Shemot, the name of the Parasha, is hebrew for “Names,” and it is contained in Exodus 1:1–6:1.
In Egypt, Israel’s descendants proliferate. Pharaoh, who felt threatened by their population growth, enslaved them and gave the Hebrew midwives, Shifrah and Puah, the command to slaughter all male babies at delivery. He orders his people to throw the Hebrew infants into the Nile if they disobey and they do.
Yocheved, the daughter of Levi, and her husband, Amram, give birth to a kid, which is then deposited in a basket on the river while the infant’s sister, Miriam, keeps watch from a distance. The boy is found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who names him Moses and raises him as her own child.
Moses leaves the palace as a young man and learns of his brothers’ suffering. He kills the Egyptian after witnessing him beating a Hebrew. The following day, he witnesses two Jews fighting; when he intervenes, they confess to his crime from the day before, forcing Moses to flee to Midian. He saves the daughters of Jethro there, weds Tzipporah, and takes charge of his father-in-flocks. law’s
At the foot of Mount Sinai, God comes to Moses in a burning bush and gives him the command to go to Pharaoh and demand that he release his subjects so that they may serve Him. Aaron, Moses’ brother, is chosen to be his spokesperson.
The elders of Israel are gathered by Moses and Aaron in Egypt, where they inform them that the time has arrived for their redemption. The populace believes, but Pharaoh forbids them from leaving and even makes Israel suffer more.
Moses protests once more to God, asking, “Why have You treated this people badly?” God assures us that the day of redemption is near.
Parashat Shemot is made up of 6,762 Hebrew letters, 1,763 Hebrew words, 124 verses, and 215 lines in a Torah Scroll. Jews read it the thirteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late December or January.
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