Vaera D'var Torah

Vaera Summary

God sent Moses to talk to Pharaoh, and he sent Aaron with him because Moses had impeded speech. When they got there, they used God’s powers to prove that God had sent them, by turning Aaron’s staff into a snake. Then, God told Moses and Aaron to go and ask Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and if he didn’t listen they should use the staff to turn all of the water in the Nile into blood. They asked Pharaoh, he said no, and they turned the water to blood. The same process happened with the following plagues of frogs, lice, insects, cattle disease, boils, and hail. After the hail, Pharaoh finally said that the Israelites could leave, so Moses made the hail and thunder stop. However, since it stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind and made the Israelites stay.

Commentary:

One lesser-known part about the story of the ten plagues is that Pharaoh didn’t let the Israelites go not just because he wanted to keep them as slaves, but he also didn’t believe that they really had the power of God- because he had magicians! When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh to free the Israelites, Aaron changed his rod into a serpent as a demonstration of God’s power. But, “Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magicians, in turn, did the same with their spells; each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods” (Exodus 7:11-12). The same thing happened with the following plagues: Pharaoh’s magicians turned water to blood and conjured frogs. However, by the third plague, Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t create lice, so they told Pharaoh “This is the finger of God!” (Exodus 8:15). Even that couldn’t change Pharaoh’s mind, and his heart “stiffened” every time as he refused to let the Israelites go. The last mention of the magicians is after the plague of boils, where Pharaoh wanted them to fix it, but they couldn’t since they were also affected. I wanted to write about these magicians just because I think that it’s really cool that they existed in the Torah, and it’s interesting how they were actually a major character in the Exodus story.

Shemot D'var Torah

Shemot Summary

After Jacob and his sons came to live in Egypt with Joseph, they started having kids and so their numbers multiplied and increased significantly. After Joseph and his brothers died, there was a new king in charge of Egypt, and he decided to enslave them because there were too many Israelites. Pharaoh then told two Hebrew midwives to kill all of the Hebrew boys born, to stop the Israelites from growing. They failed at this, because the women giving birth wouldn’t let them. So instead, Pharaoh told his people to throw all of the baby boys into the Nile. 

A Levite man and woman had a baby, and when the woman saw how beautiful her baby boy was, she hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she made a basket for the baby, put him in it, and sent it floating down the Nile. His sister followed him to see what would happen. Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the Nile, and she found the basket. She opened it and saw a baby, and realized that he was a Hebrew child. The baby’s sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she needed help finding someone to care for him, and she said yes, so the sister went to get the mother of the baby. Once the baby grew up, his sister brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who named him Moses. 

When Moses was grown up, one day he saw an Egyptian man beating up a Hebrew man. So, once the Egyptian was alone, Moses killed him and hid him in the sand. The next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting and asked one why he hit the other. He replied, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” This alerted Moses that people had found out about what he did. When Pharaoh heard what happened, he wanted to kill Moses, but Moses ran away, to the land of Midian.

The priest of Midian had seven daughters, who went to a well to get water for their fathers’ sheep. When they got there, some shepherds tried to stop them from getting water, but Moses defended them and helped them get water. Because of this, the priest invited Moses to stay with them, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. A long time after that, the Egyptian Pharaoh died, and the Israelites were suffering a lot and cried for help to God. God heard them, and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so he watched over the Israelites.

An angel from God appeared to Moses from a burning bush, but even though it was on fire, it wasn’t consumed. God called to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

Moses replied, “Here I am.” God then explained to Moses that he needed to help free the Israelites from slavery im Egypt.  God told him to go talk to the Pharaoh and tell him to free the Israelites, because God said so. Additionally, in order to make them believe that God had really sent Moses, Moses’ rod would turn into a snake when he tapped it on the ground, because God made it do that. He also gave Moses two more impossible things to help convince the Egyptians that God was with Moses. After this, Moses told God that he is slow of speech and he’s probably not the right person, so God sent Aaron, Moses’ brother, along with Moses so Aaron could do the talking.

At a camp at night on the way to Egypt, God wanted to kill Moses. Zipporah (his wife) circumcised his son, and apparently that made God happy and not want to kill Moses.

Moses and Aaron met together and gathered the Israelite elders so that they could explain what God had said.

After all this, Moses and Aaron finally made their way to Egypt to talk to Pharaoh. They asked Pharaoh to let their people go so that they could celebrate a festival for God for three days in the woods. But the Pharaoh didn’t believe in God, and said, “Moses and Aaron, why do you distract the people from their tasks? Get to your labors!”

Commentary:

One scene that stands out to me is where Moses killed an Egyptian for beating up one of the Israelites. The next day, Moses encountered two Israelites fighting and asked them why they were fighting, and one responded by asking Moses why he was telling them what to do, and would he kill them like the Egyptian? Moses’ action by killing an Egyptian for beating up an Israelite is truly a moral dilemma because it’s obviously not good to kill someone (even God said so in the Ten Commandments), but the Egyptian was doing something bad to one of Moses’ “kinsmen.” I personally think that Moses should not have killed the Egyptian because even though he was a bad person since he was beating up an Israelite, the punishment of death does not fit that crime, and I think Moses made a bad decision to kill him.

