- Parsha Sh'mot always struck me as the exemplar passage of the power of memory/the danger of forgetting. Can we say here that to remember (as in "God remembers...") is the equivalent of to acknowledge? This would seem to make sense, especially as when God tells Moses that God is "mindful" of the Israelites' suffering (24:7)
- How does the Pharoah's daughter know from sight that Moses is Hebrew? is there some physical indication of this or is it a guess based on class (i.e. - only a Hebrew would have sent her child adrift in a basket down a stream?)
- So, like Joseph, Moses ends up in the Pharoah's court, therefore under the Pharoah's protection, and enjoying its benefits. As one rabbi once noted, this resonates with mythical undertones.
- Is Moses aware of his Hebrew identity (2:11, 4:18) or is he unaware of his ancestry (3:13)?
- Note: God does not directly answer Moses' question (as pointed out by Rabbi Friedman) [3:11]. What are the implications of that?
- So the Burning Bush event actually happens on Sinai? (3:12) (This realization always escaped me until now.)
- "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" - so God identifies as an entity which exists beyond human definition (and therefore the ability of humans to define, and then the power to control) and as an entity which is still evolving? (I find this latter aspect to be so interesting!)
- As a corollary, why even give this name at all? God was never identified by it before, so why give it now? Don't get me wrong, i think it is an incredible Torah moment, one ripe with wonder and mystery, but it doesn't exactly make a lot of sense. (Perhaps this is why God needs to be identified through the patriarchs?)
- How is the word "borrow" being understood here (3:22) since those goods will never be returned?
- And then the future contest of the phallic symbols was foretold *(4: 1-5)
- Why this need for visible evidence of the meeting with God? Were there others in the area also claiming to be the mouthpiece of the Hebrew God?
- Wonders for the Israelites = horror, fear, death for the Egyptians?
- ****So important to note that God does not offer to cure Moses of being "slow of speech and slow of tongue" (4:10) but only responds by noting God is the originator of these things and promises to be there with Moses. Discuss.***
- How many different names does Jethro have????
- Wait, so God tries to kill either Moses or his (presumably?) first-born son? Because neither were circumcised? Yo, kinda harsh - couldn't have mentioned this was important through the Burning Bush (especially since Moses' awareness of his ancestral heritage is not clear?) Also, are we assuming that Moses was *already* aware of this particular rite? If so, how so?
- Impossible to miss the connection between Pharoah's complaints about the Israelite's - a shadow nation living within an indigenous population, a workforce of "shirkers" (5:17) - and the anti-Semitic biases of today.
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