Torah Parallels

Parshas Va'eira Let There Be Hope By: Daniel Listhaus “ Moshe spoke before Hashem saying, 'Behold, the B'nei Yisroel have not listened to me, so how will Pharoah listen to me? And I have blocked lips!” - Va'eria 6:12 This week's parsha continues to express the unbelievable conversations that Moshe and Hashem shared. We know that Moshe was the greatest navi to ever live 1 , yet it is still incredibly difficult to comprehend the relationship between Moshe – a person, and Hashem. Hashem had commanded Moshe to say to the B'nei Yisroel, “I will bring you to the land about which I have raised My hand to give it to Avraham, Yitachak, and Yaakov; and I shall give it to you as a heritage – I am Hashem.” 2 However, when Moshe relayed this message to the B'nei Yisroel, the passuk testifies that they refused to listen because of shortness of breath and hard work. 3 In the next passuk , Hashem commands Moshe, “Come speak to Pharoah, king of Egypt, that he send the ...

Parshas Shemos Something to Think About By: Daniel Listhaus The Torah describes at length the beginning of Moshe's life. He was hidden for three months, put in a basket in the Nile River, adopted by Basya, and raised in the house of Pharoah himself. Moshe certainly had a very different upbringing then Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Why was it necessary for Moshe to grow up in the house of Pharoah? In Parshas Miketz we discussed how thought and speech are man's most unique facets. These two aspects of man are definitely not only a big part of what separates us from animals, but more importantly, what shapes us as a tzelem Elokim (created in the image of Hashem). We discussed that perhaps the mind could be compared to a spiritual writing board where we could understand a large spectrum of things – from dreams to Torah (specifically Torah shel ba'al peh ). We then continued to explain that the mouth is used to then shape, define, and interpret how our th...

Parshas Vayechi I Thought That You Thought By: Daniel Listhaus “ And Yosef took the two of them – Ephraim with his right hand, to Yisroel's [Yaakov's] left, and Menasheh, with his left, to Yisroel's right – and he drew close to him. But Yisroel extended his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head though he was younger and his left hand on Menasheh's head. He moved his hands with intelligence, for Menasheh was the first born ” - Vayechi 48:13-14 The Torah 1 describes in careful detail the way that Yosef came to Yaakov with his sons, Menasheh and Ephraim. Menasheh was the older son and Yosef knew that he would be getting the bigger bracha . Ephraim, on the other hand 2 , was younger and would therefore be secondary. For this reason, Yosef deliberately approached Yaakov with Menasheh on his own left and Ephraim on the right. This way, when they would be facing Yaakov opposite them, they would be in the proper mirror-imaged position, with Menasheh on Yaakov's r...