Below is a collection of Parashat Shemot resources created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.

This is a growing collection. Check back soon or write to us at content@lookstein.org if you didn’t find what you’re looking for. 

Return to Sefer Shemot Resources

PARASHA POINTS

  • Bnei Yisrael have become very numerous in Egypt. Pharaoh enslaves them to control them and even decrees that male babies be drowned. Nonetheless, they continue to thrive numerically.
  • Moses is hidden by his mother until he is three months old. She later hides him in the river under the eyes of his older sister, where he is discovered and saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. When he matures he is outraged at injustice, saving a Hebrew from a beating by an Egyptian and later by another Hebrew. He flees to Midian where he rescues Yitro’s daughters from abuse. He marries Tzipora, Yitro’s daughter, and fathers Gershom.
  • While Moses was tending Yitro’s sheep, God appeared to him at the burning bush and instructed him to go to Pharaoh to take Israel out of Egypt. Moses repeatedly refuses, finding excuses each time, until God gets angry and commands him to go.
  • Moses asks permission from Yitro to leave, after which he takes his family to go to Egypt. God tries killing him, but Tzipora saves him by circumcising their son.
  • Moses is met by his brother Aaron, and when the two speak to Bnei Yisrael, they believe that God will free them from Egypt. When they speak to Pharaoh he refuses to acknowledge God and intensifies Bnei Yisrael’s workload. Moses challenges God as to why He sent him when it only made things worse.

EDUCATIONAL THEMES

  • Resisting injustice based on conscience, even at personal cost, is admirable.
  • God cares about Bnei Yisrael and will not let them be destroyed.
  • Leadership is learned and earned, not automatic.
  • Compassion for individuals is an important element of leadership.

NOTABLE QUOTES

  • Describing Israel’s dramatic growth despite persecution:
    וכאשר יענו אותו כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ 
  • What the midwives did:
    ותיראן המילדות את האלהים ולא עשו כאשר דבר אליהן מלך מצרים ותחיין את הילדים 
  • Describing Moses’ mother’s reaction to him at birth:
    ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא
  • What Pharaoh’s daughter saw when she opened the basket:
    ותפתח ותראהו את הילד
  • What Moses saw in the wilderness:
    והנה הסנה בוער באש והסנה איננה אכל
  • What God says He will do to Pharaoh:
    ואני אחזק את לבו ולא ישלח את העם
  • God’s response to Moses’ request for His name:
    אהיה אשר אהיה
  • Moses’ excuse for refusing God’s mission:
    לא איש דברים אנכי…כי כבד פה וכבד לשון אנכי

 

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Question #1: What does it mean to be a responsible sibling or family member? Have you ever had to do something you found difficult in order to take care of a younger sibling? How did you feel while you were doing it? How did you feel afterward? In Parashat Shemot, Miriam takes on a special role in watching over her baby brother. How do you think it felt for her to have that responsibility?

Look inside the text (Shemot 2:4, 7-8),

וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה מַה יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ – And his sister watched from a distance, to learn what would happen to him.

וַתֹּאמֶר אֲחֹתוֹ אֶל בַּת פַּרְעֹה הַאֵלֵךְ וְקָרָאתִי לָךְ אִשָּׁה מֵינֶקֶת מִן הָעִבְרִיֹּת וְתֵינִק לָךְ אֶת הַיָּֽלֶד – Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to nurse the child for you?”

וַתֹּֽאמֶר לָהּ בַּת פַּרְעֹה לֵכִי וַתֵּלֶךְ֙ הָעַלְמָה וַתִּקְרָא אֶת אֵם הַיָּלֶד – And Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

Question #2: What should you do when you see two people arguing and it looks like someone is going to get hurt? Do you try to stop it? Do you keep on walking because you don’t really know them? Do you run to get help?

In Parashat Shemot, Moses sees two Jews arguing and one is ready to hit the other. He tries to stop them, but he doesn’t receive the response he expected. 

Look inside the text (Shemot 2:13-14),

וַיֵּצֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵי אֲנָשִׁים עִבְרִים נִצִּים וַיֹּאמֶר לָרָשָׁע לָמָּה תַכֶּה רֵעֶךָ – When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting; so he said to the attacker, “Why are you hitting your friend?” 

וַיֹּאמֶר מִי שָׂמְךָ לְאִישׁ שַׂר וְשֹׁפֵט עָלֵינוּ הַלְהָרְגֵנִי אַתָּה אֹמֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר הָרַגְתָּ אֶת הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּירָא מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר אָכֵן נוֹדַע הַדָּבָר – He answered, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was scared, and thought: Then the matter is known!

Question #3: God is patient with Moses as Moses repeatedly looks for excuses to avoid taking on the mission. Taking on responsibility for the community is praiseworthy – at what point does someone have the right to say “NO, thank you” and bow out? Is it justified to pressure someone to take on a responsibility they don’t want to assume? How do we balance the needs of the individual and the needs of the community?

Question #4: After Moses’s first encounter with Pharaoh, the condition of the Jews gets worse. They complain to Moses, who in turn complains to God. God responds that now Moses will see that Pharaoh will indeed free the people. Moses, as the middleman between God and the people, is put into an uncomfortable position and needs to rely on the authority of someone else, in this case, God, to take responsibility for the outcome of his actions. When is it appropriate to rely on reassurances from the authorities that our actions are OK, and when must we take personal responsibility for them? For example, at what point can, or must, a soldier refuse to obey the authority of a commanding officer because the soldier deems it immoral? What would happen to armies, or any organized system, if every individual decided for themselves what was appropriate or inappropriate?

 

LESSON PLANS AND ARTICLES

Parashat Shemot: Why Moshe? – This lesson plan for grades 7-8 explores aspects of Moshe’s youth and moral courage in Judaism. By The Lookstein Center.
Ancient Egypt and Modern Germany – This unit challenges students to ponder issues surrounding Jewish identity and Jewish integration within the surrounding society. By The Lookstein Center.
The Prince of Egypt: An Orthodox Look – This study guide for The Prince of Egypt film was designed to help students understand the traditional Exodus story.