Torah Parallels

פרשת יתרו Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About What did Yisro hear that no one else did? According to the one who holds that Yisro was attracted by the fact that B'nei Yisroel won the  war against Amalek , what was so special about it? Granted they were untrained, but still the  B'nei Yisroel had an army of 600,000 men between 20 and 60. Certainly it couldn't have been  such a tremendous surprise that they won. Rashi writes that Yisro had 7 names. One of them was Yeser – which became Yisro after he  converted. If so, didn't Yisro really only have 6 names at any given time? Yisro came over to Moshe and asked “What are you doing?” Moshe responded, “Judging the  people and helping them with their questions.” Yisro then clarified and said that he meant why is Moshe the only one judging instead of creating a system of ranks where more people could be  helped at a time. What was this conversation between Moshe and Yisro? And why didn...

Parshas Yisro Loud Music and Boiling Frogs By: Daniel Listhaus וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן משֶׁה אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹקים לְמשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי הוֹצִיא ה ' אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם “ And the father-in-law of Moshe, Yisro, the priest of Midyan, heard all that G-d had done for Moshe and for [ B'nei ] Yisroel , His people, that Hashem had taken [ B'nei ] Yisroel out of Mitzrayim. ” - Yisro 18:1 וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד משֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱלֹקים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל “And the sound of the shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moshe would speak and G-d would answer him with a voice.” - Yisro 19:19 Rashi 1 on this passuk (verse) brings a Gemara 2 which is bothered what was it that Yisro heard that inspired him to convert and join B'nei Yisroel in the midbar (desert)? Rashi answers by bringing two of the three suggestions offered in the Gemara writes that Yisro heard about the war B'nei Yisroel fought with Amalek and he also...

Parshas Yisro Sunken Chunk By: Daniel Listhaus אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי לְמִצְרָיִם וָאֶשָּׂא אֶתְכֶם עַל כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים וָאָבִא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי : וְעַתָּה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ בְּקֹלִי וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת בְּרִיתִי וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים כִּי לִי כָּל הָאָרֶץ “ You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I carried you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. And now, if you listen well to Me and you will keep My covenant, you will be a treasure to Me from among the all the nations, for the earth is Mine.” - Yisro 19:4-5 As the B'nei Yisroel were getting ready to accept the Torah, Hashem commanded Moshe to announce that if we decide now to listen to the mitzvos of Hashem, then we will become a treasure to Him. Rashi 1 on this passuk (verse) explains based on the Mechilta 2 that Hashem was telling us the following, “If you accept the Torah upon yourselves now, then it will be pleasant to you from now on, for all beginnings are difficult.” The Sifs...

Parshas Beshalach In G-d We Trust By: Daniel Listhaus וַיֹּאמֶר ה ' אֶל משֶׁה הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר לָכֶם לֶחֶם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם וְיָצָא הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ לְמַעַן אֲנַסֶּנּוּ הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי אִם לֹא “ Hashem said to Moses, 'Behold! I shall rain down for you food from heaven; let the people go out and pick each day's matter on its day, so that I may test him, whether he will follow My Torah or not.” - Beshalach 16:4 After witnessing the wonders of kriyas Yam Suf (the splitting of the Red Sea) and the whole Egyptian army being wiped out, the Jews certainly realized their newly found freedom to a higher degree. They sung Az Yashir 1 and thanked Hashem from the depths of their hearts. However, it seems that it was only a matter of days until the Jews turned to Moshe and started a series of complaints. First they complained about the lack of water, and then they complained about not having food. 2 At that point, Hashem said that he would send the manna as a ...

פרשת וארא Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About This week's Parsha contains one of the ten Kal V'chomers found thro ughout Tanach. The  Kal V'chomer seems to be that Moshe said to Hashem, “If B'nei Yisroel won't listen to me,  then certainly Phroah will refuse to listen!” The question is that the Torah told us earlier  that the reason B'nei Yisroel didn't listen was because they were under stress and hard  work. Certainly these concerns did not apply to Pharoah. So what was the Kal V'chomer? Rashi says that Moshe didn't bring the מכה of דם or צפרדעים because since the Nile had  protected him, it would not be proper for Moshe to hit the Nile. How did the river protect  him? If anything, didn't the basket protect him from the river? A “Riddle on the Parsha”: In פרק ז Hashem commands, “Tell Aharon to take his staff in his hand. כל מקוה מימיהם shall turn to blood so red Maybe then Pharoah will get the message thro...

Parshas Va'eira Don't Judge a Book by its Cover By: Daniel Listhaus הוּא אַהֲרֹן וּמשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר ה ' לָהֶם הוֹצִיאוּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם עַל צִבְאֹתָם : הֵם הַמְדַבְּרִים אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם הוּא משֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן “ This is Moshe Aharon and Moshe to whom Hashem said: 'Take the Children of Israel out of Egypt according to their legions.' They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to take the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; this is Moshe and Aharon.” - Va'eria 6:26-27 Rashi 1 comments that throughout Chumash, there are some times that the Torah puts Moshe's name before Aharon's, and other times that the Torah chooses to write Aharon's name before Moshe's. 2 The reason for this, as Rashi continues to explain, is in order to convey that Moshe and Aharon were equal in significance. The Kli Yakar 3 makes the same observation but explains in more deta...