{"id":40551,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-51\/"},"modified":"2022-04-14T18:32:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:32:41","slug":"wall-51","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-51\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-1"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"51","date":"20251109","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"40712","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 1- Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 1- Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-1-judy-hammond","old_id":"40712","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 1","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-1-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"104038","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Birthing a Nation ","post_title":"Birthing a Nation","slug":"birthing-a-nation","old_id":"104038","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. 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Immediately following the story of Shifra and Puah (Exodus 2:1-10) we read of the birth of a male child. When he was three months old and could no longer be hidden at home, his mother built a box and put it in the rushes at the edge of the Nile river.\u00a0 His sister kept watch. The Pharaoh's daughter was bathing there, and found the baby.\u00a0 She had compassion on the infant, knowing that he was Israelite. At that moment the baby's sister appeared offering to find a wet nurse who was, of course, the baby's mother.\u00a0 When the child weaned, he was returned to Pharaoh's daughter to be her son.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why are these two stories juxtaposed? Why are the mother, daughter, baby, and Pharaoh\u2019s daughter nameless? The story of the midwives\u2019 defiance spread quickly and other Israelite women acted similarly, finding ways to protect their babies whom these midwives had helped to birth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Pharaoh\u2019s daughter heard the stories as well, and drew courage and inspiration from Shifra and Puah allowing her to defy her father's command. This, in turn, inspired other Egyptian women to act compassionately and save other infant Israelite babies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So, the midwives\u2019 deeds inspired both Israelite and Egyptian women to take strong, defiant action to protect children\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God did not command the midwives how to act. They heard God's voice in the cry of every baby whose birth they attended.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God\u2019s reward<\/b><\/p>\r\n

\"Because the midwives feared God, He made houses for them.\" (Ex 1:21) \u201cFor them\u201d <\/span>lahem<\/span><\/em> is a masculine pronoun. Until this point both narrative and dialogue have used feminine pronouns. \u201cFor them\u201d then, must not refer directly to the midwives. The reward for the midwives saving the male children was that the <\/span>children<\/em> <\/span>lived and established households of their own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Houses connote permanence, stability. Why establish permanence in a land of slavery? To survive slavery (and further wanderings across the world and through history) the Israelites needed the stability of family, tradition, common history and custom to bind them to each other and their past. And with this, the collective strength to challenge unjust authority.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word <\/span>batim<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> houses, can also be read in Hebrew as two words, <\/span>bat yam<\/span><\/i>, \" they were made daughters of the sea.\" <\/span>Bat\/Bar<\/span><\/em> connotes responsibility (as in Bar\/Bat Mitzvah\u2019s responsibility for fulfilling mitzvot). The midwives' fear of God contributed to breaking of waters of laboring mothers and the breaking of the waters of the Red Sea leading to the birth of tiny babies and the nation of Israel. \"Because the midwives feared God, they were responsible for (crossing) the sea.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We, too, must each take responsibility to oppose injustice and oppression where we see it, and in the way best suited to us. The ripples may reach far beyond our immediate actions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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The Egyptians want Jewish babies
\r\nso the baby\u2019s mother hides him
\r\nbut you can only hide a baby so long
\r\nso she sends him away,
\r\nthe good<\/em> son,
\r\nout into Egypt<\/p>\r\n

where he will become Moses.<\/p>\r\n


\r\nSometimes evil leaves us no choice
\r\nbut to send good into the world.<\/p>\r\n

