With the death of Yosef, the Book of Bereishet (Genesis) comes to an end. The Book of Shemot (Exodus) chronicles the creation of the nation of Israel from the descendants of Yaakov. At the beginning of this week's Torah portion, Pharaoh, fearing the population explosion of Jews, enslaves them. When their birthrate continues to increase, he orders the Jewish midwives to kill all newborn males.

Yocheved gives birth to Moshe and hides him in the reeds by the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter finds and adopts him, although she knows he is probably a Hebrew. Miriam, Moshe's sister, offers to find a nursemaid for Moshe and arranges for his mother Yocheved to be his nursemaid.

Years later, Moshe witnesses an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and Moshe kills the Egyptian. Realizing his life is in danger, Moshe flees to Midian where he rescues Tzipporah, whose father Yitro approves their subsequent marriage. On Chorev (Mount Sinai), Moshe witnesses the burning bush where G-d commands him to lead the Jewish People from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael, the Land promised to their ancestors.

Moshe protests that the Jewish People will doubt his being G-d's agent, so G-d enables Moshe to perform three miraculous transformations to validate himself in the people's eyes: transforming his staff into a snake, his healthy hand into a leprous one, and water into blood. When Moshe declares that he is not a good public speaker, G-d tells him that his brother Aharon will be his spokesman. Aharon greets Moshe on his return to Egypt and they petition Pharaoh to release the Jews. Pharaoh responds with even harsher decrees, declaring that the Jews must produce the same quota of bricks as before but without being given supplies. The people become dispirited, but G-d assures Moshe that He will force Pharaoh to let the Jews go.

PARSHA INSIGHTS

My Mother – Knowing Who You Are

“These are the names…” (1:1)

Parashat Shemot opens with a paradox.

The Jewish people are crushed, enslaved, stripped of power—yet it is precisely there that the Torah begins to speak about identity. “And these are the names of the children of Israel…” Names mean essence. Who you are does not change along with your circumstances.

My mother, may I be an atonement for her resting place, had something very rare: she knew exactly who she was. People said that when she walked into a room, she lit it up. She had a regal presence; like being in the company of royalty. And yet she came from the humblest of beginnings: Bethnal Green, East London, poverty, illness, fear. But none of that defined her.

Galut - exile - is not just about suffering; it is about the confusion of identity. Pharaoh’s deepest cruelty was not the slave labor. It was making the Jewish people forget who they were. When a person no longer knows who he is, he becomes easy to control.

And that is why redemption begins not with miracles, but with names.

My mother was never destabilized by change around her, because her sense of self was not borrowed from fashion, culture, or approval. So, when I became religious, she took it completely in her stride. There was no fear, no threat. She did not need me to remain the same in order for her to remain herself.

Often, when children become religious, parents react negatively, not out of ideology, but insecurity. If your identity depends on my choices, then my growth feels like your loss. But when your identity is rooted deeply, another person’s journey does not threaten it.

Parashat Shemot teaches that true royalty is inner clarity. A Jew can be a slave—and still be a prince. A woman can grow up in hardship—and still carry herself like a queen.

My mother lived that truth. And in doing so, she quietly taught what Geulah really begins with:
knowing who you are—no matter where you stand.