Month: January 2024

The Parasha Beshala’h (בשלח – When he let go), Exodus 13: 17–17: 16, contains the Song of the Sea, traditionally sung on a particular melody and written in the parchment of the Torah with a distinctive pattern called in “brick-like pattern“.

The Pinner synagogue, located in Cecil Park, was founded in 1940. The current building, built in tiles and red bricks, was erected in 1981. The community follows the Orthodox ashkénaze ritual and is affiliated with the United Synagogue ⁽¹⁾. In October 2014, the municipal council unanimously approved the proposals to create an Erouv ⁽²⁾. In force since March 2018, its 24 km perimeter is one of the largest in the Grand London.

⁽¹⁾ Main federation of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues bringing together around 40,000 faithful.
⁽²⁾ Pinner’s Erouv Plan (click) and others around London.

In the Parasha Bo (בא “come”), Exodus 10:1-13:16, it is written that following Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Bnei-Israel, Egypt is struck by the last three plagues: locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. After this final plague, the Bnei-Israel leave Egypt, taking great riches with them.

Exodus 12:35-36
וּבְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשׂוּ, כִּדְבַר מֹשֶׁה; וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ, מִמִּצְרַיִם, כְּלֵי-כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב, וּשְׂמָלֹת. וַיי נָתַן אֶת-חֵן הָעָם,  בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם–וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם; וַיְנַצְּלוּ, אֶת-מִצְרָיִם. {פ}
The children of Israel had conformed to the word of Moses, asking the Egyptians for silver vessels, gold vessels, and clothes, and Hashem had inspired for this people benevolence from the Egyptians, who lent to them, so that they despoiled the Egyptians.

A papyrus, written around 1500 ^{BCE (1)} by the scribe Ipou-Our, discovered in Memphis, describes the devastating calamities that struck Egypt in his time ⁽²⁾ : the Nile turning into blood, famine, drought, death striking the whole country, as well as the flight of the slaves who carry away the riches ⁽³⁾.

(1) 1500 ^BCE corresponds to the 19th Egyptian dynasty.
(2) This papyrus is currently preserved at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, under the reference Leiden I 344 recto. It was translated in 1909 by the British Egyptologist Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner (1879–1963). English translations.
(3) Genesis 15:14
יד וְגַם אֶת-הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲבֹדוּ, דָּן אָנֹכִי; וְאַחֲרֵי-כֵן יֵצְאוּ, בִּרְכֻשׁ גָּדוֹל. 
But, in turn, the nation they will serve will be judged by Me; and then they will leave it with great riches.

In the Paracha Vaéra (וארא-and I appeared), Exodus 6: 2-9: 35, God turns out to Moses and promises to end the slavery of the Hebrews. To force Pharaoh to release them, The Lord sends a series of wounds.

Exodus 7:17
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מַכֶּה בַּמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר-בְּיָדִי, עַל-הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר בַּיְאֹר–וְנֶהֶפְכוּ לְדָם.
Behold, I am going to strike the waters of the Nile with the stick that I have in my hand, and they will turn to blood.

This transformation of the waters into blood is the first of the seven plagues mentioned in this parsha.

Sunnyvale is a city located in Silicon Valley. It houses the Synagogue Bar Yohai Sephardic Minyan, which is the center of an Orthodox community of more than 100 people. The synagogue is on the campus of the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School (SPHDS), which provides Jewish education to more than 250 children in the region.

Blood-red waters:
Sunnyvale is known for its proximity to the San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds, which were created during the Gold Rush era. These salt marshes are particularly visible from the air due to their bright colors, ranging from red to green-blue. These colors are the result of marine life, shrimp, algae and microorganisms, which thrive in the different salinity levels of the tanks.

The Parasha Shemot (שמות – Names), Exodus 1:1-6:1, tells the story of Moses, who was saved by the Pharaoh’s daughter and raised as an Egyptian. He has an encounter with God in the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:2-5) and is entrusted with the mission of freeing the children of Israel

Exodus 3: 2
וְהִנֵּה הַסְּנֶה בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ, וְהַסְּנֶה, אֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל
And the flamboyant bush, but he did not consume himself.

This verse, Eliezer Armon, architect of the Bahad synagogue ⁽¹⁾, inscribed it on the pediment of the front door. Who overlooks the forecourt where the ceremony takes place when the cadets receive their rank as an officer and accept their mission.

The building is a monumental structure made up of 24 concrete flames, installed on a concrete structure. Each flame and each group of three flames are connected by steel beams. In allusion to the Michkan, on the central beam is inscribed the verse (Exodus 26:28) וְהַבְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכֹן, בְּתוֹךְ הַקְּרָשִׁים, מַבְרִחַ, מִן-הַקָּצֶה אֶל-הַקָּצֶה : And the middle bar, in the middle of the joists, will extend from one end to the other.

⁽¹⁾ Bahad (בה”ד), an abbreviation of Bsis Hadrakha (בסיס הדרכה = training base), is a training base for the Israel Defense Forces officers’ school located in Camp Laskov, near Mitzpe Ramon.