for each other and for generations to come....

Read the whole thing here: Rivka's Questions, And Our Own: Building Lessons From Toldot. (And if you aren't already following Builder's Blog, you can use the "Follow Blog By Email" link in the right-hand sidebar to sign up -- and I hope you will.)