Weekly Reading Insights

Overview of the Weekly Reading

To be read on Shabbat Shemot, 19 Tevet 5772/Jan. 14

Torah: Exodus 1:1-6:1 Haftorah: Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23 (because its opening verse parallels Ex.1:1)

Shemot is the 1st Reading out of 12 in Exodus and it contains 6762 letters, in 1763 words, in 124 verses

The Egyptians afflicted the Jews with forced physical labor, and decreed drowning all Jewish newborn males. Moshe was born. His mother hid him in a basket in the Nile, where he was discovered and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. One day, when already adult, Moshe killed and buried an Egyptian supervisor who beat a Jew. The next day, realizing his deed was public knowledge, Moshe fled to Midian where he married one of Yisro's daughters, Tzipporah, and they had a son, Gershom. The Jews cried to G-d because of the slavery. G-d's angel appeared to Moshe in the form of a burning bush. G-d told Moshe that he would redeem the Jews, and that Moshe should relay this to Pharaoh and to the Jews, even though Pharaoh would not agree to let the Jews go. Moshe begged G-d to appoint a messenger besides himself. G-d decided that Aharon, Moshe's brother, should be Moshe's spokesman. Moshe began his return journey to Egypt with his wife and sons. Tzipporah circumcised their second son, Eliezer, when stopping at an inn. In Egypt, the Jewish elders listened to Moshe, saw the signs, and believed in G-d's promise to free them. But after approaching Pharaoh, Moshe and Aharon were rebuked and thrown out of the palace. Pharaoh instructed to harden the Jews' labor. The foremen blamed Moshe for the Jews' misfortune. Moshe told G-d that the situation had worsened. G-d answered that in the end, Pharaoh would force the Jews to leave his land.

This week's Torah portion is the first of the second book of the Torah, Shemot. The word Shemot means 'names' and refers to its opening verses which lists the names of the children of our forefather Yaacov, who originally came to Egypt as Pharaoh's guests. The English name of the book is Exodus because the larger part of the book is about the enslavement and redemption of our people from the Egyptians. The main description of the difficult conditions our ancestor experienced in Egypt is discussed this week.

The verse says (1:13), "They (the Egyptians) labored the children of Israel beparech." The Hebrew 'parech' means arduously or in a grueling way. The Talmud (Sotah 11b) (as discussed in the Hagadah of Pesach and by the Baal Haturim) suggests that the word parech can be a hint to how Pharaoh initially pulled the Jews into slavery, by convincing them the work was for the public good, even joining the work himself in the beginning. Rabbi Elazar says that 'parech' can be read as peh rach, a "soft mouth'. This notwithstanding, Rashi and almost all of the other commentators prefer the more direct translation. Rashi says 'beparech' means difficult work that wears down and breaks the body. The Rambam (whose yahrzeit is next Sunday evening and Monday) in his Laws of Slaves (first chapter) defines avodat parech as work that is endless and without purpose.
A person is supposed to see himself as constantly coming out of slavery into redemption. How does this idea of grueling, endless and purposeless work apply to us?
Unfortunately, today also many people are enslaved to their livelihoods in a way of 'grueling work.' From a true Jewish perspective, we should not let ourselves become totally submerged in our secular affairs. In particular, a person's work efforts are not supposed to prevent him from praying properly and with a minion and from having regular set times for studying Torah. If you find yourself regularly in conflict, this is considered grueling arduous work. The correct model is that our work takes up only a set amount of hours and a limited amount of mental absorption. When we can achieve this type of balanced relationship with our secular affairs, they take on a level of holiness and acquire a true purpose. They become a vessel that can draw down G-d's blessings.
The reverse applies also. A person who is totally absorbed, mind and body, in his livelihood and obsessed by it cannot see how to limit it. Then even though he gives it all of his time, he still can't see its broader purpose: to let him practice as a Jew. Therefore it never becomes a proper vessel for drawing down G-d's blessings.
There is a very important point to understand here. We do, as humans, have the capacity to work in an totally absorbed way and without apparent and immediate results or return. It is a mechanism built into our divine soul! It is derived from the actual required service of the soul to the Creator. Not only is the soul able, it must serve G-d totally and even without any perceptible benefit. This is the ultimate reason why we were put into this world, to serve G-d because he is our Creator and Master, without any consideration of reward.
This is why we were created and is the highest level of divine service. It is a tragedy when we use such supernal and sublime strengths solely for mundane secular material activities.

