Free Republic

Taking the Jews out of Egypt was the easy part for G-d; He's in the miracle business. Taking the Egypt out of the Jews, now that's hard. And Egypt was very into the Jews; the pharaohs had enticing culture and entertainment (abomination in both sleazy and non-sleazy flavors); the Jews desperately wanted to shed immigrant status and blend in. They pretty much did. One of the most adored of the Egyptians' adorations was... the sheep (no, I don't know why.) It was the portent of, oh I don't know, the television? Now imagine your coming home one day, taking the...

The last three plagues befall Egypt before the people of Israel leave their slavery. The ninth plague, darkness, is described in this week's Torah portion in these words: "No man saw his brother, neither did anyone rise from his place."1 With this description, an event in history becomes current and contemporary. The plague of darkness becomes part of the timeless history of man, symbolic of analogous afflictions that admit no immunity. Simple physical darkness of the night becomes a malady of the individual, of the soul. There is no blindness like the selfishness that blots other men from one's vision...

The Jews as a people receive their first commandment in today's Torah portion. The few preceding commandments were given to individuals, Abraham for example was given the mitzvah of circumcision. The reckoning of the calendar according to lunar cycles introduces Israel to formal Judaism. The lunar calendar must obviously have a special quality beyond its specific function, a pervasive characteristic to merit its beginning Jewry's service of G-d. The moon has phases of growth, decline, disappearance, and rebirth. The sun is relatively constant, not appreciably different from day to day. The lunar calendar rather than the solar governs the religious...