Questions tagged [parashas-shemos]
The weekly Torah portion of Shemos (Exodus 1:1-6:1)
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"וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ" - believing before hearing?
Shemot 4, 31
"וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ כִּי פָקַד ה' אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכִי רָאָה אֶת עָנְיָם וַיִּקְּדוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ"
This is close to "נעשה ונשמע".
How believing can come ...
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What does תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה mean?
Exodus 1:10:
הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ פֶּן יִרְבֶּה וְהָיָה כִּי תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם הוּא עַל שֹׂנְאֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם בָּנוּ וְעָלָה מִן הָאָרֶץ
The pharaoh was worried about what the ...
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How did Paro's daughter explain suddenly having a child?
In Shemot 2 Paro's daughter Batya takes three-month-old Moshe from the water, speculates that he is a Hebrew child, and decides to adopt him. She then has Miriam find a wet-nurse (Yocheved) to take ...
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Why did Pharaoh only order the murder of boys?
In parashat shemote, Pharaoh explicitly commands the midwives to allow the females to live (וְאִם-בַּת הִוא וָחָיָה). What are the traditional commentaries explaining the order to allow the girls to ...
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Did Pharaoh know Moshe was Jewish?
The Torah describes how when Moshe was pulled from the river, Pharaoh's daughter exclaims that this is a Hebrew child (per the simple reading of Shemos 2:6).
Moshe then grew up in Pharaoh's household ...
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For how long was Aharon Moshe's spokesman?
In Sh'mot 3 and 4, God instructs Moshe to speak (variously) to both Paro and the people. Moshe then objects that he is not a good speaker, and in Shemot 4:15-16 God says to use Aharon, literally that ...
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Why is the Pasuk for Vayareiu Osanu Hamitzrim a Pasuk where nothing happens?
Why is the Pasuk that the Haggadah uses to show that “the Egyptians did bad to us" the Passuk in which Pharaoh sits down and says (Shemos 1:10):
הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּ֗ה ...
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Egyptian enslavement of the Jews - Antisemitism?
Apologies in advance if this is too vague of a question, but I really wonder what other people think about this, especially since the story is coming up in a couple of weeks.
I was recently reading a ...
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Are Ra'meses and Ra'amses the same place
In Bereishit 47:11 (and Shemot 12:37 and Bamidbar 33:3 and 33:5) we find mention of an Egyptian place called רַעְמְסֵס - Ra'meses.
In Shemot 1:11 we find mention of an Egyptian place called רַעַמְסֵס ...
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No mention of Aharon
In שמות ב:ו it says, "והנה נער בכה" - "and behold a lad was crying". The basic interpretation is that this refers to the crying baby Moshe who sounded older than he was (Rashi)
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Why didn't Par'oh have Moshe killed from the outset?
Bat Par'oh found a three-month-old Hebrew baby in/around the Nile (Shemot 1:5-10) and had him fed and raised by Yokheved until approximately age 2 (Shemot Rabbah 1:26). Bat Par'oh then raised this ...
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How long did Miriam wait by the river before Basya retrieved Moshe?
How long did Miriam have to wait by the river before Basya bas Paro retrieved Moshe from the box?
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Why did God tell Moses to demand from Pharaoh that the Israelites leave for only three days? [duplicate]
God told Moses to demand from Pharaoh that the Israelites be able to leave Egypt for three days to worship God (Exodus 3:18). Why didn't God tell Moses to demand from Pharaoh that the Hebrews be freed ...
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Were the "Mi'yaldos ha'ivri'yos" non-Jews?
In his commentary the Abarbenel says that the two midwives mentioned in Shemos (1-15) are non-Jewish Egyptian women. Is there any way of reconciling his explanation with the more popular understanding,...
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If שכינה is לשון נקבה then why ותראהו?
According to rashi's drash explanation (taken from :סוטה יב) of שמות ב:ו ד״ה ותפתח ותראהו how can השכינה, a grammatically feminine word, refer back to the masculine objective suffix הו-? Perhaps ...
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Why did the Torah have to mention the thigh of Yakov?
In Parshas Shemos 1:5, when describing the children of Yakov the Torah uses the phrase "yerech Yakov" to describe where they came from. Some Rishonim explain that the Torah is using using clean ...
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Why did not Moshe tell Hashem that he would not accept the leadership out of respect for Aharon?
