Parashat Beshalach
Violet Hoffnung, 7th
In Parashat Beshalach, a common literary theme is conflict. One conflict that occurs in this Parasha is when Bnei Yisrael walk through the Red Sea, they are attacked by the Egyptians. “As Pharaoh drew near, Bnei Yisrael caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the LORD.” (Exodus, 14:10). This is illustrating that when Bnei Yisrael were walking through the sea, the Egyptians were coming near which scared them. But then, G-d closed the sea and the Egyptians drowned. This quote teaches me that no matter how harsh and how bad a conflict can be, you can always count on Hashem for help and salvation. G-d will always help you in times of conflict, and in this Parasha specifically, he tells Moshe that Bnei Yisrael should keep moving forward. I think it is important to move forward no matter how hard a conflict may be. Moving forward is even important when there is no conflict because in order to get to our next step in a journey and to reach our final goal, moving forward is what will get us there.
Parashat Vayigash
Aviv Weiss Kaplan, 8th
In Parashat Vayigash, Bnei Yisrael move in many different ways, and the Tanakh uses many different words to express their movements. The first sentence of the Parasha mentions Yehuda coming forward to Yoseph. It is a small motion but is still mentioned as one word in the torah; (Genesis, ויגש (43:1. Later in that perek, Yoseph tells his brothers to bring Yaakov to Egypt. In this paragraph, another word representing motion is used; (Genesis, 43:22) הורדהו. In another part of the Parasha, Yoseph has so much emotion over seeing Binyamin that he rushes into a room and cries. Another word representing motion is used. ויבוא, meaning to go (in this context), is used (Genesis 43:30). Something that is interesting is that all of these different types of motion are written in the torah using one word respectively. One word can represent one step forward, a few steps into another room, or even traveling long distances. This idea teaches me to appreciate and respect every moment, no matter how important each moment is. These words also show that there is always something interesting to analyze in any piece of literature — such as the Tanakh.
How to Sing Our Purim Songs in Adar Alef, February 4th, 2022
Aaron Frank, Faculty
It’s February. In my family, February is known as the “gut” of the school year. It’s dark, it’s cold and the spring seems far off. For many, finding joy is hard in the doldrums of the February routine.
Last week, as we were beginning to welcome Adar Alef*, someone started singing about joy. Mi Shenichnas Adar, gets us into the spirit of welcoming Adar, the month of Purim, with happiness and simcha. “Isn’t it a bit early?” asked someone in the group. The “real” Adar, is Adar Bet, where we celebrate Purim and truly get into that Purim spirit. This week began Adar Alef and there are no festivities in the offing.
Is the rule of increasing joy for Adar applicable to both Adars or just for the second one?
R. Eval Vered insists that both Adars are ones that require us to increase our joy, yet there are two kinds of joy and each corresponds to the different Adars.
While some events give us sadness and some give us joy, events are external. Most moments of emotion are passive and stem from moments beyond our control. Joy, according to R. Vered, is something we are used to having as a result of what happens outside of us. This is the type of simcha from Adar Bet — simcha that stems from the celebration of God’s salvation and the joy we feel from connecting to community through the mitzvot of Purim. Joy on the Second Adar is joy of a result.
Adar Alef is more of a DIY joy — DIY joy comes from within, an internal challenge to each of us. In our day-to-day routines it is not easy to attain happiness. Some of us are more predisposed to internal happiness than others, but the joy of the Adar Alef, according to Rabbi Vered, is a goal — an emotional destination to which we all should strive.
As we move toward the second anniversary of our COVID lives, we have all learned many important lessons. Before COVID, we were programmed to look outside of ourselves and outside of our circles for events and activities to “give” us joy. Yet, in the last two years, we have all pulled our family, social and communal circles a bit closer and we have realized the high quality of joy and satisfaction comes from our inner selves and our regular rhythms of life. The DIY joy is just as, if not more, valuable than joy dependent on outside events or peer approvals.
So, while we will usher in Adar Bet in a few weeks with the joy of Purim, we should all be on the road for the joy from within, the joy from our own blessings, the joy of Adar Alef.
*Adar Alef is the first month in the Hebrew leap year.
Last week, as we were beginning to welcome Adar Alef*, someone started singing about joy. Mi Shenichnas Adar, gets us into the spirit of welcoming Adar, the month of Purim, with happiness and simcha. “Isn’t it a bit early?” asked someone in the group. The “real” Adar, is Adar Bet, where we celebrate Purim and truly get into that Purim spirit. This week began Adar Alef and there are no festivities in the offing.
