Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

  • Pharaoh’s March of Folly

    When every shred of evidence should have convinced Pharaoh that his policies would lead to disaster, he stubbornly refused to change. This was his march of folly.

  • God Is Above Nature

    All the plagues in Egypt, except the 10th, were opposed to the gods of Egypt which were nature gods. God was making the point that He controlled nature, not the other way around.

  • Natural Redemption

    All the plagues in Egypt could be explained scientifically. This ties in with the concept of natural redemption. Nothing seems abnormal until you realize that there has been a change in the world.

  • Getting Egypt Out Of The Jews

    The hardest job that Moses had was getting Egypt out of the Jews. The problem was that many of the Jews loved Egyptian culture. God wanted the Jews to reject that culture for the Torah.

  • Miracles Are Not Unnatural

    All the miracles that happened in Egypt could be explained naturally. This is because a miracle is an event that happens when you need it to happen. Life is a miracle in of itself.

  • Our Leaders Are Not Gods

    When Moses goes to announce the plague of blood he encounters Pharaoh in the early hours of the morning. This was to teach that even though Pharaoh was thought to be a god in Egypt he was not.

  • What’s In A Name?

    The name Hebrew is a derogatory name for the Jews. The reason is that the goal of enslaving the Jews was to destroy them. Thus it is the same throughout our history. First they will denigrate the Jews and then murder the Jews.

  • Know Before Whom You Are Standing

    Moses was admonished at the burning bush to know before whom he was standing. This was also an admonishment to remember that he would be speaking to slaves would not really be interested in long speeches. They wanted their freedom.

  • Being Nice is Not Enough

    When Moses saw the Egyptian taskmaster beating the Jew, he looked around and did not see another man. This is to teach us to do the right thing even if it isn’t the nice thing.

  • Fear God More Than Man

    When the midwives in Egypt get the order to murder all male Jewish babies they resist. The Torah states that they fear God more than Pharaoh. Fearing God will get you to do the right thing.