Parashat Shemot
Exodus 1 - Exodus 6:1

Synopsis of the Torah portion                   return to top
A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He feared that the Israelites because their population explosion, would soon overwhelm the Egyptians. They were also afraid that in the event of war the Israelites would favor their enemies. So they enslaved the Israelites; they put taskmasters over them and forced them to build fortified cities for Pharaoh. The more the Israelites were oppressed the more they multiplied. The Egyptian taskmasters made life bitter for them with harsh labor with mortar and bricks and all sorts of tasks in the field. To solve the problem, Pharaoh spoke to the Hebrew midwives and ordered them to kill any newborn male infants, but the newborn girls may live. The midwives, fearing God, did not do to what Pharaoh commanded. When he demanded an explanation, they told him that the Hebrew women are very vigorous and they give birth before the midwives arrive; the Israelites multiplied greatly.  Pharaoh than directed his people to throw every boy that is born into the Nile, but let every girl live.

A certain Levite man married a Levite woman; she conceived and gave birth to a son, she hid him for three months for fear of the Pharaoh's edict. When she could no longer hide the child, she placed him in a wicker basket that she hid among the reeds of the Nile River. The daughter of Pharaoh while bathing in the Nile spotted the basket and asked her slave to fetch it. Inside they found a baby boy crying. She figured this must be a Hebrew child so she gave it to a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. When the child grew up, the woman brought him to Pharaoh's daughter who adopted him and named him Moses. Sometime after, when Moses was grown up, he noticed how hard the Hebrews were forced to work.

One day, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses killed him and hid him in the sand. Moses was frightened that Pharaoh would learn of the matter, so he fled from Egypt and arrived in the land of Midian. Once there, he encountered local shepherds harassing the seven daughters of the priest of Midian who were trying to water their father's flock; Moses fought them off. The father asked his daughters why they arrived home so early and they told him what happened. The priest, Reuel, insisted Moses come to eat with them and soon gave Moses his daughter Zipporah as a wife. She conceived and bore Moses a son who they named Gershom. A long time after the king of Egypt died; The Israelites lamented their bondage and cried out. God heard their weeping and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God took notice of them.

While tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses came upon Horeb, the mountain of God, in the wilderness. An angel of God appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. The bush burned but was not consumed. Moses turned aside to look at that marvelous sight when the Lord called him from out of the bush. God told Moses that He was there and do not come closer. Remove your sandals for place you stand is holy ground. God then explained that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God told Moses that he heard the outcries of His people, and was mindful of their suffering. He also said that he has come to rescue them from the Egyptians and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, and I will send you to Pharaoh to free My people.
Moses argued that he was not qualified to perform such an awesome task, but God assured him that He will be with him. Moses then asked what to tell the Israelites when they ask who sent you, and God answered that His name is Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (I am who I am).  So Moses was instructed to return to the elders of Israel and explain to them that God told him He would rescue them from Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet, the king of Egypt will only let you go because of a stronger might, God explained, but I will stretch out My hand and smite the Egyptians with various wonders, until he will let you go. You will not leave empty handed, but you will posses the riches of the Egyptians.

Moses seemed skeptical about all that God instructed him to do--Moses questioned whether the Israelites would believe his incredulous story--so to demonstrate His powers, He magically converted Moses' staff into a snake, than back again into a staff.  God then proved himself once more by encrusting Moses' hand with snowy scales and than back as it was originally; finally He instructed Moses to take some water from the Nile and pour it on dry ground where it will turn into blood. Moses hesitated, saying he was not a qualified speaker, why not select someone else with better oratory skills. The Lord was becoming angry with Moses, so he ordered Moses to recruit his brother Aaron to speak in his behalf. Moses went back to his father-in-law Jether to ask his permission to return to Egypt and see how his people are faring. Moses, by God's authority, returned to Egypt with his wife and two sons. God insisted that Moses display to Pharaoh all the marvels that is in his power, and God went on to say that He will stiffen Pharaoh's heart so that he will not let your people go. Soon after, Moses met up with his brother Aaron and together they went before the elders of Israel proclaiming what the Lord had said and performing the signs in full view of the people, and the people were convinced.

Afterwards Moses appeared before Pharaoh explaining that God insisted the release of all the Israelites so they can worship Him in the wilderness. But Pharaoh replied that he did not know this God of Israel and that he will not permit the Israelites to go. Moses then clarified that the God of the Hebrews manifested himself to us and required a three-day journey into the wilderness to celebrate a festival to Him. Pharaoh accused Moses and Aaron of distracting the Israelites from their tasks, and in response Pharaoh ordered the tasks to be greatly increased. The Israelites were exceedingly distraught with Moses for bringing so much trouble upon the people, so Moses returned to God complaining that much harm is upon the people and they have they have not yet been delivered from bondage.
And God said to Moses that you will soon see what I will do to Pharaoh: he shall soon let you go because of a greater might.

Key verses                         return to top
This page is not a commentary on the text, but a chance for you to express your own comments and feelings in order to gain
deeper insight into your own life.

Exodus 1:13-14
The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.
Food for thought:
1. Where have we head the words "bitter" and mortar", frequently used?
2. Does Egypt represent just physical slavery? What other kinds of slavery can you think of?
3. How can you apply "bitter" and mortar" to your life right now.

Exodus 2:21-22
Moses consented to stay with the man, and he gave Moses is daughter Zipporah as wife. she bore a son whom he named Gershom, for he said I have been a stranger in a foreign land.
Food for thought:
1. What was in it for Moses to stay with the man?
2. Why is the man not called by name, especially since we learned his name a few verses back?
3. Which land was Moses a stranger in? Egypt or Midian? What was Moses trying to say by that statement?

