Heschel and King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spz-hn0AdSs
IVRIT
Zeh oh zeh?
Give it a read: https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.92?lang=he
Shoreshim, Big 4,
pronouns
PARSHAT BO: WHAT’S BUGGING YOU?
Quiz on Locusts
Locusts as a plauge
Kashrut and Locusts
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk-vFLYQoyo
What the text says about darkness.
Mepharshim on Choshech
What does it take for a society to give up enslaving others?
מָתוֹק
חָמוּץ
קַר
חַם
גָּדוֹל
קָטָן
קָרוֹב
רָחוֹק
SHORESHIM---- THE
ROOTS OF HEBREW
Most Hebrew words have a three letter root, often
presented in an
“X. X. X.”
format, X representing any Hebrew consonant. There are no vowels in this
format, indicating that what you are looking at is not a word. Each root is the foundation for numerous
words- verbs, adjectives, adverbs and more.
Here are the ten most common roots in the Siddur, the Jewish book of
prayer and a small sample of what
concepts they are connected to.
1. ע.ש.ה. - doing, making
2. י.צ.א. - exiting, bringing out
3. ע.ל.ה. - rising, going up
4. ע.ב.ד. - labor, servant, service,
5. ז.כ.ר. - memory, remembrance
6. א.ה.ב. - love, to like
7. ב.ר.א. - create
8. א.מ.ר. - say
9. ד.ב.ר. - speak, tell, a thing,
10. י.ש.ע. - salvation, save
BIG FOUR
Verbs get complicated, but almost nouns and adjectives always fall
into this format in terms of singular
and plural.
|
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
|
Singular |
Xxxx דּוֹד Uncle |
הxxxx הדָוֹדּ Aunt |
|
Plural
|
יםxxxx יםדִוֹדּ Uncles |
ותxxxx וֹת Aunts |
|
Hebrew |
|
|
English |
|
אֲנִי |
|
|
I |
|
אַתָּה |
|
|
you (m. sing.) |
|
אַתְּ |
|
|
you (f. sing.) |
|
הוּא |
|
|
He/Him |
|
הִיא |
|
|
She/Her |
|
אֲנַחְנוּ |
|
|
We/Us |
|
אַתֶּם |
|
|
You/Y’all (m. pl.) |
|
אַתֶּן |
|
|
You/Y’all (f. pl.) |
|
הֵם |
|
|
They/them (m. pl.) |
|
הֵן |
|
|
They/them (f. pl.) |
DON’T
BUG OUT-- IT’S THE LOCUST QUIZ!!!
1) How are swarming locusts like the
transforming Dr. Jekyll who turned into Mr. Hyde?
a) They change color
b) Their muscles get bigger
c) The swarms grow by socialization
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
2) The main threat of locusts is
that they
a) Eat all plant material
b) Eat all meat material
c) Eat plants and sting people
d) Spread disease
e) All of the above
3) One ton of locusts can eat as
much as which?
a) 10 elephants
b) 2,500 humans
c) 25 camels
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
4) Why are there so many locust
swarms today?
a) Repeated heavy rains in many of
the world’s regions
b) Lots of vegetation from farming
for locusts to eat
c) Increased droughts
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
5) Which is the scientific name for
the family of grasshoppers?
a) Acrididae
b) Thucydides
c) Seleucids
d) Madeupicus
e) Hugebugicus
6) Aside from the Torah, what other
religions have locusts in their sacred texts?
a) Shinto
b) Korean Shamanism
c) Hinduism
d) Sikhism
e) Just the Jews, dude, just the
Jews.
