NOON TODAY

Bible study on Zoom

This week, we've now arrived at Exodus, the second book of the Torah, which covers the enslavement and liberation of the Israelites.

If you're interested, please join in on Zoom at noon today for a look at parashat Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1). In it, we read of a change of political leadership that has serious, and bad, consequences for the Israelites living in Egypt.

The new pharaoh fears the many descendants of Jacob and enslaves them

"And a new Pharaoh took power who didn't know about Joseph," the story begins. "And he said to his people, 'Look, the Children of Israel (Israelites) are much too numerous for us. Let's 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.'"

I want to take a look at the story and its implications for American Jews today. Some  among us see the rise in anti-Jewish racism and wonder if we are seeing the end of a golden age for Jewish Americans. I do believe that we can benefit by making a point-by-point comparison of our situation and the story of what happened to our people in Egypt, in medieval Spain and in 1930s-'40s Europe.

Here's a link: Please join in! 

bit.ly/NafTorah.

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