__
\r\nExodus 1-2:3<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Sending Good","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sometimes evil leaves us no choice","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"}]},{"order":4,"id":"104030","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"A New King For A New Book ","post_title":"A New King For A New Book","slug":"a-new-king-for-a-new-book","old_id":"104030","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But was he in fact so new?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Exodus begins with the transition from a story about a single family to a story about a nation. After Joseph saved the Egyptians from starvation at the end of Genesis and became a right-hand man of Pharaoh, the fortunes of the Israelites changed dramatically. \u201cA new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph\u201d (verse 8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi brings a debate in the Talmud between Rav and Shmuel. One held that this was a brand-new king and the other felt this king simply gave new edicts. Chizkuni explains that because the text did not mention the previous Pharoah dying, this was the same king who simply changed policy.\u00a0 The thread that this was the same king who simply changed his mind is difficult from a timeline perspective. The text explains that the entire generation of Joseph had died out. That would make that king very very old. On the other hand, it is possible that the king was a child at the time that Joseph came into the picture. As he grew older, he changed his policies toward the Israelites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Later in Tanach, there will be kings of Judah and Israel that will start off as one type of king- whether righteous or wicked, and by the end of their reign, they will flip, for example Joash in II Chronicles 24. It is, therefore, not unrealistic that Pharaoh would change his tune as he grew older.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another question is how Pharaoh could forget that Joseph saved Egypt during the famine years and even instituted policy that enriched the crown! The simple answer is that that is not out of the ordinary. If this was a brand-new Pharaoh, he might have wanted to make a clean break with the previous regime. Modern-day politicians often try to undo the work of the previous administration even if that work was positive. This would be the case even if the new Pharaoh was the son of the previous one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Later in Tanach as well it is not uncommon to see a righteous king of Judah be followed by an extremely wicked one despite the good that the parent brought to the nation. For example Manasseh the wicked king followed Hezekiah, one of the most righteous kings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pharaoh could have been been in a precarious position and needed an easy scapegoat to gain favor quickly. Unfortunately, this is also a well-known tactic that lasts to this day. Historically, there are some Egyptologists who believe that the Joseph story took place around the time of foreign control in Egypt by a group called the Hyksos. These outside invaders took control of the government and installed one of their own as Pharaoh. It's possible then that this new Pharaoh was an Egyptian who was reclaiming the throne and therefore had every reason to break with the past regime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104031,"alt":"","title":"-62582807ee290--62582807ee291ex1-pharaoh new 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Beginnings Are Difficult ","post_title":"All Beginnings Are Difficult","slug":"all-beginnings-are-difficult","old_id":"104034","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Though at least numerically, the Israelites started off well\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a>, which begins the Book of Exodus, relates how the Israelites came to Egypt and \u201cfilled the land\u201d. We are reminded that Joseph, second only to Pharaoh, had died (see<\/span> the end of the Book of Genesis<\/span><\/a>). And that:<\/span> \"Now, a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph\".\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

In the<\/span> Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a>, the Rabbinic Sages debate whether this was actually a \u201cnew king\u201d or rather an \u201cold king\u201d, whose decrees concerning the Israelites were new, i.e. unprecedented in the earlier time of Joseph. For these \u201cnew decrees\u201d include the enslavement of the Israelites and eventually the decree to murder every newborn Israelite male (see<\/span> verses 9-22<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The early rabbinic Midrash on the Book of Exodus, the<\/span> Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael<\/span><\/a> notes \u201cthat all beginnings are difficult \u2013 <\/span>She-kol hathalot kashot<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i>\u201d This was no less true of the new beginning of the Scriptural narrative here:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cJoseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. But the Israelites were fertile and prolific. They multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On this passage,<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma<\/span><\/a> comments: \u201cRabbi Yannai declared that each woman bore six children at one time, while others say that each Israelite woman gave birth to twelve at one time\u2026Rabbi Yonatan added that \u201cthe land was filled with them\u201d suggests that they filled the land like reed branches.<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma Buber<\/span><\/a> goes even further. According to this text, Rabbi Yonatan actually said that every woman of Israel bore sixty children at one time! And that \u201cthe land was filled with them\u201d means that the Israelites actually filled up the entire land of Egypt. Another interpretation adds that the Israelites filled up all the seats in the Egyptian theaters and circuses leaving no room for the Egyptians themselves. Whereupon the Egyptians declared that the Israelite should desist from \u201cconjugal relations\u201d (i.e. procreation, compare<\/span> Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> the <\/span>Haggadah<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph's final charge to his brothers, at the time of his death, concludes the Book of Genesis<\/span><\/a>: \u201cAt length, Joseph said to his brothers, \u2018I am about to die. God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.\u2019 So, Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, \u2018When God has remembered you, you shall carry up my bones from here.\u2019\u201d The expression: \u201cGod will surely remember you \u2013 <\/span>paqod yifqod Elohim etkhem<\/span><\/em>\u201d is interpreted in the<\/span> Mekhilta<\/span><\/a>: <\/span>Paqod<\/span><\/em> \u2013 He [God] remembers, <\/span>yifqod<\/span><\/em> \u2013 He will remember. He remembered you in Egypt \u2014 He will remember you at the Red Sea\u2026He remembered you in this world \u2014 He will remember you in the world to come.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104035,"alt":"","title":"-62582d891aeb8--62582d891aebfex1-diapers 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Shabbat With a Schmear: Shmot - When Is A Mother Not Quite A Mother?<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_5b-w8XsBKc","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Shabbat With a Schmear","tile_main_caption":"Shemot: When Is A Mother Not Quite A Mother?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Adam Mintz with Meredith Berkman (ShabbatMom)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_5b-w8XsBKc","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1024"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":7,"id":"40574","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"We Are an Exodus People ","post_title":"We Are An Exodus People","slug":"we-are-an-exodus-people","old_id":"40574","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40575,"post_title":"Sharon Brous","slug":"sharon-brous","old_id":"40575","first_name":"Sharon","last_name":"Brous","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40576,"alt":"","title":"\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","medium_large-width":225,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","large-width":225,"large-height":225,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","1536x1536-width":225,"1536x1536-height":225,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","2048x2048-width":225,"2048x2048-height":225,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","post_full_size-width":225,"post_full_size-height":225,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","home_baner-width":225,"home_baner-height":225}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It is the God of Exodus who teaches humankind to respond to injustice with hope, courage and determination","post_main_content_content":"

