This Week’s Torah Portion: Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת (Exodus 1:1−6:1)
When Pharaoh’s daughter sees Moses in the basket, she knows that he is one of the children of the Hebrews. She knows that he is the child of the enemy that her father commanded her to hate and kill, and she feels another emotion, compassion, and she acts differently. She saves Moses.
When Moses goes as a prince from Pharaoh’s house and sees the Hebrew slaves, he feels sympathy towards them, sees them as ‘kin,’ and feels sorry for them.
They are role models of leadership of compassion and empathy towards everyone, regardless of their religion, nationality, color, or social status.
Parsha Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת Torah Summary:
The new king of Egypt makes slaves of the Hebrews and orders their male children to be drowned in the Nile River. (1:1-22)
A Levite woman places her son, Moses, in a basket on the Nile, where he is found by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised in Pharaoh’s house. (2:1-10)
Moses flees to Midian after killing an Egyptian. (2:11-15)
Moses marries Zipporah, the daughter of Midian’s priest. They have a son named Gershom. (2:16-22)
God calls Moses from a burning bush and commissions him to free the Israelites from Egypt. (3:1-4:17)
Moses and Aaron request permission from Pharaoh for the Israelites to celebrate a festival in the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses and makes life even harder for the Israelites. (5:1-23)
Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת
When Pharaoh’s daughter sees Moses in the basket, she knows that he is one of the children of the Hebrews. She knows that he is the child of the enemy that her father commanded her to hate and kill, and she feels another emotion, compassion, and she acts differently. She saves Moses.
When Moses goes as a prince from Pharaoh’s house and sees the Hebrew slaves, he feels sympathy towards them, sees them as ‘kin,’ and feels sorry for them.
They are role models of leadership of compassion and empathy towards everyone, regardless of their religion, nationality, color, or social status.
