The thunder and lighting and billowing voice of God charging the Ten Commandments has subsided. In the aftermath the people are informed of the Mishpatim - the rules that God presents them with for living. These are not the overarching high moral principles of the Ten Commandments. No, these laws are of the daily intricacies of life: borrowing and lending, property law, damages, interpersonal behaviours and more. It is after these laws, however, that the people accept the covenant at Sinai and sign on the dotted line in blood. What is it that these laws bring to the people that make them respond this way? We explore that question this week. 

The children of Israel reach the foot of Mount Sinai and the moment they have anticipated, arrives. God speaks. Yet, the commandments that come to the people are highly sensitive and responsive to a very human and earthy condition. The words of Torah are markedly human in nature and this signals just how important it is to abide by them in full humanity. 

In the epic exodus from Egypt, God brings the Israelites to the sea-shore only to have them find Pharaoh and his army chasing after them. God splits the sea and the Children of Israel walk through to safety while the Egyptians are drowned by the waters. Israel bursts into song before God proclaiming that they put their faith in God and Moses his servant. But only days later, the people ask "Is God with us or isn't He?!" This is followed by a vicious ambush from the nation of Amalek and a subsequent war with them. By the end the people, with much help from Moses rediscover their faithfulness to God. In this episode we examine what happened with the touch and go commitments to faithfulness from the Israelites and what it all means for freedom. 

Pharaoh has asked the Children of Israel to leave Egypt. Freedom is at the door for the people and they are immediately commanded to remain in their homes, slaughter, roast and eat a lamb with their families, and prepare to leave the next day. Throughout the parasha various references are made to telling later generations about the night we became free and even to articulate it to ourselves. What do these commandments and prompts to speaking have to do with freedom? We explore these questions in this episode. 

A parasha of great change. At its opening slavery is affecting all of the main characters - Moses, the Children of Israel, and in a major way, Pharaoh. Pharaoh is taken to task by God through a series of seven plagues and through them Pharaoh resists freeing the slaves. But God is not concerned with Pharaoh freeing the slaves as much as he wishes to bring Pharaoh into unawareness of his iniquity. And by the end of the seventh plague, Pharaoh gets there. In this episode we examine the considerable change that Pharaoh goes through and in light of that the shift that occurs in Moses and the Children of Israel towards freedom. 

With the opening of the Book of Exodus, Moses is hired by God at the Burning Bush to liberate the Israelites. But rather than accept the charge as a prophet of God, Moses does something that we see for the very first time in the Torah -- He pushes back and resists God's command. What lesson might we draw from this peculiar episode?

The story of Yosef and his brothers reaches a climax at the beginning of Perashat Vayigash. Binyamin is framed for a crime by Yosef the Viceroy and Yehuda, having committed to his father that he would protect the boy most now step up. And step up he does! He approaches Yosef to defend his little brother but Yosef breaks down and reveals himself in response. Yehuda here makes a 180 degree change from his previous ways and it is a definitive moment that reverberates within the Jewish people who are named after him (Judah) for all time. In this episode we look at this trait and recognise its importance. 

After 13 years Yosef and his brothers meet again, but they do not recognise that the brother they sold is now the Viceroy of Egypt. He has secured Egypt against a seven year famine by storing massive amounts of grain in the country's granaries. But when his brothers come to Egypt to buy grain, Yosef accuses them of being spies. It is a peculiar accusation. In this episode we explore the meaning behind this accusation and what Yosef's motives were for making it. 

The Story of Joseph is the longest biographical narrative in Torah. With such prominence of place, what are some of the key aspects of his life that we are meant to learn from? In this discussion we focus on the integrity of Joseph and how, in all of the various modes of experience he had, he was able to maintain a faithful life.

Yaakob's name is changed to Yisrael in this parasha. First by the 'wrestler' and then by God Himself. But the name Yaakob never leaves him. What is the significance of these names? What does it mean for us today as a people?