In This Week’s Parashah: מָה בַּפָּרָשָׁה​​​​​​​

Full Parashah Reading: Shemot 1:1-6:1
Aliyah #1 (Shemot 1:1-1:17)
  • Yosef and his brothers die. A new Pharaoh comes to power.
  • Pharaoh is worried about the growing number of בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (Benei Yisrael, Israelites). He enslaves them and forces them to do very hard work.
  • Pharaoh instructs Shifrah and Puah, two midwives, to kill Israelite baby boys, but they disobey him.
Aliyah #2 (Shemot 1:18-2:10)
  • Pharaoh makes a decree that all Israelite baby boys must be thrown into the Nile River.
  • Yokheved gives birth to a boy and hides him in a basket. Pharaoh's daughter sees the baby and adopts him. She names him Moshe.
Aliyah #3 (Shemot 2:11-2:25)
  • Years later, Moshe sees an Egyptian beating an Israelite. Moshe kills the Egyptian, and flees to Midian.
  • Moshe marries Tzipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian.
Aliyah #4 (Shemot 3:1-3:15)
  • Moshe is a shepherd. One day, he sees a bush that’s on fire but not burning down. God speaks to Moshe from the flames and tells him to go to Pharaoh and demand that Pharaoh free Benei Yisrael.
Aliyah #5 (Shemot 3:16-4:17)
  • Moshe tries to turn down the job, but God shows him some miracles and tells him that his brother, Aharon, will help him.
Aliyah #6 (Shemot 4:18-4:31)
Aliyah #5 (Shemot 5:1-6:7)
  • Moshe and Aharon meet with Pharaoh, but Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go. He makes their work even harder.