Reading Out Loud

(8) And you shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what ה׳ did for me when I went free from Egypt.’

(3) You are not to eat it with leaven;

seven days you are to eat it with matzot, bread of affliction,

for with trepidation you went out from the land of Egypt,

in order that you may bear-in-mind the day of your going-out from the land of Egypt,

all the days of your life.

(7)Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.

(1)The commandment to recount the exodus from Egypt: To tell about the exodus from Egypt on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan (the first night of Pesach) — each person according to his own power of expression — to laud and to praise God, may He be blessed, for all the miracles He performed for us there, as it is stated (Exodus 13:8), “And you shall tell your son.” [Although the verse doesn’t specify when this should be done,] the Sages have already explained (Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael 13:8) that this commandment of retelling is on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan — which is the time of the eating of the matsah. And that which the verse states, “[And you shall tell] your son,” [does not mean] exclusively one’s son; but rather even with any creature (Pesachim 116a).

(1) Now Moshe was shepherding the flock of Yitro his father- in-law, priest of Midyan.

He led the flock behind [*behind: Others, “to the west side of,” “to the far side of,” or simply “into,” although the word seems to convey a certain mystery. Fairy tales often portray the hero’s going deep into a forest and the like.] the wilderness,

and came to the mountain of God, to Horev.

(2) A messenger of ה׳appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. (3) Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?” (4) When ה׳ saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” (5) And [God] said, “Do not come closer! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!” (6) and continued, “I am the God of your father’s [house]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (7) Now YHWH said:

I have seen, yes, seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt,

their cry I have heard in the face of their slave-drivers;

indeed, I have known their sufferings!

(1)“The Lord said to Abram: Go you, from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).
“The Lord said to Abram: Go you, from your land…” ... Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is analogous to one who was passing from place to place, and saw a building with a [candle] burning in it. He said: ‘Is it possible that this building has no one in charge of it?’ The owner of the building looked out at him and said: ‘I am the owner of the building.’ So, because Abraham our patriarch was saying: ‘Is it possible that this world is without someone in charge?’ The Holy One blessed be He looked at him and said to him: ‘I am the owner of the world.’ “The king will desire your beauty, as he is your master” (Psalms 45:12) – to show your beauty in the world. “And bow to him” (Psalms 45:12) – that is, “the Lord said to Abram.”

(10) But Moses said to ה׳, “Please, O my lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (11)And ה׳ said to him, “Who gives humans speech? Who makes them dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, ה׳? (12) Now go, and I will be with you as you speak and will instruct you what to say.” (13) But he said, “Please, O my lord, make someone else Your agent.” (14)ה׳ became angry with Moses and said, “There is your brother Aaron the Levite. He, I know, speaks readily. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you. (15) You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth—I will be with you and with him as you speak, and tell both of you what to do— (16) and he shall speak for you to the people. Thus he shall serve as your spokesman, with you playing the role of God to him. (17) And take with you this rod, with which you shall perform the signs.”

And hence our Sages, may their memory be blessed, fixed for us to read a portion of the Book of the Torah each and every week in the place of the gathering of people — which is the synagogue — to arouse the heart of a man about the words of the Torah and the commandments, until they finish the whole Book. And according to that which we heard, most of Israel today practices reading it all in one year. And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, further obligated us that every one of Israel read it in his home each and every week in the way that we read it in the place of gathering. And that is [the meaning of] their, may their memory be blessed, saying (Berakhot 8a), “A person should always finish his sections with the community” — so that he understand things better with his reading them at home. ... Hence I — “the poorest of my thousand,” a student of the students in my time, a Jew from the House of Levi in Barcelona — saw it good to write the commandments by way of the [weekly] orders and in the order that they are written in the Torah, one after the other. [This is] to arouse the heart of the youth — my son and his friends — each and every week about the tally of the commandments after they study that [reading]. And [this is also in order] to accustom them to [the commandments] and to attach their thoughts to the thought of purity; and to the calculation of the essential, before they put in their hearts, calculations of joking and “what is it to you,” and of “what is the point.” And [so] “even when they age, it will not depart from them.”