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That agonizing tease of liberation is a feeling the Israelites knew all too well as they stood on the brink of freedom from Egypt. We find ourselves in the thick of it in Exodus 10...
In Exodus 10:21, God tells Moses to stretch out his hand, and the text says, "there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will be tangible." Tangible! What does...
"Moses extended his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness in the entire land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, and no one rose from his place...
It's easy to see them as simply divine punishments, but Jewish tradition often delves deeper, searching for layers of meaning and nuance. Let's look at the plague of darkness, as e...
It's so much more than just a simple "Let my people go!" narrative. Take, for instance, the exchange in Exodus 10:24-29. It's a masterclass in negotiation, divine will, and maybe e...
The Israelites certainly did in Egypt. But even in the darkest of times, hope can blossom. And it often arrives in unexpected ways. Our story begins, as so many do, with a word fro...
It seemed hopeless. So, what turned the tide? What was the secret ingredient that finally led to their redemption? The Book of Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretatio...
The ancient Rabbis felt that way about the Exodus, the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. And they found echoes of that feeling in the most unexpected places, even in the Son...
It seems like a minor detail, but as we learn in Shemot Rabbah, it's anything but. Rabbi Ḥanina offers a beautiful explanation. He says that God's choice of words reflects a profou...
