YINR 929: Tanach Yomi

The holiest object in the Temple/Mishkan was the Ark. The cover of the ark had two כרובים (cherubim) on top. What exactly was a כרוב? The כרובים first appear in Genesis chapter 3 after Adam and Chava are expelled from Gan Eden: “It was driven out; and east of the garden of Eden were stationed the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24) וַיְג...

“All that God tells us to do we will do and we will listen” (Verse 7). וַיִּקַּח סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית וַיִּקְרָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וַיֹּאמְרוּ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר ה׳ נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע׃ (שמות כד:ז) This famous utterance has become symbolic of the selfless trust and blind faith that the people had in God. They agreed to act on the laws of God even before they heard them, goes the popular saying. However...

“When you encounter your enemy’s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back. (כִּי תִפְגַּע שׁוֹר אֹיְבְךָ אוֹ חֲמֹרוֹ תֹּעֶה הָשֵׁב תְּשִׁיבֶנּוּ לוֹ) (Verse 4). The Koren Tanach of the Land of Israel notes that the laws of returning lost animals appear in various other cultures in the ancient Near East. The laws of Eshnunna from the northern Mesopotamia region state that an official that seized...

“If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no interest from them.” (Verse 24) אִם־כֶּ֣סֶף תַּלְוֶ֗ה אֶת־עַמִּי֙ אֶת־הֶ֣עָנִ֣י עִמָּ֔ךְ לֹא־תִהְיֶ֥ה ל֖וֹ כְּנֹשֶׁ֑ה לֹ֥א תְשִׂ֖ימוּן עָלָ֥יו נֶֽשֶׁךְ׃ (שמות כב:כד) This verse provides a good example of the various laws that can be derived from a single verse. The Gemara in Bava Metzia gleans th...

“And these are the rules that you shall set before them” (verse 1). וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם (שמות כא:א) The chapter (and Parsha of Mishpatim) begins with the word “and.” Why does the Chater begin with “and”? Rashi offers two explainations that the “and” is meant to link the Ten Commandments and this portion to explain that these were also given on Mt. Sinai. His second...

See description in original upload

The Torah refers to them as Ten Commandments in chapter 34, but where do the ten break up? The verses are as follows: The Torah breaks after verse 6, 7, 11, and 12. 13 is split into four, verse 14 in two. Certain commentators read it differently. Ibn Ezra reads honor thy parents as the fifth with the first five each using God’s name. This reading follows the Talmud (e.g., Makkot 24a), where verse...

The drama builds in chapter 19 to the giving of the Ten Commandments. In the attached picture from 17th-century Dutch artist Ferdinand Bol, Moshe descends the mountain with the Tablets. This scene depicts when Moshe received the Tablets themselves in a few chapters. Chapter 19 reveals the actual Ten Commandments. But where was Moshe when God gave him the Ten Commandments? Here’s the chart of Moshe...

“Yitro priest of Midian, Moshe’s father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, God’s people, how God had brought Israel out from Egypt” וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹּהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה ה׳ לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי־הוֹצִיא ה׳ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם. (שמות יח:א) Yitro then brings Moshe’s wife and children to meet the Israelites in the wilde...

Chapter 17 has the first encounter with the sworn enemy of the Israelites—Amalek. Where did Amalek come from? Amalek first appears in the battle between the four kings and five kings in the time of Avraham. The text describes the battle: “On their way back they came to En mishpat, which is Kadesh, and subdued all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon tamar.” (...

“Moses said, ‘This is what God has commanded: Let one omer of it be kept throughout the ages, in order that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’ וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ מְלֹא הָעֹמֶר מִמֶּנּוּ לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לְמַעַן יִרְאוּ אֶת־הַלֶּחֶם אֲשֶׁר הִאֲכַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּהוֹצִיאִי אֶתְכֶם...

Chapter 15 begins with Az Yashir, the famous song of the sea commemorating the miracle of the splitting of the sea: “Then Moshe and the Israelites sang this song to Hashem. They said: I will sing to Hashem, for He has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider He has hurled into the sea.” אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַי־הֹוָ־ה וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֵאמֹר אָשִׁירָה לַי־הֹוָ־ה כִּ...

When the Israelites stood trapped between the sea and the Egyptian army, the Torah describes a striking shift: “The malach of Hashem, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them” (וַיִּסַּע מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלֹהִים הַהֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶם וַיִּ...