Shemos 4 (10) - The possuk says that Moshe turns down the leadership position because of his speech impediment. Rashi says:
“All this [reluctance] was because he [Moses] did not want to accept a
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Moshe losing kehuna
After Moshe asks Hashem to 'send by the hand of whomever You will send' (Shemos 4:13), Rashi notes on (14) that Moshe loses the kehuna to Aharon. Why does Moshe deserve to lose the kehuna based on his ...
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Egyptian man rescued us from the hand[s] of the shepherds. Who rescued Yisro's daughters?
Shemos 2:19:
They [the daughters of Yisro] replied, "An Egyptian man rescued us
from the hand[s] of the shepherds, and he also drew [water] for us and
watered the flocks."
I once heard an ...
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Why only 6 nations (where was the 7th)
I heard that there were 7 nations in Israel,.
why Shemos 3.8 only mentions 6?
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First Pesukim of Shemos
Sefer Shemos opens up with listing Yaakov's sons' names, the fact that they all died, and the fact that the Jews multiplied so rapidly.
My question is: We know most of this already. Why is it ...
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What did Moshe mean in Shemos 4:10?
Shemos 4:10 (Artscroll English Tanach)
"Moses replied to HASHEM, "Please, my Lord, I am not a man of words, not since yesterday, nor since the day before yesterday, nor since You first spoke to Your ...
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Why did Shifrah give Moses back to Pharaoh's daughter?
Parashat Shemot, Chapter 2, states:
וַתַּ֥הַר הָאִשָּׁ֖ה וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן וַתֵּ֤רֶא אֹתוֹ֙ כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה֔וּא
וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה יְרָחִֽים׃ ג וְלֹא־יָכְלָ֣ה עוֹד֮
הַצְּפִינוֹ֒ ...
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Why did the midwives deserve such a great reward, they only did what they had to
At the begining of parashat Shemot, Par'o ordered to the midwives to kill male newborns of Benei Yisrael: Exodus 1, 17:
וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת-הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר ...
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What's "פון" doing in the targum to Ex. 3:20?
In Onkelus, "פון" indicates the subjunctive mood. For example, in Vayetze 31:27, Lavan seems to be telling Yaakov, "Why did you conceal yourself to flee? And you robbed me! And you didn't tell me; and ...
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Yocheved nursing Moshe in mitzrayim
We know that Moshe was given to Yocheved to nurse in Mitzrayim. My question is, why did Pharoah's daughter keep him as hers rather than letting Yocheved raise him completely as a "Jew"?!
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Why a burning bush?
When G-d wanted to speak to Moshe for the first time, He grabbed Moshe's attention by showing him a burning bush that wasn't being consumed by the fire. But why this? From all the possible things to ...
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What sort of "food" did the midwives provide for the children (Rashi on Shemos 1 (17))?
Rashi on Shemos 1 (17) comments on the expression “... but they enabled the boys to live” and says “They provided water and food for them.”
If these were new-borns what sort of food could they have ...
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Did Moshe need to do all 3 signs for the Jewish people and if so why?
In Shemos 4:1 Moshe expresses his concern to God that the people will not believe that he was commanded by God to take them out. God then gives him 3 signs (4:2-9) stating that if they won't believe [...
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Where was Moshe? How did he become so great?
Just curious over here. Is there any known sources for where Moshe Rabbeinu was in the break between him leaving Bais Pharaoh to the incident of the Sneh (the burning bush)?
I heard that there are ...
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Why did HaShem have to introduce Himself to the Israelites in Mitzrayim?
In Shemot 3:6 HaShem introduces Himself to Moshe and says: 'I am Elohei Avicha, Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak and Elohei Ya'akov'. In verse 13, Moshe asks HaShem which name he should tell the people ...
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Exodus Rabbah 1:5 These are the names of the Children of Israel
Parashat Shemot starts with a list of the names of all who came to Egypt, the Midrash Rabba 1:5 rereads all these names, with a new set of meanings reflecting the upcoming exodus.
Searching for the ...
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Daughter of Pharao doing Teshuvah?
Are there any commentaries which shows that the daughter of Pharao refuted idolatry, made a act of repentance or anything like that? I wonder what it was that made her save Moshe, that she had ...
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What happened to the burning bush?