7) What killed off the Rocky
Mountain Locusts by 1902?
a) The eruption of Krakatoa
b) The mining from the Gold Rush.
c) The fertilizer used by settlers
who came west.
d) The testing of the atomic bomb
e) The popularity of Locust Patties
in California
8) The difference between a
grasshopper and a locust is
a) The number of wings
b) The ability to jump
c) Living in grassy areas or not
d) All of the above
e) There is no difference
9) What is the one crop that
strangely, locusts do not eat?
a) Bananas
b) Sugar cane
c) Millet
d) Quinoa
e) They eat everything
10) Which is true:
a) The Quran says that Locusts are
NOT Hallal and the Torah says they are NOT Kosher
b) The Quran says that Locusts are
NOT Hallal and the Torah says they ARE
Kosher
c) The Quran says that Locusts are
ARE Hallal and the Torah says they NOT
Kosher
d) The Quran says that Locusts ARE
Hallal and the Torah says they ARE Kosher
e) The Quran says that Locusts ARE
gross and the Torah says they ARE gross and this quiz was disgusting.
EXODUS 9-12
THE LAST THREE PLAUGES : BUGS, DARKNESS, AND DEATH
Moshe went from Par’oh, outside the city, and spread out his hands to Adonai,
and the thunder and the hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down to earth.
Par’oh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had stopped,
so he continued to sin: he made his heart heavy-with-stubbornness, his and his servants’. Par’oh’s heart remained strong-willed, and he did not send B’nei Yisrael free, as Adonai had spoken through Moshe.
-----------------------
Adonai said to Moshe:
Come to Par’oh! For I have made his heart and the heart of his servants heavy-with-stubbornness, in order that I may put these my signs among them
and in order that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I have been capricious with Egypt,
and my signs, which I have placed upon them—
that you may know that I am Adonai.
Moshe and Aharon came to Par’oh, they said to him:
“Thus says Adonai, the God of the Hebrews:
Until when will you refuse to humble yourself before me?
Send free my people, that they may serve me!
But if you refuse to send my people free,
here, on the morrow I will bring the locust-horde into your territory!
They will cover the aspect of the earth, so that one will not be able to see the earth;
they will consume what is left of what escaped, of what remains for you from the hail,
and they will consume all the trees that spring up for you from the field.
They will fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all Egypt,
as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen
from the day of their being upon the soil until this day.”
Adonai said to Moshe:
Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locust-horde,
and it will ascend over the land of Egypt and consume all the plants of the land, all that the hail allowed to remain.
Moshe stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt,
and Adonai led in an east wind against the land
all that day and all night;
when it was daybreak, the east wind had borne in the locust-horde.
The locust-horde ascended over all the land of Egypt,
it came to rest upon all the territory of Egypt,
exceedingly heavy;
before it there was no such locust-horde as it, and after it there will be no such again.
It covered the aspect of all the earth, and the earth became dark;
it consumed all the plants of the land, and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left;
nothing at all green was left of the trees and of the plants of the field, throughout all the land of Egypt.
Quickly Par’oh had Moshe and Aharon called
and said:
“I have sinned against Adonai your God and against you!
So now, pray bear my sin just this one time!
And plead with Adonai your God,
that he may only remove this death from me!”
He went out from Par’oh and pleaded with Adonai,
and Adonai reversed an exceedingly strong sea wind
which bore the locusts away and dashed them into the Sea of Reeds;
not one locust remained throughout all the territory of Egypt.
But Adonai made Par’oh’s heart strong-willed, and he did not send B’nei Yisrael free.
Adonai said to Moshe:
Stretch out your hand toward the heavens,
and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt,
so that they will feel darkness!
Moshe stretched out his hand toward the heavens,
and there was gloomy darkness throughout all the land of Egypt, for three days;
no one could see his brother, and no one could arise from his spot, for three days.
But for all the Children of Israel, there was light in their settlements.
-----------------------------
Adonai said to Moshe:
I will cause one more blow
to come upon Par’oh and upon Egypt;
afterward he will send you free from here.
When he sends you free, it is finished—he will drive, yes, drive you out from here.
Pray speak in the hearing of the people:
they shall ask, each man of his neighbor, each woman of her neighbor, objects of silver and objects of gold.
So Adonai gave the people favor in the eyes of Egypt,
while the man Moshe was [considered] exceedingly great in the land of Egypt,
in the eyes of Par’oh’s servants and in the eyes of the people.
