The 10 plagues do not merely bring the infrastructure of Egypt to its knees, but they are in fact a battle against the gods of Egypt.

Chapter 6 is a perplexing narrative.

God says he has never been known by the name YHVH. Is that possible?

And we see a family tree of Moses' origins! Why does this prosaic text appear at the most nail-biting juncture of the story?

Moses and Aharon approach Pharaoh but things worsen severely - Pharaoh stops providing straw for the bricks, the the workload is now more intense, the slaves are lashed and beaten. Pharaoh succeeds in turning the people against their new leader. And Moshe begins to protest to God!

Moses doubts whether the Israelites will believe him.

God responds with 3 signs.

We discuss the symbolism of these signs.

Thanks to Rabbi Prof. Yonatan Grossman whose teachings were enormously useful in preparing this podcast.

Why does God appear to Moshe in a burning bush? What is the symbolism of that image?

In this chapter we meet Moses. What values does he exhibit? What are his influences?

Today we frame the Book of Exodus and then speak about Pharaoh's campaign to fight the demographic expansion of the Israelites.

Yaakov gives his funeral instructions not once but twice! Why does he repeat it?

And how did Yoseph invest his children and the entire Jewish people with a faith in Redemption?

----

To support this podcast, please donate on Patreon or https://buymeacoffee.com/alexisrael.

Thank you!

In this chapter, as Jacob is about to die, he is surrounded by his 12 sons and he addresses each one in turn.

Is there a single theme that unifies all these blessings? Are they all blessings?

Yaakov is sick. Yoseph takes his sons to visit.

The Midrash says that Yaakov is the first person ever to get sick. What did they mean by this?

And here we see a special blessing to Efrayim and Menashe. What can we learn from this scene?

In our chapter we read about Joseph's economic management of the famine.

Joseph saved Egypt but also ended up nationalizing all the assets of the country.

Does his policy express care and compassion, or exploitation and opportunistic power? Should we laud Yoseph or be critical of him?

If Jacob went to Egypt to visit his son, why didn't he return to Canaan?

If the brothers went to Egypt to survive the famine, why didn't they return home?

As we shall see, ch.46 is in fact the start of the Exile, predicted in Genesis ch.15 - in the Brit Bein Habetarim.

But why Exile?

How can the stories we tell of our lives reshape our experience of reality? That is the question we will ponder as we read Joseph's explanation of his story, that he is a tool in God's plan. Will this have the ability to reshape the traumas of the past?

The Joseph story reaches its climax when Joseph breaks down and reveals his true identity to his brothers.

But why does he break down at this particular moment?

Today we demonstrate many aspects of the Joseph story that revisit and resurface aspects of the events of the past, and allow the characters to grapple with the moral and emotional implications of the events twenty years earlier.

The brothers come down to Egypt. Joseph identifies them. He starts a series of false accusations, incriminations and manipulations. Why did Yoseph torment and torture his brother (and his father)? Was it pure vindictiveness?

Pharaoh has 2 bafflng dreams. The butler recalls Yoseph. Yoseph is summoned to the palace, he dazzles Pharaoh with his dream interpretation, and is appointed to the highest office in the land.

Today we focus on two points.

1. Joseph's growing God awareness and his perception that his life is guided by God

2. His integration into Egyptian culture. This leaves us with the question - which I think Joseph might have asked himself - will he ever return to his family?

Joseph finds himself in jail - the pit. Again!

And yet again, he is recognized for his tremendous leadership abilities and promoted to supervise the jail.

He encounters the butler and the baker and interprets their dreams. Are their dreams similar or different? Why do we need to hear the details of these dreams? What does this contribute to the central storyline?

The Rabbis call Joseph "Yoseph HaTzaddik" because he resists the seduction of Mrs. Potiphar. What can we learn from this story?

Why is a random story about Yehudah and his daughter-in-law inserted into the Joseph saga?

Why did Yehudah visit a prostitute?

And what did Tamar teach Yehuda that changed the course of the family - and Jewish history?