This Shabbat we begin reading from the book of Shemot (Exodus). The Torah portion starts by describing how the Israelites come to be enslaved over time in Egypt. Eventually, Pharaoh decides to limit their population growth by killing all newborn baby boys. When Moses is born he is saved from this fate when his mother places him in a basket and sets it upon the Nile river. An Egyptian princess finds the basket and raises Moses as her own, with his birth mother acting as his wet nurse. As Moses matures he comes to sympathize with the plight of the Israelites. He kills an Egyptian slave master who was beating an Israelite worker, then flees Egypt for fear of reprisals from Pharaoh. After many years of wandering he marries and has a son. Eventually God appears to him in the burning bush and sets him on the path to leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

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This Shabbat we begin reading from the book of Shemot (Exodus). The Torah portion starts by describing how the Israelites come to be enslaved over time in Egypt. Eventually, Pharaoh decides to limit their population growth by killing all newborn baby boys. When Moses is born he is saved from this fate when his mother places him in a basket and sets it upon the Nile river. An Egyptian princess finds the basket and raises Moses as her own, with his birth mother acting as his wet nurse. As Moses matures he comes to sympathize with the plight of the Israelites. He kills an Egyptian slave master who was beating an Israelite worker, then flees Egypt for fear of reprisals from Pharaoh. After many years of wandering he marries and has a son. Eventually God appears to him in the burning bush and sets him on the path to leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

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Here’s a random Jewish history fact I wasn’t expecting: In the late 1800′s Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, had a Christmas tree in his living room.

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Earlier this year when Supreme Court Justice (and New York Jew) Elena Kagan was going through her Senate confirmation hearings, a senator asked her where she was on Christmas. In response, she quipped: “You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.”

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This week we come to the end of the book of Genesis. The Torah portion (Genesis 47:28 – 50:26) begins with Jacob’s final blessings. First Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim and elevates them to full-fledged tribes of Israel. Then he blesses each of his sons before his death. After his death Jacob is carried back to Canaan with a great Egyptian royal procession and buried. Joseph’s brothers fear he will finally take revenge on them after their father’s death but Joseph reassures them that he will not. They return to Egypt and the portion ends with Joseph’s death.

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All of us hear on a regular basis about the potential threat to our privacy posed by social networking sites. In Israel this has recently taken on a new dimension for those seeking to avoid military service. The Israeli military (IDF) is using Facebook to check up on potential draft dodgers. Military service is compulsory in Israel for both men and women when they turn 18 but there are some allowed exemptions. Jews who claim Orthodox status can be excused from military service. The problem is that not everyone who claims this status really is Orthodox and the IDF has come up with a creative new way of catching them.

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When Shana Gretman Swers, a 35-year-old Jewish woman from New York, discovered she was pregnant she did what she’d always done: posted the happy news on Facebook. “Shana Greatman Swers and Jeff are thrilled to announce to the world that little baby Swers will be joining our family this September. Good thing we bought the bigger house!” she wrote on March 10th.

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This week’s Torah portion picks up in the middle of last week’s story. Joseph has just accused Benjamin of stealing his silver chalice and in one of the most dramatic scenes in the Torah, Judah pleads for Benjamin’s life and offers himself in his brother’s place. Joseph is overcome with emotion and finally reveals himself as their long-lost brother, leading to a tearful reunion. The brothers are sent back to Canaan to bring Jacob and all of their families down to Egypt so they will survive the famine. Jacob and the rest of their people come to Egypt and settle in Goshen. The rest of the Torah portion deals with Joseph’s management of the food and Egyptian people during the famine.

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Last week the most devastating fire in Israel’s history hit the Carmel region near Haifa. The blaze has left over forty dead and has destroyed many homes and thousands of acres of forest. A proportionally sized fire in the US would have destroyed an area roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island. Thanks in large part to an international effort (sixteen nations sent firefighting equipment and aid) the fire was finally brought under control a few days ago. Now that the fire has ended though, the lengthy process of recovery has begun. There are many ways to help.

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Earlier this week students from Yeshiva University gathered with one purpose: to break the standing world record for the largest number of people spinning dreidels simultaneously. That record was set in 2005 by Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, NJ with 541 dreidel spinners.

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