With the final three plagues striking Egypt,, our Nation's centuries-long nightmare in Egypt mercifully came to an end. At the stroke of midnight, all the firstborn of Egypt—both human and animal—died. The cry that erupted from this plague was unprecedented. Never before and never since has such a cry been experienced. With the Egyptian cry, Pharaoh finally cried uncle. His total and unconditional surrender before God was complete. But let's backtrack a bit. Why was the nation condemned to be enslaved in Egypt for multiple centuries to begin with? Why was Abraham told that his descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land even before Abraham bore any descendants? In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we go backstage and discover some fascinating secrets regarding the enslavement of the Israelites and the dramatic, wondrous, miraculous redemption of the Exodus.

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The Jewish people spent several centuries in Egypt, but now it is time to leave - and the nation is leaving with flair, with miracles, signs, and wonders. In this very special, celebratory, Parsha podcast, I share two incredible ideas that I shared over the past couple of days during the festivities surrounding the birth and the bris of our son, David Wolbe.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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The Exodus was not one-and-done. It remains an ever-present, indispensable part of our religion. We are commanded to recall the Exodus every single day. There are many festivals and days of note dedicated to remembering and reliving the Exodus. There are many mitzvos that orient around the exodus. The prominent centrality of the Exodus needs an explanation. Why would the event of our nation's freedom from bondage more than 3330 years ago play such a prominent role for all time? In a seminal essay that addresses many foundational elements of our religion, Ramban (Nachmanides) addresses this question. This essay is his most famous comment in his entire magisterial commentary on the Torah. My grandfather, blessed memory, used to say that every single Jew must study this comment in Ramban until they can recite it by heart. In this very interesting podcast, we read this essay and discover and ponder its gems.

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After the first seven Plagues of Egypt related in last week’s parsha, Pharaoh and his people were still unwilling to release the Children of Israel. In Parshas Bo, the miracles and wonders of the Almighty intensified, culminating in the Death of the Firstborn and the Exodus from Egypt.

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Pharaoh is one tough nut to crack. Notwithstanding all the miracles, signs, and wonders that the Almighty displays in Egypt, Pharaoh persists in his stubborn, immovable, intransigence. God promised to harden his heart and thereby prolong the period of the Plagues, but Pharaoh himself hardened his own heart. But something dramatic happened to Pharaoh. He slowly and steadily became a believer. He slowly and steadily accepted the dominion of God. He slowly and steadily began to live as a believer, began to interface with the world as someone cognizant and aware of God's dominion, omniscience, and omnipotence. The Torah centers the storyline of the Exodus on the transformation of Pharaoh. For us, the lessons are quite profound.

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This Parsha podcast is dedicated by Paul and Carol Block in loving memory and leilui nishmas their parents – Paul’s father, Harav Moshe Yosef ben Harav Avraham Chaim, whose yahrzeit is 22 Teves, and Carol’s mother, Charna Leah bas Reb Moshe, whose yahrzeit is 24 Teves. May their Souls be elevated in Heaven.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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The Jewish nation was enslaved in Egypt for 100s of years. What was the essence of the enslavement? What is the consistent theme that is strung throughout the centuries of servitude? More broadly, what is the salience of the Egyptian narrative? Why is it so critical for us to study the exile and Exodus so closely? In this Parsha podcast we offer our take on the essence of the Egyptian enslavement, why it is ever more pertinent today, and what to do about it. We too can - and must - be redeemed from our servitude.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Our Parsha begins in the middle of the dialogue between Moses and God. Moses’ initial foray into saving the nation has gone horribly awry. Instead of alleviating the pain of the Jewish nation; his intervention exacerbated it, and he returned to the Almighty asking for an explanation. In His response, God tells Moses that he will yet see the tremendous miracles and signs of the pending Exodus. In our parsha, that plan begins to unfold, and we read about the first seven of the eventual Ten Plagues.

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The mission that Moshe was entrusted with in this week's Parsha was very clear: Go to Egypt and extract the nation of Israelite slaves. The difficulty in the mission was not due to the lack of clarity. The instructions were abundantly clear. The mission, though, was highly implausible. Moshe had been out of Egypt for decades. He was a shepherd working for his father-in-law in faraway Midian. What business does Moshe have to go down to Pharaoh and demand that he release his legions of Israelite slaves? We would assign a big, fat zero to the likelihood of the mission's success. But Moshe undertook it nonetheless. When we examine the Parsha further, we discover several other missions which also seemed to be thoroughly impossible. But there is a secret way to approach an impossible mission. If you want to know the secret, this podcast is for you.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor and for the success of Noam Yitzhak ben Shlomi. May he be successful in all his endeavors.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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TORAH 101