Torah Parallels

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ 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 c...

~ Torah Parallels ~ 5-Bullet Friday This week is Parshas Yisro! Check out this week's d'var torah here . Have feedback or suggestions for future 5-Bullets? Fill out the survey here Here is this week's 5-Bullet Friday , a quick summary of thoughts I’ve been pondering during the week: : Question I'm pondering (on the parsha): Which came first? When describing Moshe's two sons the Torah writes “Shem ha'echad Gershom...” and “Shem ha'echad Eliezer...” The Torah refers to them both as “The first” even though Gershom was older because Eliezer was named for an earlier event that Moshe experienced. What is the significance behind each of their names? And why were they not named “in order of events”? Concept I am considering : Divrei ha’rav v’divrei ha’talmud, l’divrei mee shomim? This concept literally means that if the teacher is telling you one thing and the student is telling you something else, who are you going to listen to? Thinking ...

~ Something to Think About ~ יתרו פרשת  Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus 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 is called Choveiv because of his love for the Torah. Why did Yisro receive such a name any more than Moshe, Aharon, or any of Bnei Yisroel in the midbar? (18:2) Rashi sounds good in the broad sense but what specifically was Aharon worried about? Moshe’s wife and children would not have become slaves? Moshe was fro...

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas Bo Anti Ambidextrous Ambitions By: Daniel Listhaus וְהָיָה לְאוֹת עַל יָדְכָה וּלְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ ה '  מִמִּצְרָיִם “And it shall be a sign upon your arm, and for  totafos  between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem removed us from Mitzrayim.” - Bo  13:16 The  Ramban [1]   points out that so many of the  mitzvos  we do serve in some way as a ( zeicher ) remembrance of Hashem taking us out of  Mitzrayim . Indeed, the  makkos (plagues)   in  Mitzrayim  continuing with  yetzias Mitzrayim  (exodus from Egypt)   and  kriyas Yam Suf  (splitting of the Red Sea), and ultimately culminating with  mattan Torah  (receiving the Torah), serve as a timeless certificate for us that Hashem is the  borei  (creator)  and manhig  (controller) of the world and that we are His chosen pe...

~ Torah Parallels ~ 5-Bullet Friday This week is Parshas Bo! Check out this week's d'var torah here . Have feedback or suggestions for future 5-Bullets? Fill out the survey here Here is this week's 5-Bullet Friday , a quick summary of thoughts I’ve been pondering during the week: : Question I'm pondering (on the parsha):  Prin ciple and perception. Throughout the Torah and Gemara we find many examples of tzadikim who went out of their way to ensure that they were not allowing for something that could mislead others to think erroneously. For example, when Hashem was going to destroy Sodom, Avraham argued that if there was even one righteous person, then Hashem must save the whole city because otherwise people will think that Hashem does not rule with justice. Additionally we find this concept a few times in this week's parsha. For example, the passuk (Shemos 10:10) relates that Pharoah told Moshe that he foresees “ra'ah” will be with the B’...

~ Something to Think About ~ בא   ת ש פר Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus (10:7-11) Pharoah’s advisors told him to let the men go, and Pharaoh himself was willing to let the men go. If so, why did he ask Moshe “ mi va’mi ha’hol’chim  – who is going?”   Why not just tell them at the onset that he as only willing to let the men go? (10:17) Why by this makka did Pharaoh ask Moshe to daven to remove it “from me”? (10:22) Rashi writes that during  choshech  – the wicked who did not wan to leave  mitzrayim  were killed. Who were these wicked who did not want to leave and why would they want to stay? Why did their wanting to stay warrant labeling them as  reshaim ? (10:26) The Torah is unclear what would have happened oif Pharaoh would have let the  B’nei Yisroel  go? Would they have come back after “they went to serve Hashem”? Why didn't Dasan and Aviram die during  makkas choshech  ? Af...

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 obs...