Torah Study Date Saturday, October 7, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 13:3-13:16 Next Session Saturday, October 21, 2023 Starting at Exodus 13:17 We opened our session with verse 13:3 and immediately noticed an odd shift to the future. Moses was explaining why we celebrate the feast of Passover, when in fact in our narrative the […]
About Deborah Achtenberg
Posts by Deborah Achtenberg:
Native and Sojourner
Torah Study Date Saturday, September 30, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 12:34-13:2 Next Session Saturday, October 7, 2023 Starting at Exodus 13:3 Last week we discussed circumcision at length in response to the text saying that a circumcised slave could eat from the pesach offering—but no settled or hired laborer–and that any other male who […]
The First Israelite Practice
Torah Study Date Saturday, September 23, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 12:34-12:44 Next Session Saturday, September 30, 2023 Starting at Exodus 12:45 Last week, Rabbi Sara reminded us that the Pesach sacrifice and meal is the first actual practice the Israelites are given and that they don’t even have Shabbat yet. God, she continued, is […]
Death of the Firstborn
Torah Study Date Saturday, September 9, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 12:24-12:33 Next Session Saturday, September 23, 2023 Starting at Exodus 12:34 Last session we discussed YHVH saying, you shall observe this thing as a law/statute for you and your children forever. What, R. Ben asked, is the thing to be observed? We thought it […]
Holy Assembly and Destruction
Torah Study Date Saturday, September 2, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 12:16-23 Next Session Saturday, September 9, 2023 Starting at Exodus 12:24 Last week we discussed the holy assembly, the mikra kodesh, that YHVH tells us to have on the first and seventh day of the holiday of matza and pesach (halting, protecting). Rabbi Sara […]
The Meaning of Pesach
Torah Study Date Saturday, August 26, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 12:10 – 12:15 Next Session Saturday, September 2, 2023 Starting at Exodus 12:16 Last session we discussed the detailed specificity of the instructions regarding the Pesach meal and wondered whether the meal might be an adaptation of some ritual meal that was common in […]
Lamb or Goat Dinner
Torah Study Date Saturday, August 19, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 11:9-12:9 Next Session Saturday, August 26, 2023 Starting at Exodus 12:10 Last week we discussed the conclusion of the ninth plague and then discussed the new required ritual meal. Regarding the conclusion, YHVH reiterates that Pharaoh will not listen to Moses so that YHVH’s […]
Smackdown between Moses and Pharaoh
Torah Study Date Saturday, August 12, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 10:24-11:8 Next Session Saturday, August 19, 2023 Starting at Exodus 11:9 Last week R. Sara noted that the claim that the Israelites enjoyed light in their houses and could move about really has wider signification because moshav (dwelling, location) is used rather than beit […]
Locusts and Darkness
Torah Study Date Saturday, August 5, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 10:9-10:23 Next Session Saturday, August 12, 2023 Starting at Exodus 10:24 Previously, we discussed why many think of the Exodus story rather than any or all the stories in Genesis as the founding event of the Jewish people. Having spent three years on Genesis […]
Locusts
Torah Study Date Saturday, July 29, 2023 Verses Covered Exodus (Sh’mot) 10:1-10:8 Next Session Saturday, August 5, 2023 Starting at Exodus 10:9 Last week, we discussed YHVH telling Moses to go to Pharaoh. We discussed YHVH stating his purpose in making Pharaoh’s heart heavy, namely, to display YHVH’s signs among Pharaoh and his servants (he […]