One of the stranger and more inexplicable events takes place in Parshas Shemos. After Moshe has been dispatched to Egypt, taking along his family, on a mission from G-d... suddenly we are told that G-d encounters him and attempts to kill him. Then his wife circumcises their son and he is saved. Not only is Moshe bound on a mission from G-d, but if G-d were to kill him, there would be no attempt involved. G-d controls the power of life and death. So what is really going on here? Context is important in the Torah. And to understand w hat happens in Shemos 4-24 , we need to look  at 4-23. 19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian: 'Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life.' 20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 21 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I ha

The Jewish idea of love is defined as Ahava Sheineah Teluiah BaDavar or A Love That Does Not Depend on a Thing. "Any love that is dependent on something--when the thing ceases, the love also ceases. But a love that is not dependent on anything never ceases. What is [an example of] a love that is dependent on something? The love of Amnon for Tamar. And one that is not dependent on anything? The love of David and Yonatan." ( Pirkei Avot 5:16 ) Is a love that is not dependent on anything truly not dependent on anything? It's not dependent on anything impermanent. It goes deeper than any surface matter. What is an example of that? We can look to G-d's love for Avraham for the paradigm. "For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord to perform righteousness and justice, in order that the Lord bring upon Avraham that which He spoke concerning him." Bereishis/Genesis 18:19 Th