people) begins. Do you think that the location received its name after the
event, was known as such beforehand? If it was known as the Mountain
of God, what might Moshe have been seeking there? What might we learn
about Moshe before God chose to speak to him? (3:1-6)
5) Moshe raises many questions and objection to the idea that he should
go to Pharaoh and take the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Among them,
he claims that he is ‘heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.’ Keeping in
mind that he will spend the rest of his career speaking – how do you think
that we should understand this? (4:10-12)
TORAH SPARKS
Parshat Shemot
The weekly Haftarah Commentary
By Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein, Senior CY Faculty in Talmud and Midrash,
may be found at; http://www.uscj.org.il/learn/commentaries/
Copyright 2015, The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
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January 1-2, 2016 – 21 Tevet 5776
Annual (Exodus 1:1-6:1): Etz Hayim p. 317; Hertz p. 206
Triennial (Exodus 4:18-6:1): Etz Hayim p. 335; Hertz p. 220
Haftarah (Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23): Etz Hayim, p. 343; Hertz p. 225
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Whose Burdens are These?
By Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, CY Faculty
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Translation, of the Bible in particular, can be a tricky business. For
examples, a Hebrew word can have multiple meanings; the grammar
or syntax of the languages do not always match; nuance and ambiguity
are often lost in translation. So the translator must make difficult
choices. The beginning of Parshat Shemot offers an interesting case
in point.
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1:8 A new king arose over Egypt, who knew not Yosef. 9 And he said
to his people: 'Behold, the people of the children of Israel ( ‫עַ ם ְּבנֵי‬
‫ )י ִשְּ ָראֵ ל‬are too many and too mighty for us.
10 come, let us deal with them shrewdly (ֹ‫)הָ בָה נ ִתְּ חַ כְּמָ ה לו‬, lest they
multiply (‫י ְִרבֶּה‬-‫)פֶּ ן‬, and in the case of war they join (‫הּוא‬-‫)ו ְּנֹוסַ ף גַם‬
our enemies…11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters ( ‫וַיָשִ ימּו‬
ָ
‫)ע ָליו שָ ֵרי מִ סִ ים‬
While the bolded pronouns in the Hebrew are singular (it,
referring to the people in verse 9), they are translated, in Jewish and
non-Jewish versions alike, in the plural, they/them, referring to
“the children of Israel.” Up to now it is not significant; it is
unambiguous because “the people” and “the children of Israel” in
verse 9 are one and the same.
But the middle of verse 11 is intriguing: "they set taskmaster over
ָ ‫“ – לְּמַ עַ ן עַ נ ֹּתֹו ְּבסִ ְב‬in order to afflict them in their burdens;
them ‫ֹלתם‬
and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Rameses.” The
understanding common to all the English translations is that the new
Egyptian taskmasters intensified / aggravated the burdens of the
children of Israel.
But Rashi reads it differently - ‫ של מצרים‬:‫ – למען ענותו בסבלתם‬in order to
afflict “them” (literally “it,” the Jewish people) with whose burdens?
The burdens of the Egyptians!!! Why does Rashi defy all the
translators? Because the plural party in the Hebrew in verse 11 is the
Egyptians and the singular party is the Jewish people: “And they (the
Egyptians) set taskmasters… over it (the Jewish People) to afflict it
(the Jewish People, again) with their (the Egyptians’) burdens. Rashi
is being literal and consistent.
Now it is no longer simply a minor difference of a singular or plural
pronoun with the same meaning. Whose goals and agendas become
primary for Jews in a “larger” society? Rashi understood Pharaoh’s
strategy. He did not start by rounding up the Jews and shipping them
off in railway cars to labor camps. He was working “shrewdly,” step by
step. Rashi is saying the Jews were occupied, preoccupied, with the
burdens of the Egyptians – working long, hard hours, in their
law firms and hospitals, in their financial institutions and their
universities, pursuing, as Jews have done so well throughout history,
the agenda of the nation’s Balaam said we are not counted amongst,
at the expense of being Jewish. The Midrash says that it was not
only Pharaoh "who knew not Yosef”, but also Bnei Yisrael; the children
of Israel themselves had stopped Jewish customs and practices after
Joseph died. They had immersed themselves completely and
exclusively in the Egyptian culture. Clearly Jews all over the world get
involved in and succeed in the broader societies of which they are a
part. But we also must remember "the Jewish burdens" in our lives,
the Jewish agenda, as well – Jewish education, Jewish identity, the
Jewish community and the State of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom!
A Vort for Parshat Shemot
By Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, CY Faculty
Pharoah’s daughter “sent her handmaid” (va-tishlach et amatah) to
fetch the basket floating in the Nile (Ex. 2:5). The word amah in
Hebrew can also mean “forearm.” “Handmaid” here is the pshat, the
plain meaning, but Rashi also brings the Midrash: she extended her
forearm and it miraculously increased several lengths so she could
reach the ark with the baby Moses inside. R’ Menachem Mendel
Morgensztern, the Kotzker Rebbe (19th C, Poland), said that when
she extended her arm, it was clear it could not reach the ark, but when
we do mitsvot, we should not do cool calculations and think
logically. If we do the right thing with the right purpose, the miracle
will happen.
Table Talk
We are opening Shemot, the second Chumash (Torah book), with the
enslavement and killing of the Children of Israel, God choosing Moshe as
leader of the people, and Moshe’s initial failure to convince Pharaoh to
let the people go.
1) The children of Israel (=Jacob) become numerous over a few
generations and Pharaoh tells his people ‘let us out-smart’ the nation
Children of Israel. What does he fear that causes him to take action? Why
do you think that he did not wish to act openly against them?
(Exodus 1:8-10)
2) As part of his attempt to reduce the population size (and potential
military threat) discreetly, Pharaoh commands the midwives to kill all
male Israelites at birth. The midwives disobey, at considerable risk. The
identity of the midwives is not clear from the Torah. Do you think that
they were Israelites or Egyptian women? What is your reasoning?
(1:15-21)
3) In chapter 2 we are told about Moshe (Moses). Three stories are told
about him as a young man (2:11-20). What do the stories have in
common? What do they teach about Moshe? Why does the Torah tell us
three stories? (Think about how they differ from each other.)
4) As Moshe is shepherding the sheep in the desert he comes to the
Mountain of God. There he sees a burning bush that is not consumed by
the fire, and his introduction to prophecy (and leadership of the Jewish