Moshe said:
Thus says Adonai:
In the middle of the night
I will go forth throughout the midst of Egypt,
and every firstborn shall die throughout the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of Par’oh who sits on his throne
to the firstborn of the maid who is behind the handmill,
and every firstborn of beast.
Then shall there be a cry throughout all the land of Egypt,
the like of which has never been, the like of which will never be again.
But against all the Children of Israel, no dog shall wag its tongue, against either man or beast,
in order that you may know that Adonai makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
Then all these your servants shall go down to me,
they shall bow to me, saying:
Go out, you and all the people who walk in your footsteps!
And afterward I will go out.”
He went out from Par’oh in flaming anger.
Adonai said to Moshe:
Par’oh will not hearken to you,
in order that my portents may be many in the land of Egypt.
Now Moshe and Aharon had done all the portents in Par’oh’s presence,
but Adonai had made Par’oh’s heart strong-willed, and he had not sent B’nei Yisrael free from his land.
-------------------------------------
Moshe had all the elders of Israel called and said to them:
Pick out, take yourselves a sheep for your clans, and slaughter the Passover-animal.
Then take a band of hyssop, dip [it] in the blood which is in the basin,
and touch the lintel and the two posts with some of the blood which is in the basin.
Now you—you are not to go out, any man from the entrance to his house, until daybreak.
Adonai will proceed to deal-blows to Egypt,
and [when] he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two posts,
Adonai will pass over the entrance,
and will not give the ruinbringer [leave] to come into your houses to deal-the-blow.
You are to keep this matter
as a law for you and for your children, into the ages!
Now it will be,
when you come to the land which Adonai will give you, as he has promised,
you are to keep this service!
And it will be,
when your children say to you: What does this service [mean] to you?
then say:
It is the sacrificial-meal of Passover to Adonai,
who passed over the houses of B’nei Yisrael in Egypt,
when he dealt-the-blow to Egypt and our houses he rescued.
The people did homage and bowed low.
And B’nei Yisrael went and did [it];
as Adonai had commanded Moshe and Aharon, thus they did.
Now it was in the middle of the night:
Adonai struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of Par’oh who sits on his throne
to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon,
and every firstborn of beast.
Par’oh arose at night,
he and all his servants and all Egypt,
and there was a great cry in Egypt,
for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.
He had Moshe and Aharon called in the night
and said:
“Arise, go out from amidst my people, even you, even the Children of Israel!
Go, serve Adonai according to your words:
even your sheep, even your oxen, take, as you have spoken, and go!
And bring-a-blessing even on me!”
Egypt pressed the people strongly, to send them out quickly from the land,
for they said: We are all dead!
So the people loaded their dough before it had fermented, their kneading-troughs bound in their clothing, upon their shoulders.
Don’t let Grasshoppers bug you: Judaism and Locusts
VAYIKRA (LEVITICUS.) 11:20-23
"EVERY FLYING INSECT THAT USES FOUR LEGS FOR WALKING
SHALL BE AVOIDED BY YOU. THE ONLY FLYING INSECTS WITH FOUR WALKING LEGS YOU MAY
EAT ARE THOSE WITH KNEES EXTENDING ABOVE THEIR FEET, [USING THESE LONGER LEGS]
TO HOP ON THE GROUND. AMONG THESE YOU MAY ONLY EAT MEMBERS OF THE RED LOCUST
FAMILY, THE YELLOW LOCUST FAMILY, THE SPOTTED GRAY LOCUST FAMILY AND THE WHITE
LOCUST FAMILY. ALL OTHER FLYING INSECTS WITH FOUR FEET [FOR WALKING] MUST BE
AVOIDED BY YOU."
Mishnah,
Chullin (Non-holy foods) 3:7
And
with regard to locusts, whose signs were also not stated in the Torah, the
Sages stated: Any locust that has four legs, and four wings, and two additional
jumping legs, and whose wings cover most of its body, is kosher. Rabbi Yossi
says: And this applies only if the name of its species is chagav/grasshopper.