(Adapted from Memaayanei Hachasidus by Rabbi E. Friedman of Tsfat)

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For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.

FROM THE CHASSIDIC REBBES

"Now these are the names of the sons of Israel." (Ex. 1:1)
To tell us that they are compared to the stars. (Rashi)

We Jews must know that G-d loves us, and that even as He made the stars to shine in the dark night, so He created the Jewish people to spread His light to the darkest and lowliest places on earth.

(Sefat Emet)

For more than a decade of "From the Chasidic Rebbes" on this Weekly Reading, see our archives

MOSHIACH THIS WEEK

It says in the writings of the Arizal, "the generation of the Heels of Mashiach are reincarnations of the generation of those who went out from Egypt." Just as those who went from Egypt merited the first redemption of the Jewish People through Moshe, similarly, the generation of the "Heels of Mashiach" will merit the Final Redemption of the Jewish People through King Mashiach.

[The Lubavitcher Rebbe, translated by Michoel Lieb Dobry of Tsfat]

For nearly a decade of "Moshiach This Week " on this Weekly Reading, see our archives

From the Kabbalah Commentaries on the Chumash ("5 Books of Moses")

13th century - "RambaN" - Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman

14th century - "Bachya" - Rabbi Bachya ben Asher

16th century - "Alsheich" - Rabbi Moshe Alshech of Tsfat

18th century - "Ohr HaChayim" - Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar

a sample for this week:

Rabbeinu Bachya

"..and Moses was a shepherd…." [3:1]

A kabbalistic approach to our verse: The Torah writes: 'and Moses had been a shepherd' instead of 'Moses became a shepherd'. When the Torah described Hevel's occupation it also wrote 'Hevel became a shepherd.' This is a hint that Moses was a reincarnation of Hevel; hence the Torah could write that Moses had been a shepherd (once before in another incarnation), instead of simply 'he tended sheep, etc.' We have mentioned earlier that Moses (as the reincarnate of Hevel) had been destined to slay the Egyptian who represented the brute force of Kayin (compare 2:12) and this is why the Torah mentioned here "the flame of fire". [the author refers to a theory that when G-d accepted Hevel's sacrifice Hevel looked at the heavenly fire to understand the phenomenon. This had been sinful and led to his death by murder at the hands of Kayin. Ed] Moses, his reincarnation, had learned the lesson not to look.

Selected from the seven-volume English edition of The Torah Commentary of Rebbeinu Bachya, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340] of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the "Rashba"), a main disciple of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban"). Several books have been written about the Kabballah-based portions of R. Bachya's commentary.

For the rest of "The Masters of Kabbala and Chumash" on this Weekly Reading; and on all the other Readings.

A MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE

Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to Shemot

From the Ohr HaChaim commentary by Rabbi Chaim (ben Moshe) Ibn Atar; Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk

Moses' achievements were directly related to the condition of the Jewish people whom he represented. Since the Israelites descended to the 49th level of impurity, thus Moses achieved the 49th level of bina , intellectual insights, out of a possible total of 50 such levels. Moses never reached the 50th and ultimate level of bina since Israel never quite reached the bottom of the spiritual levels.

For another taste of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click to the our weekly Kabbalah magazine

This week we study the first of the eleven readings in the Book of Exodus.
Among its themes are the significance of different names of G-d, the importance of Jewish names, the ultimate Messiah, and the inter-relationship of Moses and Aaron, who in Kabbalah are said to manifest the two "brotherly" divine attributes of Netzach and Hod.
The last five articles touch on these themes; the first two are very special features.

According to Kabbala, the powers of prophecy and divine inspiration derive from the sefirot of netzach and hod -- for they actually receive the effusion of G-dly light.

Weekly Reading Insights: 5772

a sample for this week:

Rabbeinu Bachya

Weekly Reading Insights:
5772