Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelIn the Hagadah, Jews everywhere chant the “Dyenu” (It would have been enough!) song. Let me give you one of my favorite stanzas that I translated for my students one year:
The Red Sea truly split in half
When Moses raised his mighty staff,
But if no sea had split in half, then dyenu!
This of course raises an interesting question: Did Moses’ mighty staff magically or supernaturally cause the sea to split as commonly portrayed in the movies? Or let us ask in ...
Learn More SharePharaoh asks: “Who are the ones that are going?” (Exod. 10:8).
Was he being serious? For the first time Pharaoh tried to negotiate a deal before the threatened plague struck. Pharaoh shrewdly responds, “Your men may go and worship the Lord, for that is what you are asking” (Exod. 10:11).
Simply put, Pharaoh insists upon collateral. By holding the men’s families hostage, Pharaoh guarantees that the rest of the nation would soon return to their workstations after finishing their “vacation.” Moreover, in ...
Learn More ShareThe Jewish theologian Mordechai Kaplan was one of the first Jewish thinkers to downplay the idea of a “Chosen People” because of its shadow side (to borrow a metaphor from Jung). “Closeness” is often used as an excuse to subordinate those who are not “chosen,” reducing outsiders as it were to a second-class status of human being. While I may not necessarily agree with Kaplan’s definition of “choseness,” I do believe he makes a valuable point.
Just look at the amount ...
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