The Torah begins in \"gan eden\" \u2014 the Garden of Eden, a place of pure perfection in which there is no suffering, no longing, no loss. But from the height of physical and spiritual fulfillment, the Book of Genesis goes on to narrate one story after another of descent and exile. It is a book of expulsion, punishment, and global destruction, of conflict within families and conflict between nations. Genesis concludes with the Israelite people\u2019s descent into Egypt, setting the stage for generations of slavery and suffering.<\/p>\r\n

But our story doesn\u2019t end with the Book of Genesis. We immediately turn to Exodus, a book that begins with the Israelites thrust into slavery, degraded, humiliated and tortured. But it quickly turns to a story of miracles, of plagues and wonders, of a fiery partnership between God and humankind, rooted in holiness in time (Shabbat) and in space (mishkan, the tabernacle). In contrast to Genesis, this book tells a story of ascent, of redemption. It is a story in which\u2014 from depths of darkness\u2014 we affirm the possibility of light. A story in which the people, for generations squeezed in the narrowness of Mitzrayim, Egypt, come to embody the expansiveness of human potential. A light unto the nations\u2014 a symbol for all time of the impossible made possible.<\/p>\r\n

It is the God of Exodus who teaches humankind to respond to injustice with hope, courage and determination. And it is the story of the Exodus that offers the most potent and undeniable counter-testimony to the reality of our world. Just when the darkness seems to eclipse any light, just when we\u2019re spent, ready to succumb to the triumph of evil, we\u2019re called to remember the great dream that was born with the writing of this epic story.<\/p>\r\n

Because the Jewish people ultimately is not a Genesis people. We are an Exodus people.<\/p>\r\n

