Women’s Hidden Voice When the Israelites left Egypt, and God split the sea for them, the angels wanted to praise Him. He told them, let Moshe and Israelites sing first. And so it was, the Israelite men sang first, the angels sang last, and in between them, the women were…
1. Shemot 13:17 – Why does Rashi refrain from citing the Midrash? יג:יז: ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם ולא נחם אלהים דרך ארץ פלשתים כי קרוב הוא – ונוח לשוב באותו הדרך למצרים, ומדרשי אגדה יש הרבה Ex. 13:17: When Pharaoh let the people go, Elohim did not lead them…
The Torah describes the song of the Israelites, after crossing the Sea of Reeds, in the future tense: אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל את השירה הזאת Moshe and the Israelites will then sing that song… The Midrash comments that this refers to the song which will be chanted at the…
“They shall eat the meat on that night, roasted, with matzoth and bitter herbs” The first ever lean burger, is the central dish, at least verbally, at our Seder table. We all follow the Mishnaic maxim of Rabban Gamliel, which obligates us to pronounce the words פסח מצה ומרור –…
For Parashat Mishpatim Immediately following the momentous event of Mount Sinai, the Israelites are handed a long list of laws and regulations, detailed in Parashat Mishpatim. Surprisingly, these laws have very little to do with rituals, sacrifices, or spirituality. Rather, they deal with financial and physical damages, and with the…
שָׁלֹ֣שׁ רְגָלִ֔ים תָּחֹ֥ג לִ֖י בַּשָּׁנָֽה – You shall celebrate three pilgrimage holidays a year (Ex. 23:14) We all know the three pilgrimage holidays, Pesah, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Do we also know how Shavuot differs from the other two? Well, to begin with, Shavuot has no set day in the Torah,…
וַיַּ֗עַשׂ אֵ֚ת הַכִּיּ֣וֹר נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וְאֵ֖ת כַּנּ֣וֹ נְחֹ֑שֶׁת בְּמַרְאֹת֙ הַצֹּ֣בְאֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר צָֽבְא֔וּ פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד: Moses made the basin and its base from copper, from the mirrors of the gathering women, who gathered at the gate of the tent of meeting. (Ex. 38:8) This seemingly trivial detail, not included in God’s…
In his commentary, both on this and on the previous Parasha, Rashi quotes Midrashim which suggest that Avraham questioned the importance of the circumcision and whether it is necessary. There is nothing in the text to support it, and it would be safe to assume that the authors of the…
The Torah refers to the content of the Tablets of the Law, given to Moshe on Mount Sinai, not as the Ten Commandments, but rather as עשרת הדברים – the Ten Concepts (Ex. 34:28; Det. 4:13; 10:4). That is because the first and the last of the ten concepts cannot…
Shemot 2017 Righteous women! Because of their merit, the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. This beautiful statement, found in the Babylonian Talmud (Sotah 11:2), suggests that women played a pivotal role in the Exodus. We read it and think “well, no one can claim that the Rabbis tried to marginalize…