Rabbi Dr. Nosson Slifkin, a zoologist, rabbi, expert on animal life in the Bible and director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Israel:
“I have eaten locusts on several occasions. They do not
require a special form of slaughter, and one usually kills them by dropping
them into boiling water. They can be cooked in a variety of ways - lacking any
particular culinary skills, I usually just fry them with oil and some spices.
My wife, however, insists that I do not use her kitchen utensils for the task;
she is locust-intolerant. It's not the taste that is distinctive, so much as
the tactile experience of eating a bug - crunchy on the outside with a chewy
center!
“The rationale for certain locusts being kosher may be a
practical matter - when your crops are wiped out by locusts, at least you're
not left with nothing to eat! But in modern Western society, eating bugs simply
grosses out most people. Many probably see the Torah's laws of kosher locusts
as a relic from a primitive, barbaric era. Yet an article in the New Yorker
magazine (August 2011) noted that in a world with a burgeoning population of
billions, insects provide a much more efficient and environmentally-friendly
source of protein, amongst other benefits.
Can you imagine what an impact it would make if Jews were known not for
exploiting animals in factory-farming and indulging in massive gastronomic
excesses, but instead for adopting a more environmentally and animal-friendly
approach? In fact, eating locusts doesn't even make you fleishig, so you could
have a locust cheeseburger. I say, let's get back to our Biblical roots and
tuck in. Bon appétit!”
https://www.the-eucalyptus.com/cookbook/
Three Major Commentators On The
Plague Of Darkness.
Let’s
consider: What makes each viewpoint
different when it comes to the darkness? What does each interpreter
emphasize? How does each interpreter
make the plague more than just the lights going out? And which resonates most
with you? Or do you have an alternative explanation to what make the three days
of darkness so “plague-tastic”?
וימש חשך
Vayamesh Chosesch signifies that
it (the darkness mentioned in the preceding phrase, Vayehi Chosech ויהי חשך) shall darken for them the natural darkness to a higher degree
than the darkness of night: i. e. the darkness of night shall become even more
black and dark…. A Midrashic statement explains it in the sense of (Deuteronomy 28:29) “groping (ממשש feeling) at noon-day”, so that the meaning would be that it was
of such a double character and so thick that there was something tangible in it
(Exodus Rabbah 14:1-3).
Ramban
(Spain and Egypt, 13th century)
Man could not see his fellow
man, nor could anyone rise. This darkness was not merely
an absence of light like the darkness of night. Rather it was like a thick mist
that descended from Heaven. For this reason Hashem instructed Moshe, “Stretch
out your hand toward the sky” (v. 21). It even extinguished their fires the way
that the air of a deep excavation does. That is why no man could see his
fellow, for had this been an ordinary darkness they would have simply kindled
lamps. Thus the meaning of the verse, “He sent darkness and made it dark” (Tehillim 105:28),
is that Hashem actually “sent” them darkness rather than merely removing the
light of day.
Rabbi
S. R. Hirsch (Germany, 19th century) (no relation, but my family loves his work):
Vayamesh is the hiphil form of the verb Mem-vav-shin. Sampson,
in his blindness, asks the attendant that was leading his hands (Judges
16:26) “Let me be here v’hamisheyni/and let me feel the pillars that hold up this place.” Accordingly, Vayamesh accordingly means: this
darkness caused the Egyptians to feel their way around everything. They
were completely unable to use their vision to identify anything and were
completely dependent on their sense of touch.
2x2 :
עשר מכות
How do the greater punishments echo
the lesser ones?
|
|
Lesser
Punishments |
Greater Punishments |
|
Physical discomfort |
Blood
(thirst) |
Boils |
|
Environmental
Disaster |
“The Frog” |
Hail |
|
Insect Infestation |
Lice |
Locusts |
|
Immobilization |
The Swarm |
Darkness |
|
Death |
De’ver (Cattle
disease) |
Makat Bechorot (SOTFB) |
*
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