Exodus 2:24
God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.
Food for thought:
1. How come it took hundreds of years for God to remember His covenant?
2. Didn't God hear the moaning long before? What was He waiting for?
3. Do you think God hears your moaning? Does He remember his covenant with you?

Exodus 3:2
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.
Food for thought:
1. When God appears to Moses for the first time, wouldn't you expect something more dramatic? Like thunder or lightening?
2. Why do you think this encounter is stated so mildly, almost like a stage trick?
3. What do you think this says about man's encounter with God? What would you do if you saw such a spectacle?

Exodus 3:5
And he said, "Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place in which you stand is holy ground.
Food for thought:
1. What's the reason that Moses could not come closer?
2. Where was Moses that all of a sudden the ground was holy? Is all ground holy? Or does it become holy when you pay attention to it and realize that God is everywhere?
3. What reasons can you think of why a person must remove his sandals on holy ground?

Exodus 3:13-14
Moses said to God, "When I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you' and they ask me, 'What is His name, what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (I am who I am).
Food for thought:
1. What do those words "I am who I am" actually mean? Why can't God have a name, like other gods?
2. Do you think that behind our own names there is a "I am who I am"?
3. What do you think would happen if you didn't have a name? Who would you be?

Exodus 4:10
But Moses said to the Lord, "Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.
Food for thought:
1. If you were able to identify your own bondage, would you make up excuses, like Moses does here, to delay the trouble of having to break the chains?
2. What were the qualities of Moses that he was to be selected by God?
3. Could you relate them to the qualities of the Patriarchs in Genesis?

Exodus 4:14
The Lord became angry with Moses, and He said, "There is your brother Aaron the Levite. He, I know, speaks readily. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you.
Food for thought:
1. Why did God get angry at Moses? What did he do wrong?
2. How could Moses have a brother when Pharaoh's daughter rescued him from the Nile?
3. The Torah never mentioned him before. Where did Aaron come from?

Exodus 4:22-23
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord: Israel is my first born son. I have said to you, "Let My son go, that he may worship Me, " yet you refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your first born son'".
Food for thought:
1. God warned Moses earlier that He would "stiffen Pharaoh's heart" (a phrase to describe extreme stubbornness) and refuse to let the people go. Do we stiffen our own hearts when it comes to breaking down the barriers that keep us enslaved?
2. What do you think God means by "first born son"?
3. If Israel is God's first born son, who is Pharaoh's first born son?
4. What do you think is the significance of a first born son?

Exodus 5:4
But the king of Egypt said to them, ""Moses and Aaron, why do you distract the people from their tasks? Get to your labors!"
Food for thought:
1. Do you think the Israelites really suffered in Egypt or were they so accustomed to their toils that they preferred slavery to freedom?
2. If you were enslaved to your beliefs or feelings, would you want to be distracted from your bondage? Or would you prefer to remain enslaved?
3. What are you enslaved by? What is your master?
 
Exodus 5:22
Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why did you bring harm upon this people? Why did you send me?
Food for thought:
1. Why did God select Moses to do His bidding, when Moses was not even among the slaves of Egypt?
2. Obviously Moses wants to be relieved of the responsibility that God placed on him. If you consider your own enslavement, would you accept the responsibility for it or would you rather defer it to someone else? (a doctor, a therapist, a parent, etc.)
3. From this entire Parshat, could you see a connection between the text and the course of your own life?

Additional questions to ponder:
1. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
2. Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
3. Can you recall experiences in your life when you have experienced something similar to this story?
4. How would you describe the characters in the story? Who do you know who's like them?
5. Can you personally identify with any one of the characters in the story? Which one?
6. Can you find a similarity between yourself and all the characters in the story?

Suggestion:
Some of the questions here are of a personal nature which in some cases could be emotionally upsetting. If so, try relaxing your body as much as possible and takes long slow breaths of air. That usually helps to relieve anxiety.

Reflections:
The Rabbis of old would meditate on such questions, sometimes for weeks at a time, to help find deeper meaning in the verses. You may wish to contemplate just a few of these questions at a time, rather than tackling them all.
In what ways we any of your responses to the questions personally meaningful?

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Creative Midrash on Parshat Shemot                       return to top
Exodus 2:10-11
10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who made him her son. She named him Moses, explaining, "I drew him out of the water". 11Sometime after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his kinfolk and witnessed their toil. He saw an Egyptian beating Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.

The Rabbis of old would create parables, stories and narrative connections around such selected verses. What do you see between the lines, the sentences and the letters. The following questions can provide a launch pad upon which to create your own meanings of the Torah.

Quite some time had to pass from Moses' childhood (verse 10) to when he had grown up (verse 11). What happened during those formative years? How could he have known he was a Hebrew, and the slaves his kinfolk? Why does the Torah make a distinction between "Hebrews" and "Israelites"? Did he have a Jewish education or an Egyptian one? Who did he think his father was, since Pharaoh's daughter adopted him? Later on when he arrived in Midian, what did Moses learn there? Who would he have learned from in Midian? There was obviously something special about him that caused God to call to him from a burning bush. What was it?

Spend some time thinking about these questions. After you mentally process them for a day or two, it could be helpful to record your conclusions in a journal. It's not important to have correct answers; it's more important to wrestle with the narrative. In time this process can teach you to change many of your unproductive thoughts and beliefs for new ones that work more effectively.