The Israelites are enslaved in Egypt. Moses receives the Ten Commandments. The Israelites build a tabernacle.
Moses said, “This is what G-d has said; At about midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt. Every firstborn will die” (Exodus, 11:4-5) Moses relays G-d’s message that the plague of the first-born will happen at midnight. However, he doesn’t say “midnight,” he says “at about midnight.” The Talmud notes this odd choice […]
That is Aaron and Moses…(6:26) Rashi comments that some places Aaron’s name is listed before Moses’ and in other places it places Moses before Aaron; this is done to teach us that they were equal. Rashi’s explanation is difficult to understand because even though Aaron was great, was he really on the level of Moses, […]
This week we begin reading the second book of the Torah, Exodus. The first book, Genesis, covered about 2000 years from the creation of the world until Jacob’s family went to live in Egypt to survive during the famine. They ended up settling there until a paranoia arose in the mind of Pharaoh and other […]
After all donations given by the people for the Mishkan (Tabernacle) were collected, the tribal leaders gave their portion. The problem was that by that time, there was virtually nothing left to give because the people’s donations had covered almost all of the expenses. The only thing left were the stones on the breastplate of […]
There is a little know prohibition and although there is a dispute about its origin, all sources from the time of the Talmud onward agree that it is forbidden to count Jews. Some find the source in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion when Moses is instructed to collect a half shekel coin from […]
(In honor of Purim, a supplementary dvar Torah has been added.) Purim 5777-2017 (This dvar Torah, except for the title and conclusion, was written by Mois Navon, a Computer Engineer, who was a studying in Israel in 2008 at Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav when a Palestinian terrorist attacked and murdered 8 students and injured 11 others. […]
This week’s Torah portion deals with the commandment to build a Tabernacle in the wilderness. We encounter a textual difficulty in the first two verses: G-d spoke to Moses saying, “Take for Me a portion from everyone whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion.” (25:1-2) A literal translation of the verse would read […]
AND these are the laws that you should place before them. (Exodus 21:1) This week’s Parsha is full of laws and must be understood in context. What is the significance of its being placed immediately after the exhilarating Sinai encounter (last week’s Parsha) when its main content is law? There are obligations of an employer […]
People Hearing Without Listening Jethro, minister of Midian, father in law of Moses, heard all that G-d had done for Moses and for Israel, His people-that G-d had taken Israel out of Egypt. The verse above is followed by others that inform us that Jethro went into the wilderness to meet Moses, whom he had […]
What Did the Sea See? The week’s Torah portion begins with the Jewish people leaving Egypt. What was Moses doing at that time? Moses took the bones of Joseph with him… The Midrash states that the splitting of the sea was in the merit of these bones. This is hard to understand in light of […]
Feel the Fear Looking for a great topic for discussion at your Passover Seder? Consider a story you either learned in Hebrew school or we heard at a Passover Seder growing up. The people were told to put blood from the Passover offering (Pascal Lamb) on their doorposts so that their homes would be passed […]
We all know the story; Pharaoh did not listen, plagues came to Egypt. Hail, the last plague mentioned in this week’s Parsha, was going to be a hailstorm of unprecedented magnitude. Although the hail was extremely destructive, some of the animals survived. Which ones? The animals whose owners had followed Moses’ instructions to bring them […]
Trust or Narcissism? After being told by G-d to return to Egypt and command Pharaoh to release the Jews, Moses says: ‘Please G-d, I am not a man of words, also not since the day before yesterday, nor since You first spoke to Your servant; for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.’ […]
Flipping the Switch And they brought the Mishkan to Moses…(ibid. 39:33) When all of the various parts of the Mishkan (portable “Temple” in the desert) had been fashioned, they were brought to Moses, who actually stood the walls up and erected them. The commentary of Rashi explains that because of the massive weight of the […]
The first Jewish fundraising initiative is found in this week’s Torah portion. Moses said to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel saying: This is the word that G-d commanded saying: Take from yourselves a portion for G-d…everyone who is generous of heart shall bring it… (Exodus 35:4-5) When they started bringing contributions to […]
The sin of the Golden Calf is one of the great enigmas of the Torah. The age old question—how could the same people who witnessed the Ten Plagues, the Splitting of the Sea, and national revelation at Sinai recklessly ignore G-d and pray to an idol—has many answers and there is one theme common to […]
You shall place both stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, remembrance stones for the Children of Israel. (Exodus 28:12) Moses was commanded to make garments for the Cohen Gadol-‘high priest’. Included in these was a piece of clothing similar to an apron called the ephod. It had two shoulder straps and held precious […]
The Torah reading this week gives the instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a portable sanctuary (i.e .spiritual center) in the midst of the desert; it was the place where the Divine Presence would rest wherever the Jews happened to be. They took it with them throughout their 40 year stay in the desert and […]
This week is the portion that completes the book of Exodus and the discussion of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), portable sanctuary used when the Jews wandered in the desert. It’s worth noting that the Torah enumerates all of the precious metals that went into the building of the Mishkan and lists exactly how much gold, silver, […]
G-d spoke to Moshe, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me; from every man whose heart desires [to give], take my offering.’ (ibid. 25:1-2)
And these are the ordinances that you will place before them. (ibid. 21:1) A sizeable quantity of this week’s Torah portion deals with the laws of theft and damage. The question asked by many commentators is, what significance was there in giving specifically these laws immediately after the Ten Commandments and revelation at Sinai (last week’s […]
