Post A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey As the Hebrews prepare to leave Egypt, Moses reassures them that God will take them to a “land flowing with milk and honey.” This phrase is immensely important, appearing 14… Read More
Post An Altar for All After giving the Torah to the Children of Israel, God emphasizes that they are not to serve idols. He then commands them to serve him on an altar. The altar… Read More
Post Did the Israelites Steal the Egyptian’s Gold and Silver? In 2003, about 3,300 years after the Hebrews left Egypt, Nabil Hilmy, dean of the faculty of law at Egypt’s Zagazig University, announced that he was suing the Jews for… Read More
Post Are Unicorns Kosher? The Torah gives detailed instructions on how to build the Tabernacle including precise weights and measures. But one element remains a mystery; the skins of the tachash used for the… Read More
Post The Bible’s Obsession with being Kind to Stranger After centuries of being enslaved and persecuted by the Egyptians, the Torah commands the Jews to treat strangers kindly “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:20)…. Read More
Post Can we Bring the Passover Sacrifice Today? While still in Egypt, the Children of Israel were commanded to perform the ritual sacrifice of a lamb on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt. Unlike later Passover sacrifices… Read More
Post Did the Israelites cross the Red Sea or the Reed Sea? After allowing the Jews to leave Egypt, Pharoah suffered a change of heart and gave chase. The situation seemed hopeless as the Jews stood trapped between the sea and the… Read More
Post Does God Allow Us to Own Slaves? After leaving slavery in Egypt, the Torah outlines for the Hebrews strict guidelines for slavery. Slavery appears frequently in the Bible, sometimes in a positive light, as it does with… Read More
Post Worst of All: The Plague of the Firstborn The final plague that struck Egypt was exceptional in several respects. It hit both man and animal and, for the first time, a plague killed people outright. Unlike the other… Read More
Post How Many Israelites Died in the Plague of Darkness? Exodus is quite explicit in stating that 600,000 Hebrew men, more specifically men between the ages of 20-60, left Egypt. In his Aramaic translation of the Torah, Rabbi Yonatan ben… Read More