The dream of the Exodus\u2014with its promise that the trajectory of our lives is from darkness to light, grief to celebration, degradation to dignity\u2014 has kept the Jewish people alive. It has given us the strength to survive years of scarcity and suffering, and the direction to live with gratitude and meaning in the years of abundance and blessing. Rav Kook taught that the whole world stands on our ability to dream great dreams. This story reminds us that our very survival rests on our ability to dream bold, impossible 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https:\/\/youtu.be\/mrAukIqMq54<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Edward Bleiberg, Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Aaron Koller, Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 At The Museum","tile_main_caption":"Brooklyn Museum: Ramses II and Egyptian Bondage","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mrAukIqMq54","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"438","name":"Slavery","old_id":"838"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":9,"id":"40581","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sonnet: Exodus 1 ","post_title":"Sonnet: Exodus 1","slug":"sonnet-exodus-1","old_id":"40581","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39523,"post_title":"Ilana Kurshan","slug":"ilana-kurshan","old_id":"39523","first_name":"Ilana ","last_name":"Kurshan ","description":"Ilana Kurshan is the author of If All the Seas Were Ink, winner of the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39524,"alt":"","title":"ilana kurshan","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919.jpg","width":652,"height":715,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919-274x300.jpg","medium-width":274,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-768x679.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":679,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-1024x905.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":905,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919.jpg","1536x1536-width":652,"1536x1536-height":715,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919.jpg","2048x2048-width":652,"2048x2048-height":715,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919.jpg","post_full_size-width":652,"post_full_size-height":715,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ilana-kurshan-e1536180264919-383x420.jpg","home_baner-width":383,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Said Pharaoh: Throw all boys into the Nile \/ But girls may live (He knew not of their wiles)","post_main_content_content":"

These are the names \u2013 and all of them are male
\r\nThe sons of Jacob who to Egypt came
\r\nJust seventy at first \u2013 it was small scale
\r\nThen rose a king who knew not Joseph\u2019s fame.<\/p>\r\n

The king saw Jacob\u2019s sons and grandsons \u2013 lots!
\r\nFor they had babes and babes and babes galore
\r\nA demographic crisis! He could not
\r\nKeep letting Jews have babies anymore.<\/p>\r\n

He made them work as slaves, and lest they fight
\r\nAppointed taskmasters who said: Make brick!
\r\nThey toiled all day long, no end in sight
\r\nAnd still they had more babes \u2013 what was their trick?<\/p>\r\n

Said Pharaoh: Throw all boys into the Nile
\r\nBut girls may live. (He knew not of their wiles.)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104046,"alt":"","title":"-625839483a25f--625839483a261Ex-Kurshans sonnet 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New Pharaoh ","post_title":"A New Pharaoh","slug":"a-new-pharaoh","old_id":"40720","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36837,"post_title":"Ben Schachter","slug":"ben-schachter","old_id":"36837","first_name":"Ben","last_name":"Schachter","description":"Ben Schachter is Professor of Visual Art at Saint Vincent College. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36838,"alt":"","title":"ben schachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446.jpg","width":1648,"height":1876,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-768x874.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":874,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-900x1024.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446.jpg","1536x1536-width":1349,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446.jpg","2048x2048-width":1648,"2048x2048-height":1876,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-1054x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1054,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ben-schachter-e1533449166446-369x420.jpg","home_baner-width":369,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\"\"<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A New Pharaoh Arose Over Egypt","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40721,"alt":"","title":"ANewPharaoh-Schachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter.jpg","width":1247,"height":1168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-300x281.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-768x719.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":719,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-1024x959.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":959,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter.jpg","1536x1536-width":1247,"1536x1536-height":1168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter.jpg","2048x2048-width":1247,"2048x2048-height":1168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-1200x1124.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1124,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ANewPharaoh-Schachter-448x420.jpg","home_baner-width":448,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"591","name":"Pharaoh","old_id":"991"}]},{"order":11,"id":"40583","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"God's Promise is not Enough ","post_title":"God's Promise is Not Enough","slug":"gods-promise-is-not-enough","old_id":"40583","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We must build an anti-Egypt","post_main_content_content":"

The famous rabbinic question with which Rashi opens the book of Genesis asks: why didn't the Torah start with God's first commandment to the Jewish people? Rabbi Yitzchak's answer is that the storyline of Genesis provides an answer to those voices which accuse us of being foreign conquerors, by providing a moral justification for our claim to the land. \"He has told His people the power of His deeds, to give them an inheritance of nations.\"<\/p>\r\n

I imagine that anyone who has tried using Genesis to dissuade believers in \"Zionism is racism\/ colonialism\/ imperialism\/ apartheid\" has quickly discovered that Rabbi Yitzchak's statement, if it is to be plausible, must be understood as a way to explain ourselves to ourselves, and not as pro-Israel hasbara.<\/p>\r\n

That works reasonably well for the overall storyline of Genesis. But what about the story of the Jewish people's enslavement prior to their receiving the first mitzvah in chapter 12? What does that come to teach us about our inheritance of the land?<\/p>\r\n

On one level, the story outlines an archetypal pattern that repeats itself cyclically throughout exile, of a period of comfort, followed by mounting fear of the host nation, followed by gradually increasing degrees of oppression. As such, the story resonates with classical Zionist tropes, reminding us of the significance of a physical inheritance for the physical well-being of the Jewish people.<\/p>\r\n

But even more important than the cautionary tale about exile is the cautionary tale about sovereignty, power and fear, and how they can cause a people to forget their ideals and commitments. More than anything, this is the message the Torah drills home as it envisions the society that we will build as the anti-Egypt, dedicated to caring for its most vulnerable citizens- the widow, the orphan, and especially the stranger. Our moral claim to the land is not only about our God-given right to this land<\/strong>. It is, the Torah and the prophets repeat countless times, also conditioned on the fulfillment of our mission, a mission seared into our collective identity by the experiences of these opening chapters of Exodus.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"God's Promise is Not Enough","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We must build an anti-Egypt","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"430","name":"Land 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https:\/\/youtu.be\/sDPrrI02Tgk<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Bible on The Bench: Roots of Resistance","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz and Shira Hecht-Koller","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sDPrrI02Tgk","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":13,"id":"40697","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Reality of Ancient Egypt ","post_title":"The Reality of Ancient Egypt","slug":"the-reality-of-ancient-egypt","old_id":"40697","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rulers who were more than human, subjects who were less","post_main_content_content":"

By the time of Moses, Egypt of the pharaohs was eighteen centuries old, already longer lived than any subsequent empire. Its wealth and military power were unsurpassed, but it was not altogether unassailable. The Egyptians had, in the sixteenth century BCE, endured the rule of foreigners, the Hyksos, a fact that gives an edge to the statement of pharaoh at the beginning of Exodus, \u201cLook, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we\u201d (Ex. 1:9). This was not a theoretical fear. The Egyptians knew themselves to be vulnerable to incursion especially, though not only, from the north. Egypt had many gods, some 1,500 of them according to recent estimates. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But by Rameses\u2019 day the real gods of\u00a0<\/span>Egypt were its rulers. It was they who were divine, who had communication with the gods and ruled even after death, whose buildings testified to their immortality, whose colossi dominated the landscape, striking fear in all who passed by. Rameses ruled Egypt as the sun ruled the sky.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The wealth of the royal court was astonishing, as become clear after the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, with its coffin of pure gold, its funerary mask of gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz, obsidian and turquoise, and its treasury of precious objects. At the same time the population as a whole lived a wretched existence. Remains of human skeletons show that they suffered not infrequently from starvation. There were regular epidemics among the urban population living crammed together in unsanitary conditions. Hepatitis, amoebic dysentery and schistosomiasis were common. Those who did not die were often disfigured. Contemporary documents speak of whole villages of people with impaired eyesight, the bleary-eyed, the one-eyed and the blind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Farming at best yielded subsistence. Taxes had to be paid on all produce. Defaulters were thrown into prison. The vast majority of the population were illiterate, and virtually all able-bodied men were subject to the corv\u00e9e, forced to work when the Nile flooded and fields were inundated, on the pharaoh\u2019s latest building extravaganza. The corv\u00e9e was not abolished in Egypt until 1889. The conditions under which the Egyptians worked were not significantly better than those suffered by the Israelites. Their rations were barely enough to sustain life, and the backbreaking work under a sweltering sun with little food and less water meant that many died in the course of the great constructions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, <\/span>Introduction: Finding Freedom, Koren Pesach Machzor<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104050,"alt":"","title":"-62583b2747855--62583b2747856ex1-egypt 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we hope to make any progress, then we cannot allow the past to slip into oblivion ","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cA new king rose up over Egypt, one who did not know Joseph.\u201d At its heart, the book of Exodus is a story about the importance and persistence of history. Knowing where we came from is an essential part of understanding where we are going. Knowing who we used to be helps us understand what we are meant to become. It\u2019s no accident that Exodus begins the way it does: with a short historical record of the wanderings of Israel\u2019s children from the Levant to Egypt, and the family names of those who settled there. Almost immediately, the Torah juxtaposes this historical memory with the forgetfulness of Egypt\u2019s king. It\u2019s not hard to imagine him asking a rhetorical question which frames the entire book: \u201cwhat good is history anyway?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The king did not know Joseph. Can it be that Joseph was forgotten over time? That nobody remembered the famine, or the rationing, or the strange story of dream interpretation? It seems unlikely. This king has a new agenda, one which is willfully ignorant of the past. Closing his eyes to the contributions of Joseph and his people, he envisions them as a threat to his power. If it is inconvenient to him, he imagines that he can rewrite history. He attempts to do so through a systematic campaign of oppression.<\/p>\r\n

