What's P'shat?

12/24/2021

Why would Hashem choose a leader with a “heavy tongue and heavy mouth” to act as His spokesman to Pharaoh? For a clue, let’s look to an unlikely source: the “Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,” a very popular ancient Egyptian story about a man of great oratory skills who advocated for justice before the Pharaoh.

Preview: Why would Hashem choose a leader with a “heavy tongue and heavy mouth” to act as His spokesman to Pharaoh? For a clue, let’s look to an unlikely source: the “Tale o…

12/23/2021

There's a funny midrash about a promise Yitro once asked Moshe to make regarding how he'd raise his children, and it sounds a whole lot like the oath Yaakov makes Yosef take in last week's parshah. Did Chazal see a relationship here? What's the lesson for us?

Preview: There’s a funny midrash about a promise Yitro once asked Moshe to make regarding how he’d raise his children, and it sounds a whole lot like the oath Yaakov makes Yosef take in…

12/22/2021

Elon Gold has a great routine on the pyramids. But if you look carefully you'll realize that the Bible never describes the Israelites as having built pyramids. Instead, they built "store cities." That detail is important. In fact, if you think about it you'll realize that Yosef’s fundamental lesson to the Egyptians – “worry about what tomorrow will bring” – illuminates *all* critical details of his people's enslavement: from their building of “store cities,” to Egypt’s concern about far-off wars, to the focus on “packing provisions” on the eve of the exodus...

Preview: How Yosef’s lesson to the Egyptians – “worry about what tomorrow will bring” – illuminates all critical details of b’nei Yisrael’s enslavement (fr…

12/21/2021

A theory: Moshe’s leprosy is directly linked to Miriam's. That's what the intertextual connections suggest. But what do they mean? Perhaps this: Only because Moshe doubted himself did others begin to doubt him as well. Ironically, his concerns – that others would question his prophetic abilities – became their own self-fulfilling prophecy.

https://whatspshat.org/2018/12/27/they-wont-trust-me-shemot/

12/16/2021

Have you ever noticed the immense irony inherent in the popular children’s song, “Hamalach?” Yaakov’s wish for his grandchildren is that they “be like fish in the midst of the land.” Yet fish don’t thrive on land—quite the contrary!

Preview: A short thought: Have you ever noticed the immense irony inherent in the popular children’s song, “Hamalach?” Yaakov’s wish for his grandchildren is that they “be like fi…

12/09/2021

Why were the kohanim granted special exemptions from Yosef’s redistribution regime? Might it be because his own father-in-law was a kohen? And might the parallels between Yosef’s role dispensing bread rations as viceroy, and his earlier experience serving in Potiphar’s house, also be relevant in this regard?

https://whatspshat.org/2019/12/23/father-favors-mikketz/

Preview: Why were the kohanim granted special exemptions from Yosef’s redistribution regime? Might it be because his own father-in-law was a kohen? And might the parallels between Yosef& #8217…

12/07/2021

There’s a fascinating way in which the root נ.ג.ש, “to approach,” appears at all key points in the story of Yaakov and his children: from the time he steals Esav’s birthright all the way until he and his children settle in the land of (watch this word play)—”Goshen!” What’s the larger message?
https://whatspshat.org/2013/12/05/vayigash/

Preview: There’s a fascinating way in which the root נ.ג.ש, “to approach,” appears at all key points in the story of Yaakov and his children: from the time he steals Esav’s …

12/02/2021

What was so wise about Shlomo’s ruling to “cut the baby in half?” Perhaps Shlomo’s decision was influenced by a judicial decision rendered by his father – David HaMelech – a generation earlier: the decision to “divide in half” the property of Shaul’s grandson, Mephiboshet…

Preview: What was so wise about Shlomo's ruling to "cut the baby in half?" We explore several approaches, including the idea that Shlomo's decision was influenced by a judicial decision rendered by his father – David HaMelech – a generation earlier: the decision to “divide in half” the prope...

11/30/2021

Preview: If you pay careful attention, you’ll notice that there’s a subtle play on words between the words רעב/רעבון (hunger) and the words ערב/ערבון (collateral/guarantee) that takes place in this week’s parshah...

Preview: If you pay careful attention, you’ll notice that there’s a subtle play on words between the words רעב/רעבון (hunger) and the words ערב/ערבון (collateral/guarantee) that takes place in th…

11/23/2021

What if Joseph's dreams weren't actually about his brothers at all? What if it was the eleven chieftains of Esav - mentioned *immediately before his dreams* - whom he was dreaming about?

Note: The following is a brief write up of some ideas to be presented this Shabbos at Congregation Ahavas Achim in Highland Park, NJ. For the accompanying source sheet with cited references, please…

05/06/2018

Looking for some timely Torah? Check out the two latest issues of The Jewish Bible Quarterly for “A Phonetic Analysis of Shirat Hayam” (JBQ 46:1) and “Sinai and the Shabbat-Cycle” (JBQ 46.2), both of which first appeared at What's P'shat? :) "מה אהבתי תורתך!"

03/09/2018

Some strange observations:
1. The word "tzitzit" means "lock of hair."
2. The man who rebelled because of the mitzvah of tzitzit was named "Korach" -- i.e. "the bald one."
3. The "tzitz" -- mentioned in this week's Parshah -- was a crown which the Kohen Gadol wore above his *hairline.*
What's with all this "hair" imagery?

1. Today we’re going to try to uncover the underlying connections between a whole host of passages, strewn across the Torah, which seem, at first glance, entirely unrelated to each other. Most of t…