Shmot

Who among us is not thrilled with the magnificent events of Parshat B’Shalach?! But hidden in the text virtually all of Jewish history is encapsulated.

We will try to explain in brief why the halachic system of litigation is preferable to the adversarial system, which is practiced in the government courts in Israel.

The current Covid pandemic has a silver lining: It has accelerated research into Gene Editing techniques that promise to put an end to many lethal hereditary diseases. But should Man interfere in the work of God?

Hashem raised up our spiritual level in an unprecedented manner of “jumping up in levels". This took the nation from the 49th rung of impurity to the highest level of sanctity and preparedness to receive the Torah.

During World War II some 40,000 Jews found themselves under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, China and countries of South East Asia. Virtually all of them survived the war, but the Germans repeatedly pressured the Japanese to implement their "Final Solution." This is a famous story of how The Amshinover Rebbe, zt"l dissuaded the Japanese from complying with Hitler's dictate.

It is to the credit of Yitro that he chose to act positively upon hearing of the events that occurred to the Jewish people in their exodus from Egypt. He uprooted himself to join the Jewish people in their travels through the desert.

When there is a multiplicity of miracles occurring all at the same time, like the candle lit in a room with floodlights, its brightness is hardly noticeable. The individual miracle has lost its power of influence and is already discounted by human beings.

The Amalekites attacked Israel during the lifetime of Moses just once. The Egyptians oppressed the Israelites over an extended period, starting a slow genocide by killing every male Israelite child. The whole thrust of the narrative would suggest that if any nation would become the symbol of evil, it would be Egypt. But the opposite turns out to be true.

What makes the te commandments special is that they are simple and easy to memorise. That is because in Judaism, law is not intended for judges alone.