JETHRO’S JOURNEYS Jethro made the long trek from Midian to the Sinai desert, to join his son-in-law and the people of Israel. Not only did he undertake a hard physical journey but a spiritual one too. At the beginning of the parasha we read about: “Jethro, the Priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses.” Subsequently,...
THE MEANING OF THE LEANING Fast forward 12 weeks from now to Seder night and the youngest child has made it to the last verse of Ma Nishtana: “On all other nights, we eat sitting or leaning, on this night, kulanu mesubin – we all lean” Eating sitting up or leaning – none of us...
NAVIGATING CHALLENGE In this week’s parasha the Israelites finally left Egypt. But how did they feel? Were they excited? Were they scared? Were they eager? Were they reluctant? Maybe they were all of these. There is a subtle difference in the wording of two verses that sheds light on the mood of the masses....
FAMILY TREE Our parasha open with the drama of the Exodus story. Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh turns out to be his first setback. G-d promises to redeem his people with four expressions of liberation that we reflect in our four cups of wine at the Seder. Unexpectedly, the narrative is interrupted. The entire sheni...
EVERY ONE A STAR The James Webb Space Telescope, launched two years ago, continues to transmit beautiful and exciting images of the early universe, exceeding all earlier expectations. In order to be useful, the wealth of new information needs to be classified. There is a specific organization, the International Astronomic Union (IAU) which has conventions...