How should we respond when history is forgotten, revised, and co-opted as a tool of hate or oppression? In a TED talk that she gave in April of 2017 about her famous trial against the holocaust denier David Irving, the historian Deborah Lipstadt said: \u201cTruth is not relative...When someone makes an outrageous claim\u2026 we must say to them, \u2018Where's the proof? Where's the evidence?\u2019 We must hold their feet to the fire. We must not treat it as if their lies are the same as the facts.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

As the king of Egypt and the Israelites themselves find out over the course of this book, the facts of history have a stubborn way of coming back to the surface. Even when we try to forget it, it is always with us. If we hope to make any progress, then we cannot allow the past to slip into oblivion. 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Downlaod the Family study materials on Parashat Shmot from \"Covenant and Conversation\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

With\u00a0Shemot<\/em>, the defining drama of the Jewish people begins. In exile, in Egypt, they multiply, until they are no longer a family but a nation. Pharaoh, fearing that they pose a threat to Egypt, enslaves them and orders their male children killed. Moses, an Israelite child adopted by Pharaoh\u2019s daughter, is chosen by God to confront Pharaoh and lead the people to freedom. Reluctantly, Moses agrees, but his initial intervention only makes things worse, and on this tense note the\u00a0parasha<\/em>\u00a0ends.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":"The Light At The Heart Of Darkness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"for Parashat Shmot","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - 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Parshat Shemot opens up with a new book, a new chapter, a new narrative. While we are reminded the names of our ancestors we are introduced to the new King of Egypt who knew nothing of our history and our tradition. As a result, the Israelites are enslaved for hundreds of years. But with a new character, Moshe, does our next chapter in our history begin, our ultimate redemption.<\/p>\r\n

Download and print<\/a> this week\u2019s Parsha Experience on Parshat Shemot \u2013 Seeing the Other, to learn more about Moshe\u2019s transformation from being a stranger amongst us, to being the leader who takes us out of Egypt. This Parsha Experience is brought to you by the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators.<\/p>\r\n

Do you have teens? Download the Parsha Discussion<\/a> from Rabbi Alex Israel, focused for an older audience.<\/p>\r\n

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\u201cThen Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, <\/span>\u2018<\/span>Every [Israelite] boy that is born, you shall cast into the Nile; but every girl may live.\u201d \u00a0(Exodus 1:22)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and you, a new-born infant<\/span><\/p>\r\n

wrenched from your mother\u2019s hands<\/span><\/p>\r\n

grabbed by far stronger hands \u2014 to the banks of the Nile<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

and there,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

stripped<\/span><\/p>\r\n

of the soft woolen blanket your mother had woven for you<\/span><\/p>\r\n

stripped<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

of your swaddling cloth<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and then,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

thrust<\/span><\/p>\r\n

into the cold water<\/span><\/p>\r\n

into the Nile<\/span><\/p>\r\n

your brief scream<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

barely heard<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> as your mother\u2019s screams echo in the reeds<\/span><\/p>\r\n

under the water, your hands convulse, your feet jerk<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> as far stronger hands hold your body<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> down<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> deep<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> within<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> the water<\/span><\/p>\r\n

