Hi, Drishat Shalom, best regards from Israel! I had an amazing trip. Besides the usual high points, like Jerusalem and the Western Wall? I visited some of the fantastic Yeshivas for men and women without extensive Jewish backgrounds. There are some amazing opportunities to really sink your teeth into Jewish learning. And there’s one just […]

Hi, Now the Exodus is really going to start! Until now? It sort of backfired. Moshe and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him to free the Jewish People And Pharaoh responded by clamping down.  By making them work even harder.  (Exodus, 5) … Now we’re about to start the “ten plagues.” But first there’s […]

Hi, Finally.  The Exodus is about to begin. But not so fast! … G-d tells Moshe to give the Jewish People the good news. (Exodus, 6:1-13) That G-d is about to free them.  But they wouldn’t listen.  They didn’t believe Moshe. Their spirits were broken.  Then G-d tells Moshe to speak to Pharaoh and free […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. Moshe can’t get out of it. As much as he tries, G-d insists.  “You’re the man”! So Moshe is about to leave Midian and go to back to Egypt. For the most important mission in world history. To free the Jews and bring them to Mount Sinai. They […]

Hi, I make a point of not discussing “politics” in the Torah Minute. In most cases, I don’t think Jewish tradition dictates a specific approach. But I do feel the need to address the death of Yasser Arafat. … The Jewish People were given a mission. “To be a light unto the nations.” We taught […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day! As we saw yesterday, Pharaoh wanted Moshe dead. Moshe escapes to Midian, where he sees a group of women being harassed.  He saves them and waters their sheep. … It’s pretty amazing. Moshe is in a strange place.  The most powerful person on earth is out to kill […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. Moshe is raised in Pharaoh’s palace. But he maintains his Jewish identity. He sees that the Jews are persecuted.  And feels their pain.  (Exodus 2: 11-17) … It’s natural to want to know as much as possible about Moshe. About the man that reached the highest level of […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. …Pharaoh has decreed that all newborn Jewish boys be thrown into the Nile River. Amram and Yocheved have a baby boy. Yocheved, his mother, hides him as long as possible. Finally she puts him in a box and places it on the banks of the Nile. And she […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. The new Egyptian king sees the Jews as a threat and enslaves them. (Exodus, 1:8-2:10) He orders the Jewish midwives to kill every newborn Jewish boy. But the midwives “feared G-d” and defied the order.  They kept the boys alive. So Pharaoh issued a new decree.  To his […]

Hi, We did it!  Finished the Book of Genesis! Jewish tradition says, “Nothing gives G-d greater joy than when we finish a part of His Torah”! Because the Torah is G-d’s “Love Letter” to the Jewish People. And He loves when we study it! … Exodus begins with the death of Joseph and his brothers. […]