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According to the Book of Exodus, there was a famine in the land of Canaan (later known as Israel). Because of this famine, the Hebrew patriarch Jacob traveled with his extended family of 70 to Egypt to both live inbetter conditions and be with his son Joseph. Joseph’s wisdom had impressed the Pharaoh of Egypt to the point that he was appointed Viceroy of Egypt, which was second in power only to the Pharaoh. The next 430 years in Egypt saw...

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At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children or our contacts when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time? WHAT DOES THE REVOLUTIONARY CHILD ASK? “The Torah tells me, ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ but how can I pursue justice?” Empower him always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the mute, for...

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Menachem Mendel of Kotzk maintained that "whoever believes in miracles is a fool; and whoever does not believe in miracles is an atheist." How can the idea of the miraculous be meaningful to us today? We may be guided by the biblical Hebrew term for miracle, nes, which means "sign." A miracle is an event that signifies something of significance, something that makes an important difference in my life or in the life of my community. A miracle is an intimation...

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3 Counterintuitive Lessons From Passover Rabbi David Wolpe A man in a desert alone is not free 1. You are an Egyptian. The Passover story is of a people liberated from slavery. When we celebrate Passover, we naturally identify with the Israelites, the oppressed, and not Pharaoh, the oppressor. But the Egyptians of the Bible also had to make ethical decisions. In our lives, we are constantly surrounded by those who serve us — waiters, clerks, housekeepers, hotel maids, bag boys,...

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This version of the exodus story is taken from Cokie and Steve Roberts' Our Haggadah (Harper Collins 2011), which they say is adapted from the Revised English Bible. We will take turns reading paragraphs below: ***** When there was famine in Canaan, “Jacob and all his family with him, his sons and their sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, he brought them all to Egypt.” Jacob’s son Joseph was the prime minister to the Pharaoh, who welcomed into his land...

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Here is the conclusion of the exodus narrative in Cokie and Steve Roberts' Our Haggadah : ***** And so with the terrible tenth plague, “Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron while it was still night and said, ‘Up with you! Be off, and leave my people, you and the Israelites. Go and worship the Lord, as you request.’ And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. Then Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day, the day...

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The Torah says we are to speak these words before God and say, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt and sojourned there. With few in number, he became there a great and populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and afflicted us and imposed hard labor upon us. And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers and God heard our cry and saw our affliction and our oppression. He brought us...

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The story of the Exodus has been told to us by our parents, just as their parents told them. We now repeat the story in hopes that this will pass on to the next generation. The ancient Hebrews came to Egypt from their land to get provisions during a famine. They became a favored group in Egypt and prospered and multiplied there. Legend tells us that our ancestor Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, became valuable to Pharaoh...

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The Torah says we are to speak these words before God and say, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt and sojourned there. With few in number, he became there a great and populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and afflicted us and imposed hard labor upon us. And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and God heard our cry and saw our affliction and our oppression. He brought us...

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We were slaves in Egypt and the Lord redeemed us from Egypt with a mighty hand. Had not the holy one liberated our people from Egypt, then we, our children and our children's children would still be enslaved. The Sages tell the Story It once happened that Rabbis Eliezer, Joshua, Elazar ben Azaryah, Akiva and Tarfon were reclining at the seder table in Bnei Brak. They spent the whole night discussing the Exodus until their students came and said to them:...

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DIRECTIONS; We lower the wine cup and continue with the recitation of the traditional Midrash or Rabbinic discussion of the Passover Exodus story as recorded in the Torah, beginning first with the threat to Israel from Lavan and then the threat from Pharaoh צֵא וּלְמַד, מַה בִּקֶּשׁ לָבָן הָאֲרַמִּי לַעֲשׂוֹת לְיַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ--שֶׁפַּרְעֹה הָרָשָׁע, לֹא גָזַר אֵלָא עַל הַזְּכָרִים; וְלָבָן בִּקֶּשׁ לַעְקֹר אֶת הַכֹּל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם" (דברים כו,ה). מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹּא יָרַד לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ אֵלָא לָגוּר שָׁם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר...