הגדה ברורה

Haggadot and essays for Pesah and all year round

Ramban

Parshat Shemot: ‘And this is your sign that I have sent you’

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When God tells Moshe his mission, Moshe is sceptical that he is capable or worthy of going to Pharaoh or freeing the children of Israel. God tells him that he will succeed ‘For I will be with you, and this is your sign that I have sent you, when you bring out the children of Israel, you will worship [the] God on this mountain’. On first glance, this looks like God is telling Moshe that the sign that he is worthy will be the subsequent revelation on Sinai, but this seems illogical since this can …

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Parshat Shemot: Why did the children of Israel cry out when Pharaoh died?

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The connection between the death of the Pharaoh and the children of Israel crying out is not clear. After years of suffering, why would they suddenly feel more desperate because their oppressor was dead? Ramban and Hizkuni argue that while the first Pharaoh was alive they retained hope that slavery would be a temporary decree limited to the lifespan of that king. Once a new king had come to the throne it became clear that it was permanent. Rabbeinu Bahya suggests that they were afraid that …

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