This Shabbat we begin the second book of the Torah, the Book of Shemot (Exodus). The Book of Shemot has eleven Parshiot. The first three are about the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt; the Ten Plagues and the Exodus. The fourth Parsha is about the splitting of the Sea, when the Jewish people crossed through the sea while the Egyptians drowned. The fifth Parsha is about the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. In the sixth Parsha the Torah records many of the laws which were given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The balance of the Book of Shemot is about the contributions toward the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle); the story of the Golden Calf and the actual construction of the Mishkan. This weeks Parsha, Shemot, begins, And these are the names of the children of Israel who were coming to Egypt with Yaakov (Jacob). The Torah then mentions the names of Yaakovs sons and their families who came with him to Egypt. Together they totaled seventy people. When they left Egypt 210 years later, they numbered in the millions. Over 600,000 men from the age of 20 to 60 left Egypt, plus men younger than 20 and older than 60; plus women and children. In last weeks Parsha we read about the passing of Yaakov and his children. Why does the Torah use the expression, who are coming to Egypt, as if they were now coming? It should have said, who came in the past tense? Our sages tell us that the Jewish people were eventually freed from Egypt due to several merits. One was that they didnt change their original Hebrew names. Instead of adopting Egyptian names and assimilating into the Egyptian culture and society, Yaakovs descendants kept their Jewish identity by using their Hebrew names. The Midrash explains that the names of each of Yaakovs twelve sons allude to the Exodus and liberation of the Jewish people. Retaining their Hebrew names constantly reminded them of their ultimate redemption and played an important role in their liberation. This is why the Torah uses the expression, who are coming to Egypt. Although they were in Egypt for 210 years, they always remembered where they came from and looked forward to the day when they will be liberated. They never felt like they were permanent residents in Egypt, rather they always thought of themselves as if they were constant immigrants, now coming into the land. This is the fate of the Jewish people throughout our thousands of years in the Diaspora, says the Torah commentator, Chizkuni. After living in a country for an extended period of time, after putting down roots in that country and contributing to its development, economy and social welfare, Jews have so often been considered strangers, as if we had just arrived. Moshiach NOW!!!
Posted on: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 04:53:48 +0000
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