Is the rule of increasing joy for Adar applicable to both Adars or just for the second one?
R. Eval Vered insists that both Adars are ones that require us to increase our joy, yet there are two kinds of joy and each corresponds to the different Adars.
While some events give us sadness and some give us joy, events are external. Most moments of emotion are passive and stem from moments beyond our control. Joy, according to R. Vered, is something we are used to having as a result of what happens outside of us. This is the type of simcha from Adar Bet — simcha that stems from the celebration of God’s salvation and the joy we feel from connecting to community through the mitzvot of Purim. Joy on the Second Adar is joy of a result.
Adar Alef is more of a DIY joy — DIY joy comes from within, an internal challenge to each of us. In our day-to-day routines it is not easy to attain happiness. Some of us are more predisposed to internal happiness than others, but the joy of the Adar Alef, according to Rabbi Vered, is a goal — an emotional destination to which we all should strive.
As we move toward the second anniversary of our COVID lives, we have all learned many important lessons. Before COVID, we were programmed to look outside of ourselves and outside of our circles for events and activities to “give” us joy. Yet, in the last two years, we have all pulled our family, social and communal circles a bit closer and we have realized the high quality of joy and satisfaction comes from our inner selves and our regular rhythms of life. The DIY joy is just as, if not more, valuable than joy dependent on outside events or peer approvals.
So, while we will usher in Adar Bet in a few weeks with the joy of Purim, we should all be on the road for the joy from within, the joy from our own blessings, the joy of Adar Alef.
*Adar Alef is the first month in the Hebrew leap year.
Parashat Beshalach
Camilla Weiss, 6th
In Parshat Beshalach, the theme of deceit is evident. Among the various instances of deceit in parshat Beshalach, Yoseph not acknowledging his brothers is the strongest one. When there was a famine in Cnaan Yoseph's brothers went to Egypt in search of food. When Yoseph realized that they were his brothers, he decided not to reveal himself to them as revenge for them selling him to Potiphar. This is such a rich example of deceit because Yoseph is tricking them into being scared of him and listening to everything he says, even when they have nothing to be scared of since Yoseph would never actually hurt his brothers. What I take away from this is that your actions have a way of coming back to you, no matter what you’ve gone through.
Parashat Yitro
Matan Greenfield, 8th
Parashat Yitro contains many interesting commentaries. One interesting commentary has to do with when Yitro comes to visit the Israelites camp. After Moshe discusses all the good things G-d did for the Israelites to help them escape Egypt, the Torah says the following:
“ וַיִּ֣חַדְּ יִתְר֔וֹ עַ֚ל כׇּל־הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִצִּיל֖וֹ מִיַּ֥ד מִצְרָֽיִם׃.”
This means that Yitro was happy about what G-d did to the new nation, but Rashi has an interpretation of this sentence that differs from the sentence’s translation. Rashi states that the literal meaning of this pasuk is that Yitro’s flesh became full of prickles. Rashi shared this because he understood that Yitro was grieved over the destruction of the Egyptians and also might be very scared of the Israelites now. Another interesting commentary in this parsha is by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, who states that when Yitro admits that G-d is the real G-d, giving this admission shows how humble Yitro was. Yitro’s humbleness was also evident when he created a system for solving disputes within the Bnei Yisrael community, despite Yitro’s ambivalent belief in G-d. Due to Yitro’s humbleness, he receives a reward by having an entire parasha named after him. This commentary teaches us that being humble is very good for others and for yourself. Those were two interesting commentaries that are found in Parashat Yitro.
“ וַיִּ֣חַדְּ יִתְר֔וֹ עַ֚ל כׇּל־הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִצִּיל֖וֹ מִיַּ֥ד מִצְרָֽיִם׃.”
This means that Yitro was happy about what G-d did to the new nation, but Rashi has an interpretation of this sentence that differs from the sentence’s translation. Rashi states that the literal meaning of this pasuk is that Yitro’s flesh became full of prickles. Rashi shared this because he understood that Yitro was grieved over the destruction of the Egyptians and also might be very scared of the Israelites now. Another interesting commentary in this parsha is by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, who states that when Yitro admits that G-d is the real G-d, giving this admission shows how humble Yitro was. Yitro’s humbleness was also evident when he created a system for solving disputes within the Bnei Yisrael community, despite Yitro’s ambivalent belief in G-d. Due to Yitro’s humbleness, he receives a reward by having an entire parasha named after him. This commentary teaches us that being humble is very good for others and for yourself. Those were two interesting commentaries that are found in Parashat Yitro.