With the exodus imminent, Hashem now looks to the future. Most of the mitzvot in this chapter are meant to remind the Israelites about the exodus itself. 1) Consecrating the first born – This halacha requires that all first born people and animals be set aside as holy for Hashem. The first born animals must be brought to the Beit Hamikdash to be sacrificed or redeemed with the priests. This is mea...

“This month shall be for you the first of the months” הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים (Exodus 12:2). Rashi famously asks why this verse was not the first verse of the Torah. This is the very first mitzvah given to the Israelite nation. Rashi’s answer is that Genesis until now was setting the stage to show that God was the true custodian of the world and therefore could give the Land of Canaa...

וַיִּתֵּ֧ן הֹ אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָעָ֖ם בְּעֵינֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם גַּ֣ם ׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֗ה גָּד֤וֹל מְאֹד֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּעֵינֵ֥י עַבְדֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה וּבְעֵינֵ֥י הָעָֽם “God disposed Egyptians favorably for the people. Moreover, Moshe himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt amongst Pharaoh’s servants and among the people.” (Verse 3). This verse is ambiguous. It can be read as “God disposed Egyptia...

Chapter ten presents a shift in the messaging of the plagues. In the introduction to the plagues, ה׳ explains to Moshe: וְיָדְעוּ מִצְרַיִם כִּי אֲנִי ה׳ בִּנְטֹתִי אֶת־יָדִי עַל־מִצְרַיִם וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתּוֹכָם (שמות ז:ה) “The Egyptians shall know that I am ה׳ when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst” (7:5). In the very first plague,...

As the plagues continue in chapter 9, here are three further ideas as to why God chose these plagues. 1. Middah k’neged middah for Egypt’s oppression of Israel. Blood: Pharaoh decreed that male infants be drowned in the Nile. The river that became an instrument of death now turns to blood, a source of death for Egypt. Frogs: Egyptians forced Israelites to capture amphibians for food or rituals. Th...

There are many interpretations as to why God picked these specific twelve plagues. One possible interpretation is that God wanted to show His mastery over nature. In this interpretation, the plagues are not supernatural phenomena, but simply natural events gone awry. The initial plague of blood is created by a small imbalance in the Nile: Most likely the introduction of an overgrowth of oxygen con...

Moshe is finally ready to return to Pharaoh, but God throws another wrench in Moshe’s plans. God tells Moshe that despite all of Moshe’s best efforts, Pharaoh will not listen. Instead, God will harden Pharaoh’s heart. “Yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said” (7:13). How could God take away someone’s free will? Free will is an essential tenet of Ju...

Six chapters in, God seems to start fresh: “And God spoke to Moshe and said to him, I am God. I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaacov as El Shakkai, but by my name God (YKVK) they did not know me” (verse 2). וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ וָאֵרָ֗א אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֧ם אֶל־יִצְחָ֛ק וְאֶל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּאֵ֣ל שַׁדָּ֑י וּשְׁמִ֤י יְהוָה֙ לֹ֣א נוֹדַ֔עְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃ (שמות...

God pressed Moshe to go to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh release the Israelites. Yet, instead of asking for complete freedom immediately, God instructed Moshe to begin with a modest request—a three-day journey into the wilderness to worship: “They will listen to you; then you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has manifested Him...

After Moshe finally relents to God’s request to travel to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, the Torah introduces a mysterious and startling episode that seems almost disconnected from the narrative: “At a night encampment on the way, God encountered him and sought to kill him.” (Exodus 4:24): וַיְהִי בַדֶּרֶךְ בַּמָּלוֹן וַיִּפְגְּשֵׁהוּ ה׳ וַיְבַקֵּשׁ הֲמִיתוֹ “So Zipporah took a flint and cut off her...

Chapter three begins the dialogue between Moshe and God about returning to Egypt to save the Israelites. One day while grazing sheep, Moshe notices a bush burning yet the bush is not consumed. The lowly bush symbolizes the Israelites’ lowly state. The Egyptian attempt to burn them out is unsuccessful because God protects them. Despite this miraculous metaphor, Moshe is skeptical. If he returns to...

“Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his kinsfolk and witnessed their labors.” (Exodus 2:11) וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל־אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָםHe saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַכֶּה אִישׁ־עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיוHe turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and h...