Out of idle curiosity, when I was writing something else, I started wondering what happened to the burning bush after Moses "left the scene" -- I wondered if it just kept on burning or something. Half ...
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Tehillim Teshuvah
Within Shemot 1:1 out of the last letters of each of the words we can get - after rearranging the letters - the words: Tehillim Teshuvah.
Could someone explain me the connection between Tehillim and ...
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Idolatry in Mitzrayim?
Within Ezekiel 20 there are a few verses that talk about idolatry and refer to Mitzrayim. That made me wonder if the Israelites in Egypt forgot the G-d of their parents or exchanged Him for the gods ...
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How to define the Malach YHVH
The Malach YHVH is mentioned many times, but what is or who is this being exactly? How should one define: Malach YHVH?
It's the Malach YHVH that is talking to Hagar, but after the whole event she ...
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Are there any sources that translate the term "a land flowing with milk and honey", as being literal rather than a metaphor?
The first usage that I can find that refers to Israel as a "land flowing with milk and honey" in Exodus 3:8:
וָאֵרֵ֞ד לְהַצִּיל֣וֹ ׀ מִיַּ֣ד מִצְרַ֗יִם וּֽלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ֮
מִן־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַהִוא֒ אֶל־...
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Why does God have Moshe use a name the Israelites won't know?
When God sends Moshe back to Egypt from Midyan, he instructs Moshe to refer to God as "Hashem." (Shemot 3:15) When Moshe returns from the task, God reveals that the Israelites (or at least their ...
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Why did the Bnei Yisroel deviate from God's command to ask for gold and silver?
Hashem told The Bnei Yisroel to ask the Egyptians for "silver and gold" in Shemos, Chapter 11, Verse 2:
Please, speak into the ears of the people, and let them borrow, each man from his friend and ...
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Why are 2 Midianites mentioned in the Torah named "bird"?
There are two Midianites mentioned in the Torah that are both named "bird":
Tziporah - Moses' wife
Tzipor - Balak's father
This does not seem coincidental to me. Was it common for Midianites at the ...
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Did Pharaoh attempt to kill Moses during the plagues
Given that Moses was a wanted fugitive (Ex.2:15) and that he was destroying the land of egypt with the plagues, and a general nuisance to Pharaoh were there attempts to kill him by Pharaoh. (by for ...
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Moshe killing the Egyptian
The Torah says “And it was in those days that Moshe grew up and went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian man strike a Hebrew man, (one) of his brethren. (Moshe) turned this ...
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Linking Vatimalei ha'aretz
In the beginning of Sefer Shemot (1:7), the text describes the population of Beni Yisrael as growing at such a rate that "vatimalei ha'aretz otam" the land was full of them. This construction appears ...
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Moshe and the Egyptian - Justifiable Homicide?
Shemot Chapter 2 has the incident of Moshe slaying the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave. He "looks this way and that", kills him, and buries him in the sand. After he realizes "the matter ...
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Explanation of the midrash of the Donkey of Moshe
In Shmot 4:20, Rashi explains that the donkey which Moshe took on the way to Egypt was the same donkey which Avraham used for the akeda (Binding of Isaac), and this is the donkey of the Mashiach.
What ...
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What name of G-d was Moshe supposed to relay to B'nai Yisra'el?
View Shmot 3:13-15.
In verse 13, Moshe asks G-d what name of G-d should he tell B'nai Yisra'el.
In verse 14, G-d first answers I AM THAT I AM, and then says just I AM.
Fine, I am aware of Rashi's ...
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How would worshiping G-d at Mt. Sinai be proof that G-d sent Moshe as a messenger?
In Shmot 3:12 G-d says that the proof that G-d sent Moses as a messenger to B'nai Yisra'el is that when he takes them out of Egypt, they will worship G-d at the very mountain that G-d is speaking to ...
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Why is Moshe's family unnamed at first?
In the second chapter of Shemos, we're introduced to a man who marries a woman, and they have a son who has a sister.
After ten verses of narrative about this family, we're finally told the son's ...
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Why didn't the Israelites fight against being enslaved?
In Parashat Shemot, the pasuk says
וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶל-עַמּוֹ: הִנֵּה, עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל--רַב וְעָצוּם, מִמֶּנּוּ
Pharaoh was, for whatever reason, worried that the Israelites had become more ...
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