(Exodus: 35:1-40:38)

Parshat Hachodesh

(Exodus 12:1-20)

(Haftara: Ezekiel 45:18-46:15)

1. [35:31] “And he filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge…” These are all intellectual qualities. What other qualities also make up the spirit of God?

2. [35:34] “And the ability to teach, he put into his heart…” From this pasuk, it would seem that the ability to teach is inborn in a person. Is it possible to learn how to be a very effective teacher if one was not born with the natural qualities of a teacher?

3. [35:35] “And he filled him with wisdom of heart to do craftsmanship…those who do craftsmanship and think thoughts.” Is craftsmanship more a quality of the mind, more a quality of the heart—of emotion, or more a quality of control of the body?

4. [Parshat haChodesh, Exodus 12:11] “And this is how you should eat it…in haste…” The Jewish ethical sages praise the quality of haste-energy.  They also praise the quality of calmness.  Can calmness and haste-energy co-exist in someone’s personality and actions?

5. [Yechezkel 46:18] “And the leader will not take…any person from his possession.” This haftara is read as a preparation for Pesach.  It ends with a matter of  justice.  The leader cannot use his position to do unjust things.  Pesach is a festival of national and personal liberation. What does justice have to do with liberation?

Commentary

The past is not only relevant, but current as well. The liberation from tyranny, and the fight for freedom, is the story of Jewish history as a whole. It is only by identifying personally with the exodus that we can proceed with the Haggadah and truly be grateful to God for His past and present miracles.

–Rabbi J. D. Soloveitchik, 1903-1993, Belarus and the USA. 

This study page is dedicated to the memory of Gad Eliahu ben David and Kochava—Eli Zucker

And this study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer