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Parshas Besalach - The Bowing of the Moon

The Midrash famously comments on the splitting of the sea that the sea "saw" Arono Shel Yosef, the bones of Yosef and split in his merit. Is there any basis for such a reading in the Torah? Right before the sea splits, some Jews famously scream at Moshe, "Were there no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the wilderness?" (Shemos 14:11). This can be read as poetic phrasing, but it could also be viewed as a taunt in response to Yosef's casket proceeding forward. A casket being carried forward could have inspired the taunt of, "Were there no graves in Egypt". We are told that Moshe personally took Yosef's bones with him. (Shemos 13:19). Did Moshe, who was then quite old personally dig up or carry the bones? Unlikely, among other things it would have made him tameh/impure. But it does suggest that the casket had a pride of place in the procession. Certainly if the sea split in response to it, it was at the front. But we know that ...
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Parshas Bo - For Whom Do We Toil

We are all familiar with "Let my people go". But Pharaoh's final sticking point wasn't the people. He first insisted that only the men be allowed to go. But after the plague of darkness, he says, "Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed; let your little ones also go with you." Moshe however insists, "Thou as well will also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come there." (Shemos 10:24-26) And for the first time, Pharaoh threatens Moshe with death. After the plague of the firstborn, Pharaoh tells Moshe, "Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also." (Shemos 12:32) What can be the significance of cattle compared to that of ...
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Parshas Vaera - A Man's House is His Palace

With Parshas Vaera, the process of subjecting Pharaoh and Egypt to a series of plagues begins. Certain plagues Pharaoh resists. Others he is intimidated by and submits to. Is there a pattern? Moshe and Aaron turn the Nile to blood, and despite the disturbing threat to the survival of a nation that depends on the river, we are told that "Pharaoh turned and went into his house". (Shemos 7:23) And so for the next plague, G-d sends a more personal threat to Pharaoh. The frogs will "go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs." G-d places the order of the infestation as the order of importance that these events have to Pharaoh. When his people were suffering, Pharaoh retreated to his house, his palace, and let his people dig for drinking water. But now the plague, even though seemingly less harmful and threatening, will i...
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Parshas Shemos - No Religion Without a Nation

In Parshas Shemos, G-d's message to Pharaoh isn't so much, "Let my people go" as "Let my people go for three days". While G-d's message to the Jews is that he will bring them to Israel, His message to Pharaoh is, "And now let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our G-d." Why does G-d tell Moshe to try and trick Pharaoh, a trick which doesn't work in any case? Since G-d already tells Moshe that Pharaoh will only let them go after a great deal of punishment has been meted out, why bother with the ruse? To understand that, let's examine why Pharaoh didn't want to let the Jews go. Pharaoh's plan for enslavement begins with the fear that the Jews will escape Egypt. But why worry about the Jews leaving if they haven't even been enslaved yet? And if Pharaoh wants to enslave the Jews, why does he then start trying to kill them? If the goal is to rid Egypt of J...
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Parshas Vayeshev - Repentance and Exile

Parshas Vayeshev seems to start out following a very familiar narrative. The good brother and the bad ones. A father who doesn't quite seem to know what's going and sibling rivalry that escalates into a conflict between good and evil and will serve to define a nation. And yet, unlike Yishmael and Esav, all of the brothers remain as the founders of the Jewish Nation. Why is that? Once the brothers have kidnapped and sold Yosef into slavery, shouldn't they have been cast out as a lost cause the way that Esav and Yishmael were? How is that reconciliation proved possible here and not in the past? To start with, it helps to look at what's missing. G-d. None of the brothers mention G-d in Parshas Vayeshev at all. Nor does Yosef mention G-d until he refuses the demand of Potiphar's wife and at the very end where he is given the opportunity to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh's servants. After Yehuda has masterminded the sale of Yosef, both brothers go into exi...
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Parshas Vayislach - Lifting the Name of Exile

Parshas Vayislach begins with Yaakov appeasing Esav and the climax of its action is the abduction of Dinah and the massacre of Shechem by Yaakov's sons to his disapproval. The question of whether Yaakov should have appeased Esav has been the subject of some debate among the Rabbis. And yet what stands out at the close of the previous Parsha, in Yaakov's confrontation with Laban and his entire history is the avoidance of conflict. From the beginning Yaakov is described as Ish Tam Yoshev Ohalim. He's a mild-mannered man who stays in the tent while his brother Esav goes out and hunts. And yet Yaakov is not weak. He's able to lift the rock from the well, a physical feat that it takes all the shepherds to accomplish, and he wrestles with an angel. Nor is he a coward. He doesn't flee either Esav or Lavan until he is told to do so, respectively by his mother and G-d. He is even born wrestling with Esav, gripping his older brother by the heel. What is it about confr...
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Succos - The Happiest Holiday

The Torah associates Succos with happiness more than any other holiday. It is the holiday we are told to rejoice on. It is the season of our rejoicing. What makes Succos so happy? Why is it happier than Pesach or Shavuot, the other two of the three Regalim? Pesach and Shavuot were both marred by rebellion and strife. At the sea, some Jews shouted at Moshe, "Were there no graves in Egypt, that you brought us to die in the wilderness". After the giving of the Torah, some made a golden calf. But Succos was free of any such strife. When G-d settled the Jews in huts, there were no arguments. This too is why the Clouds of Glory, which some believe Succos commemorates, received their own holiday, but not the miracles of manna or water. Both of these miracles were met with protests and complaints. But there were no protests or complaints over the Clouds of Glory. Where there is argument and strife, there cannot be happiness. Succos is the time of our rejoicing, because th...
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