These are the names of the children of Yisrael who went with him to Mitzrayim.

 

Mi/mah/aipho zeh?

Colors!

Numbers review!

service review!

Choref! Wah wah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR65JZ-Bcc0

 

      מי זה? מה זה? איפה זה?

            Tulsa, Cleveland, Iron,  Grover Clevland, Pizza,  Shemesh,  Paris, Barak Obama,  Tungsten,  siddur,  Mardi Caminer,  Butter,  Rabbi Dror,    Rock and Roll,  Golda Meir  Sugar,   Shakespeare,  Shanghai,  Tel Aviv,   Choref, Gefen,  Lechem, Panama,  Play Doh,  Torah,  Sofer,  Tokyo,  Etz,   

What’s in a name?  Do you know what your names mean? https://www.names.org/

            Quiz:  the meaning of names:

            Ex. 1 and comments Page

Closing Halacha:  Names you may not use for someone else. 

 

 

1.     Katz-   

a.     Cat person

b.     Corn Merchant

c.     “Koheyn Tzedek” (righteous priest)

d.     Lion

e.     Short for Katzernichtvossonmachter- a person up to no good

 

2.     Fleishman  -

a.     Butcher

b.     Baker

c.     Candlestick Maker

d.     Messenger

e.     Ninja master

 

3.     Zuckerman —

a.     Prominent person

b.     Large/Tall person

c.     Good looking person

d.     Strong person

e.     Dude, it’s German for sugar merchant

 

4.     Haddad-

a.     Praiseworthy (Hebrew hadad)

b.     From town of Haddad in Syria

c.     Blacksmith.

d.     Butcher

e.     Theater Lighting technician

 

5.     Rothman —

a.     Right man

b.     Red head

c.     Reichman- reich- reign of king-  kings man

d.     Son of Rutteh,  son of the south

e.     Son of Ruth-  Ruth’s little man!

 

6.     Drucker

a.     Trucker

b.     Jockey

c.     Rookie

d.     Catcher

e.     A maker of pickles and sauces (Drukim)

 

7.     Gelfand/Helfand —

a.     Elephant  

b.     Glazier (glass worker)

c.     Helper

d.     Gelf,  slang name for Jew

e.     Turtle farmer

 

8.     Bensoussan- 

a.     From shoshana, hebrew for Lily flower.

b.     Son of Shushan,  Persian

c.     Corruption of Son of Husain

d.     Blacksmith

e.     Iranian terms  for an undercover cop posing as a mobster

 

9.     Mandelbaum —

a.     pear tree  

b.     cherry tree  

c.     apple tree  

d.     almond tree

e.     Dude, I’m trapped in a tree

 

10. Schechter:

a.     Scholar

b.     Messenger

c.     Tailor

d.     Butcher

e.     Microbiologist

 

 Tie breaker:  True or False:  Hyatt is Yiddish for hotel. 

 

SEFER SHEMOT – a chunk of chapter one

 Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.  But Bnei Yisrael were fertile and numerous; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them.  A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.  And he said to his people, “Look, Bnei Yisrael are much too numerous for us.  Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from their lower status.

So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built storage cities for Pharaoh—Pit’om and Raamses.  But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread Bnei Yisrael.  The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon Bnei Yisrael  the various labors that they made them perform; they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.  

The king of Egypt spoke to the Ivri midwives, one of whom was named Shif'rah and the other Puah,  saying, “When you deliver the Ivri women, look at the birthstool;  if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”  The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.  So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?”  The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Ivri women are not like the Egyptian women: they are wild. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.”  And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly.  And God established houses  for the midwives, because they feared God.  

It was then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” 

----------------------------------------

·       What do you think it means to “hold God in awe”?

·       Based on this text, do you think Shifra and Pu’ah were Hebrew or Egyptian? Why?

·       Does their affiliation change how you feel or think about the fact that they defied Pharaoh to protect Israelite babies?  If so, how?

 

SHEMOT -- CHAPTER ONE: INTERPRETERS AND COMMENTATORS:

Dr. Everett Fox, Schocken Bible, pg. 259 “Midwives of the Hebrews”: The ambiguity of this phrase raises an ancient question: were they Hebrew or Egyptian? The names seem Semitic (and hence un-Egyptian). Then, too, the use of “Hebrew” in the Bible usually occurs when a foreigner is talking about Israelites. Yet the women’s answer in v.19 suggests that they are in fact Egyptians.

Talmud Bavli (the one written in Babylonia),  Sotah, 11b:

The verse states: “And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah” (Exodus 1:15). Rav [“The Master”] and Shmuel [“Sammy”]  disagree as to the proper interpretation of this verse. According to Rav, they were a woman and her daughter, the women were Yocheved, the mother of Moses and Aaron, and her daughter, Miriam. And according to  Shmuel, they were a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, Yocheved and her daughter-in-law Eli’sheva, the wife of Aaron.

·       As you can see (and as we’ve seen in other parshiyot), Biblical scholars and commentators don’t always agree!  Sometimes, there can be several different interpretations of a single verse or idea, such as the midwives’ identities, without a clear “right” answer.  But wait, there’s more!

Dr. Nachum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary on Exodus, pg. 7

Shiphrah: The Semitic stem means “to be beautiful.” Puah: It was originally a term for a fragrant blossom….

Dr. Robert Alter, “The Hebrew Bible: A Translation”, pg. 310

 Since the root pa’ah can also mean “to murmur” or “to gurgle,” Rashi inventively suggests it is the sound a nurturing woman makes to soothe an infant.

Shemot Rabbah, (“The Great Midrash” on Shemot) 1:13

She was called Puah because she poured (nopha’at) the newborns wine.

Another interpretation: She was called Shifra because the people of Israel multiplied (paru) at her hand.

Another interpretation: She was called Shifra because her deeds were pleasant (shafru) before God.

Another interpretation: She was called Puah because she appeared (ho’fia) before Pharaoh, stuck up her nose at him, and said, “Woe to you Pharaoh when God punishes you!”

·       Who do you think Shifra and Pu’ah were?   Yocheved and Miriam?  Yocheved and Elisheva?  Egyptian women? Others?  Which interpretation of their names do you like best?