Egypt
- 5784, Aaron, Battle, Beshalach, Egypt, Exodus, Fear, Midbar, Miriam, Moses, Music, Parsha, Pharaoh, Philistines, Red Sea, Shemot, Songs, War, Wilderness
Fear of Battle, Praise of Miracles
At a time when we again feel the emotions of watching war, fighting, death, fear, loss of home and land, the first two verses of Parashat Beshalach resounded with me. וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒…
- 5784, Aaron, Bo, Death, Egypt, Exodus, Hardened, Moses, Parsha, Passover, Pesach, Pharaoh, Plagues, Power, Promises, Protection, Redemption, Shemot, Threats
Death Threats
As Moshe and Aaron continued to encounter Pharaoh and negotiate the freedom of the Hebrew slaves, death hung in the air, actualized through certain plagues (even before the last sign). Parashat Bo continues to…
- 5784, Aaron, Bo, Egypt, Exodus, Ibn Ezra, Judges, Midrash, Moses, Parsha, Pharaoh, Plagues, Prophet, Rashi, Shemot, Vaera, Voice
How to be אלהים…
As G!d continued to guide Moshe and share what would be involved in being an agent of redemption from slavery for the Hebrew people in parashat Vaera, G!d stated at the beginning of chapter…
- 5784, Aaron, Burning Bush, Egypt, Exodus, Freedom, I Am Who I Am, Jacob, Levites, Midian, Miriam, Moses, Names, Parsha, Pharaoh, Shemot, Slavery, Tzipporah, Voice
Placing Names, Naming Places
And so Shemot/Exodus, in the parsha (Shemot) of the same name, begins as our last parsha of Genesis/Bereshit ended: walking us through the generations (by names, literally שמות) of Jacob’s descendants. The missing…
- 5784, Abraham, Bereshit, Bilhah, Egypt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Keturah, Leah, Matriarchs, Parsha, Patriarchs, Rachel, Rebekah, Sarah, Vayechi, Zilpah
Egypt in the End
The final parsha of Bereshit/Genesis, Vayechi, comes with an ending of what we have come to know as the originating line of Jewish/Israelite heritage, marked traditionally by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – with the…
- 5784, Benjamin, Bereshit, Dreams, Egypt, Family, Famine, Genesis, Goshen, Jacob, Joseph, Parsha, Pesach, Slavery, Vayigash
Goshen-ward
We move from dreaming in the last parsha to the fulfillment of Joseph’s dream to have his family together again in Parashat Vayigash. At least – this seems to be a narrative juxtaposition…
- 5784, Abraham, Bereshit, Bilhah, Egypt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Judah, Leah, Parsha, Potiphar, Rachel, Slavery, Tamar, Vayeishev, Zilpah
Forgotten Anchors
This parsha is astoundingly anchored by stories of women, often regarding how their actions affect the men in these stories. Parashat Vayeshev begins with the story of tension between Jacob and his brothers. For…
- Aaron, Bamidbar, Brooklyn, Egypt, Exodus, Forgiveness, Lamentations, Masei, Matot, Miriam, Moses, Numbers, Parsha, Priests, Slavery, Tisha B'Av, Voice
What’s in a Voice?
Last week, I gave the D’var Torah on the double parsha Matot-Masei for Shir HaMa’alot, an independent minyan/chavurah in Brooklyn. The main text follows. ********* Some of you may remember that in last…
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Ravaging Redemption
In the midst of celebrating our “national” freedom from slavery to the Egyptians (and isn’t that somewhat problematic – the overuse of the word “national,” often leading to a nationalistic attachment to an…
- Aaron, Deities, Egypt, Exodus, Freedom, Israelites, Komps Kaos, Miriam, Moses, Oppression, Parsha, Pharaoh, Plagues, Redemption, Slavery, Vaeira
Promises, Promises
I know this is repetitive, but G!d’s promise in Exodus 6:6-7 still connects me to this parsha undeniably. Through years of Seders, the four (five?) promises are engraved in my heart and mind.…
