Read & Listen

Curiously, this week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, never mentions Moses by name. This is the only Torah portion from Moses’ birth at the beginning of the book of Exodus until the Children of Israel reach the far banks of the Jordan at the end of the book of Numbers in which Moses’ name does not appear.

In the language of the Torah, kedushah is a place or moment in which we experience the presence of the Divine. Judaism is acutely aware of the paradox inherent in this formulation. Is not the entire world already suffused with Divine Presence? And yet, we humans are uniquely capable of being oblivious to this sublime truth.

In biblical Hebrew, when an emphatic statement is made, there are no words such as “surely” or “really,” and certainly no boldface or italics or exclamation points available. Instead, the verb is repeated twice. In the verse above, we know that the Hebrew is being unusually forceful because not one, but every verb in the verse is repeated twice.

After weeks of journeying from the Red Sea, the Children of Israel arrive at the foot of Mount Sinai. There, after careful preparations, they hear the voice of God and receive what are known in English as the Ten Commandments.

Beshalakh is a momentous Torah portion. Pharaoh, his kingdom in ruins, has finally let the Children of Israel go.