At the end of the parsha, as the Jews are leaving Egypt, G-d introduces the mitzvah of tefillin: “It shall be a sign upon your arm (ידכה) and an ornament between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem removed us from Egypt.” (Shemos 13:16). On which hand should the tefillin be placed? One might think that the tefillin should always be placed on the left arm, because that would make the tefillin opposite the heart. However, the Talmud (Menachos 37a) learns that because the T

The Torah says (Shemos 6:13), “G-d spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them ( ויצום ) regarding the Children of Israel and regarding...

As part of Pharaoh’s ongoing campaign to subjugate the Jews, “the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives: … ‘When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see them on the birthstool; if it is a son, you are to kill him, and if it is a daughter, she shall live.’” (Shemos 1:15-16). The Talmud (Sotah 11b) understands that Pharaoh revealed to the midwives how to determine the gender of the child before the child was born by looking at its position in the womb just before birth. T

At the end of Sefer Beraishis, Yaakov offers his final words to each of his children, reflecting on their characteristics and their...

In this week’s parsha, Yosef finally revealed to his brothers that he was the Viceroy of Egypt. The brothers were taken aback, and were...