A close family friend recently told me that she was in a “dark place,” demoralized by the suffering and slow deterioration of old friends. Her phrasing was honest and poetic. Darkness is a fitting ...

…and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the entrance, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to smite [you] -Exodus 12:23 Step ...

How could it be that as the Jews left Egypt, they despoiled the Egyptians (va’yenatzlu) and took their goods (Exodus 12:36)? Based on this verse, many anti-Semites have claimed that Jews are thieves, ...

The literal approach to the Passover Haggadah’s four sons, or more broadly, four children, is straightforward. On four different occasions, the Torah describes questions asked by children about ...

Our weekly Torah portion, Bo (Exodus 10:1–13:16), is packed with drama, bursting with the roots for Jewish observance. It begins with the familiar conclusion of the Ten Plagues, even if we know the ...

The central theme of Parshat Bo is the national consciousness developing within Israel. We saw last week that Parshat Va’eira focuses on the conflict between Moshe and Pharaoh and emphasizes the ...

The Waters are Divided/The Egyptians are Destroyed, (Artist: James Jacques Joseph Tissot, French, 1836-1902) Imagine you meet someone and immediately notice something peculiar: he walks around ...

In this week’s Torah portion, we meet Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah for the second time. In this week’s Torah portion, God threatens to destroy the entire nation of Israel ...