your hands, your feet shake in spasms \u2014<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> then stop<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

you, such a small baby \u2014 <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> who had barely seen sky<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> or sun<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> or mother\u2019s face<\/span><\/p>\r\n

you, such a small child<\/span><\/p>\r\n

who did not survive<\/span><\/p>\r\n

the river<\/span><\/p>\r\n

in the valley of the shadow of \u2014<\/span><\/p>\r\n

who did not survive<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

the shadow of Israel\u2019s fate<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

you, but an infant<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

how can these few black lines scrawled on a white page<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> etched like hieroglyphics<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

touch \u2014<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> attempt to touch \u2014<\/span><\/p>\r\n

the depth<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> and the weight<\/span><\/p>\r\n

of your shadow?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

hush;<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> in the shadow of Israel<\/span><\/p>\r\n

silence<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104052,"alt":"","title":"-62583d5720329--62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Drowned Child","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A poem about the Hebrew babies, victims of Pharaoh","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104052,"alt":"","title":"-62583d5720329--62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62583d5720329-62583d572032aex1-drowning.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":18,"id":"40725","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 1 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 1","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-exodus-1","old_id":"40725","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05e0\u05ea\u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d4 - Nitchakmah - Let us deal shrewdly\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ex 9-10: And [Pharaoh] said to his people, \u201cLook, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. \"Hava nitchakmah<\/em>\" Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this chapter we have an example of a perfectly \u201cnormal\u201d root - <\/span>ch-ch-m<\/span><\/em> - with meanings connected to wisdom, that appears here in a surprising form. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chacham<\/em> is a sage or wise person, familiar from the first son of the four of the Pesach seder. The prototypical <\/span>chachamim<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>were the rabbis of antiquity, the \"sages of blessed memory,\" known in Hebrew as \u05d7\u05d6\"\u05dc, <\/span>chazal<\/span><\/em>. But anybody can be considered wise, who possesses the quality of <\/span>chochmah<\/span><\/em>, \u201cwisdom\u201d This is the first element of the triad of \u201cchabad\u201d - chochmah, binah <\/em>and da\u2019at<\/em>, wisdom, understanding and knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmudic text \"The Ethics of the Fathers\" asks the question <\/span>Eyzehu chacham<\/span><\/em>? \"Who is wise?\" Their answer isn't about high achievers in the wisdom acquisition category, but an almost moral category of how the truly wise relate to others. They answer: \"Who is wise? One who learns from all people\" (4:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word used here to describe how Pharaoh decided to deal with the Israelites is not exactly a paragon of that sort of wisdom. The form <\/span>hitchakem<\/span><\/em> has two basic meanings, each \u00a0a perversion of wisdom. One is to be the opposite of \"a wise person,\" which in English we would call \"a wise guy.\" For instance, in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is sage advice given: \u201cdon\u2019t overdo goodness and don\u2019t <\/span>titchakem<\/em> <\/span>act the wise man <\/b>to excess\u201d (7:16). In modern Hebrew we might call someone who wasn\u2019t wise but was being (or \u201ccracking\u201d) wise a <\/span>chochmalog<\/span><\/em>, adding a sort of academic suffix, as if to say that the wise guy is so smart that he has a degree in \"chochmalogy.\" <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pharaoh, of course, wasn\u2019t \u201cwising off\u201d to the Israelites, he was being wise in the sense of crafty or cunning. He was being Machiavellian three millennia before Machiavelli. As he says \u201chava nitchkmah<\/em>\u201d \u201clet us be sneaky and shrewd,\u201d one can almost see him rubbing his hands together with the \u201cmu-ha-ha\u201d evil laugh, as he lays his evil schemes. True wisdom is of course something else entirely. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104024,"alt":"","title":"-62581a871d55a--62581a871d55bex1-milim chacham nitchakma.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05e0\u05ea\u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d4 - Nitchakmah - Let us deal shrewdly","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104024,"alt":"","title":"-62581a871d55a--62581a871d55bex1-milim chacham nitchakma.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62581a871d55a-62581a871d55bex1-milim-chacham-nitchakma.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"372","name":"Wisdom","old_id":"772"}]},{"order":19,"id":"40728","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 1 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 1","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-exodus-1","old_id":"40728","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40937,"alt":"","title":"david-Silber-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","width":151,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium-width":151,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium_large-width":151,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","large-width":151,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":151,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":151,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":151,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","home_baner-width":151,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Audio","tile_main_caption":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter - Exodus 1","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/rabbi-david-silber-a-lesson-on-exodus-chapter-1","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":20,"id":"40572","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Exodus 1: The Birth of a Nation ","post_title":"Exodus 1 Summary: The Birth of a Nation","slug":"exodus-1-summary-the-birth-of-a-nation","old_id":"40572","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Exodus begins with a list of names - the names of the children of Jacob who went down to Egypt - a reminder of what we were told in Genesis (Ch. 46). The purpose of this reminder is to take us straight to the next stop in the story: the family of the children of Jacob turn into the Israelite nation: \"And the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed abundantly and became extremely mighty and they filled the land\" (1:7).<\/p>\r\n

