Yitro, Exodus 18:1-20:23 It is testimony to the universality of the Torah that the very portion which describes the election of Israel as God’s “kingdom of priests” through the Covenant at Sinai is named after the world’s greatest high-priest of idolatry, Yitro – Jethro – who on hearing of God’s miracles for Israel and the justice He brought upon Egypt, became a convert to the Torah of HaShem. And lest the convert imagine that as one who has entered Israel from...

Beshallah, Exodus 13:17-17:16 The three main narratives in our portion – about the crossing of the Red Sea, the Manna that sustained Israel in the wilderness and the war of Amalek – come to teach fundamental lessons about Faith and Trust that relate to all people. The Splitting of the Sea The simultaneous redemption of Israel and destruction of their Egyptian oppressors through the splitting of the Red Sea was a miracle that sent reverberations through the entire world: “The peoples...