December SATO Snap

     December break is here for a lot of families and students and it is so important to learn how to travel safely with this virus still going around. Asher already wrote about the new COVID-19 variant, but I’m here to teach you how to travel safely and effectively throughout the winter. The reason I’m bringing this up is because this time last year in 2020, covid numbers increased drastically because of all the travel, with last December and January numbers that had spiked with an average of over 1000 new cases a day.     

    Before you even begin to travel, think about how safe you are, and how you’re affecting others. Make sure you’re vaccinated if possible, of course wear a mask at all times, and if you’re immune compromised, be extra cautious. If you have any symptoms of the virus, make sure to get tested and if you’re positive, don’t travel because you’re putting others at risk and in danger. The CDC does not recommend for vaccinated individuals to get tested, but they recommend getting tested if you are not vaccinated, along with quarantining before the trip, and getting tested after your return. While traveling, whether it’s on a bus, train, plane, or car, make sure to frequently sanitize and wash your hands as well.

The most important thing is to do your research. Research the covid numbers and vaccination rates for wherever you are going. Make sure there all the rules and regulations of the place you’re traveling to are followed by you and your travel mates. Make sure to avoid large crowds and keep that mask on in small ones. Good luck and safe travels! 

Vayechi D'var Torah

Summary:

Jacob was getting pretty close to dying, so he asked Joseph to bury him where his ancestors were buried, not in Egypt. Some time after, Jacob was ill, so Joseph went to see him. Jacob told him that Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, would be treated just like Jacob’s sons and that they would be fertile and numerous. Jacob then blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, but he placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger brothers’ head, and his left hand on Manasseh, who was older (this was backwards, apparently the right hand is supposed to go on the older one’s head). Joseph saw this and tried to switch Jacob’s hands to the right way, but Jacob said that it was on purpose, and although Manasseh would become a people and he would be great, Ephraim would be greater and his offspring would be plentiful enough for nations.

Jacob called all of his sons in to tell them what would happen to them after he died. According to Jacob, Reuben, his first-born, would no longer continue to excel, and that he was unstable as water. He decided that Simeon and Levi would not be counted in his council, because “For when angry they slay men, And when pleased they maim oxen.” He promised to divide them in Israel. Jacob then praised Judah, and said that good things would happen to him and he would continue to rule. Jacob continued to go through his sons, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. He then gives Joseph many blessings, and ends with Benjamin. His last words instructed his sons where to bury him, in the same place as Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah were buried. At the age of 147, Jacob then died. His sons buried him, and at the end of the portion, Joseph died as well.

Commentary:

Today, I’ll focus on the part of the portion where Jacob blessed his children, and I’ll do it in a different format this time by instead focusing on who were the biggest “winners” and “losers” after Jacob’s speech.

Winner: Judah

Jacob had a lot of praise for Judah, and much more than any of his other eldest sons. In fact, Jacob said that Judah’s brothers would praise him, and they should bow low to him. He also compared Judah to a king of beasts, and he said Judah would always be a ruler. Surprisingly, Judah probably got the most praise from Jacob out of all of the sons (except for Joseph).

Losers: Simeon and Levi

Jacob told Simeon and Levi together that he didn’t want them to be associated with him because they were too violent and mean. He cursed their anger and said he would scatter them around Israel, away from their brothers.

Winner: Dan

Jacob also gave Dan an unexpectedly positive message, as he said Dan would govern his people as one of the tribes of Israel, and he would be a serpent “that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider is thrown backward” (Genesis 49:17). While others got negative or conflicting blessings, Jacob blessed Dan to live a good life as a good leader.

Loser: Zebulun

Jacob didn’t say anything mean to Zebulun, but he just didn’t say anything good either. He told Zebulun that he would “dwell by the seashore” and “be a haven for ships” (Genesis 49:13). While Jacob was praising his other kids for being strong or good leaders or will be a baker or raider, Zebulun was just told that he would be stuck around the water like a port. That just sounds really boring compared to some others, so I think Zebulun came out on the negative side of these blessings.

Vayigash D'var Torah

Summary:

This portion finishes the story of Joseph. At the beginning of the portion, there was a famine, so Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to ask for food. Joseph asked them to bring their youngest brother, Benjamin with them. So his brothers went back to Jacob and asked to take Benjamin with them, and he allowed them to, as long as they promised to return him safely. When they returned, Joseph couldn’t contain himself anymore, and so he started crying and made them leave the room. He then called them back and told them that he was their brother (who they thought to be dead), Joseph. Joseph then gave them lots of provisions and told them to bring Jacob to him. His brothers returned to Jacob, and they brought all of their kids and Jacob’s grandkids, for a total of 70 people travelling with them. Joseph told them to settle in the land of Goshen, and Jacob decided that he was ready to die having seen Joseph alive.

Commentary:

One interesting part of this portion comes right after Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. After Joseph re-introduced himself, the first thing he told his brothers was, “Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you” (Genesis 45:5). Joseph then explained that God had sent him to Egypt and gave him power because of the famine, so Joseph could save his family and himself by having access to food. He did give them access to food, and he talked with Pharaoh to make sure his brothers were treated like guests of honor. My takeaway from this is that Joseph somehow doesn’t feel negatively towards his brothers, even after they hated him, wanted to kill him but threw him in a pit instead, sold him as a slave, and lied about it to Jacob. This is one example of a leader in the Torah doing good and thinking about others (compared to the selfish behavior we’ve seen from others over the past weeks), and it’s especially impressive considering these people hurt Joseph, but family bonds were strong enough to break through their previous experiences.

SATO SNAP by Asher Blacker

  While sometimes it is easy to forget that there is still a pandemic, it is nevertheless still there. We are now going to school, playing sports, and doing things that during most of the pandemic we were not able to do. Now, with the news of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, it is becoming harder to  ignore the problem. 

The Omicron variant is very new, but scientists do know that it has many mutations to the spike proteins of Covid-19. The spike proteins are what the vaccines target. This could cause the vaccines to become far less effective against this new variant. 

It is still unclear if the Omicron variant is any more dangerous or transmissible than other variants but that does not mean it should not be taken seriously. It is still helpful to have a vaccine and wear a mask to stop the spread and to give doctors and scientists time to learn more about this new variant. 

Miketz D'var Torah

Sorry for the delay, but here is this week's special edition d'var written by Zalmen Richmond-Shazeer! (This is worth definitely the read, it's ten times better than anything I've written this year)

    This parshah, Miketz, chronicles Joseph’s meteoric rise from Egyptian prisoner to Egyptian second-in-command and the start to the children of Israel’s eventual move to Egypt. It starts out with Pharoah having a few dreams. The first one involves seven big juicy cows getting eaten by seven ugly gaunt cows and the second one being pretty much the same thing but with corn. Nobody can interpret the dream until the chief wine bearer remembers about this guy, Joseph, who he somehow forgot about for the last two years. He tells Pharaoh about him, and they rush Joseph out of prison, tidy him up, and bring him to see Pharaoh. He interprets the dreams correctly, explaining how there would be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of awful famine. He even suggests a plan to ration the resources for the bad years, and that Pharaoh should put “some man of discernment and wisdom” in charge of food distribution. In perhaps the biggest, quickest, promotion in history up to that point, Pharaoh promotes Joseph from prisoner to SECOND COMMAND IN THE ENTIRE LAND. (There are lots of things that could be said about this, but we’re going to move on because we’re running out of time before Shabbos). Fast forward into the famine years, Joseph’s got a wife, a couple of kids, and control over an entire country, and who should show up but his own brothers, hoping to get some food because of a famine in the land of Israel. They don’t recognize him as that brother they threw into a pit a while ago, and he pretends he doesn’t know them. They get into a conversation where he accuses them of being slaves three times but he eventually gives them their food. He tells them that if they want to come back, they have to bring that other brother they talked about (Benjamin), who stayed home that time with Jacob. The brothers go back and he puts the money they paid back into their bags (presumably because they’re his brothers). Jacob isn’t very pleased with the idea of letting his favorite son go but he doesn’t have much of a choice as they get hungry again. With Judah’s promise to take care of Benjamin, they go back down to Egypt. This time, with Benjamin, they come for food and he invites them to a feast. He puts them in order of birth, which confuses them a lot, and when he sends them back, he puts all the money they tried to pay back in their bags again. He also puts his special cup in Benjamin’s bag. He then sends men to track them down and search them, claiming they stole his cup. They find it in Benjamin’s bag. Joseph says that he’ll take Benjamin as a slave and let the rest go home but Judah along with the brothers stick up for Benjamin, saying that if he’s taking them as slaves, he should take them all. The parshah ends with a cliffhanger, us readers not knowing what’s going to happen next (because we totally haven’t read this story about 13 times before). The immediate question is, why? Why does Joseph go through this whole multimonth shtik with his brothers. If it were me, I would have been like, “It’s me, Joseph, the one you sold away! Look at me now!” or something like that long before. Why did Joseph have to do this? Well, here’s an answer that I came up with. I think Joseph’s testing them to see if they’re worth reestablishing a relationship with, if they’ve changed since they threw him away. Earlier in the parshah, he named one of his sons Menasheh, meaning, “G-d has made me completely forget my hardship and parental home”. He’s already kind of moved on from his family, but he’s still open to possibly reconnecting. This whole shtick is a test to see if they’ve changed enough that he wants them to be part of his life again. Anyway, that’s what I think. -Zalmen Richmond-Shazeer