The land which the Israelites filled was, of course, Egypt, where their wondrous fruitfulness was feared as the possibility of a fifth column. \"And a new king arose over Egypt... and he said to his people: Behold, the Israelite nation is more numerous and powerful than us. Let us outsmart them lest they increase further, and lest war break out and they join our enemies and fight against us...\" (Exodus 1:9-10)<\/p>\r\n

This fear and enmity manifest as a plan for enslavement which deteriorates into a plan for annihilation:<\/p>\r\n

Phase One: Enslavement - \"And they set taskmasters over them\" (1:11) - they were forced to build store-cities; basically the royal warehouses.<\/p>\r\n

Phase Two: Enslavement is stepped-up - \"And the Egyptians set the Israelites to slave-labor.\" We know what that means...<\/p>\r\n

Phase Three: A plan to annihilate the males - at the hands of the midwives. This plan required behind-the-scenes cooperation in Egypt's maternity wards. That, by the way, was the reason it failed. \"And the midwives feared God so they did not obey the King of Egypt and they kept the infants alive\" (1:17).<\/p>\r\n

Phase Four: A plan to annihilate the males by throwing them into the Nile. This plan, too, required cooperation, this time in the open, by the entire Egyptian people. \"And Pharaoh commanded his entire nation, saying: Cast every male infant into the Nile and keep all the females alive\" (1:22). The text doesn't tell us how the Egyptians felt about their king's brutal decree. But in the next chapter we'll meet a mother who is very concerned for the fate of her son. So there must have been something to worry about.<\/p>\r\n

Points to Ponder:
\r\n1. Fruitfulness<\/strong>. Remember how hard it was to give birth in Genesis? Three of the four mothers were barren. We counted each child by name. ??? In Egypt - a veritable baby boom... Even the verbs used to describe fruitfulness are taken from the animal world: \"They were fruitful and swarmed abundantly...\"<\/p>\r\n

2. The era of \"connections\" comes to an end<\/strong>. \"And a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph (1:8). Another historical pattern which repeats itself. Isn't it?<\/p>\r\n

3. Nation<\/strong>. In this chapter the family becomes a nation. The first to describe it as such, surprisingly, is the foreign king, Pharaoh: \"Behold, the Israelite nation is more numerous and powerful than us\" (1:9).<\/p>\r\n

4. Courage<\/strong>. The midwives. Two women who disobey the royal decree, keep the male children alive, look Pharaoh straight in the eye and come up with an intelligent excuse: \"The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptians; they are lively, and they deliver before the midwife comes to them\" (1:19).<\/p>\r\n

5. Who are you?<\/strong> The text mentions the names of the brave midwives: Shifra and Puah. But what about their ethnic identity? The phrase \"to the Hebrew midwives\" is ambiguous, leaving the reader to decide if the midwives who delivered the Hebrew women were Hebrews or Egyptians.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Exodus 1","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"51","date":"20251109","wall_id":"51"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/40551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}