Parshas Shemos

Zechus Refuah Sheleima: Tzvi ben Devorah

Le'iluy Nishmas: Gittel a"h bas Shraga Meir Hakohen

Le'iluy Nishmas Tziporah Chana a"h bas Yaakov Avraham Eliyahu

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Another great Parsha with many ideas for your Parsha Party. REMINDER - THIS IS A SPRINGBOARD OF IDEAS. YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE IDEA OR A FEW. AND HAVE THE KIDS GUESS THE CONNECTIONS.

Parsha Overview (Feel free to skip straight to the Party below - simply click the arrow next to this text and the overview will disappear.)

The Parsha begins with Hashem counting out the names of all 12 Shevatim as they are dear to Him. There were 70 souls that went to Mitzrayim. That generation passes on and the next generation begins to have so many children. Rashi says they had 6 babies at a time!

A new Paraoh becomes king and he does not know Yosef. He is afraid of the strength of the Bnei Yisrael because of their growing numbers. He commands his people to be harsh on them and enslave them. He has them build the store cities of Pisom and Raamses even though they were unfit to be built there as this would make it hard for the Bnei Yisrael. The officers would afflict them but instead they would have more and more children. The Mitzriyim/ Egyptians were disgusted by this. (Rashi says, one opinion is that the Yidden were like thorns in their eyes). The Mitzriyim enslaved them with back breaking labor. They embittered their lives with bricks and field work. Paraoh speaks to the midwives of the “Hebrews” named Shifra and Puah and tells them to kill all the baby boys that are born. (Rashi – Shifra is Yocheved that she beautified the babies “meshaperes”. Puah was Miriam that she cooed and talked to the crying infants.) But the midwives had fear of Hashem and let the boys live. (Paraoh’s astrologers had seen that a son would come and save the Bnei Yisrael and that is why he wanted to stop this by killing the baby boys.) Paraoh calls the midwives and asks what’s going on? Why are the boys still living. They responded that these women are not like Mitzri women and that they deliver their own babies before the midwives come. (Rashi says that they are like “chayos” animals, that do not need midwives.) Hashem did good for the midwives and made them houses. (Rashi – House of Kohanim, House of Leviim, and House of Malchus). When Paraoh sees his plan is not working he commands that all baby boys in the country be thrown into the Nile River.

A man (Amram) from the house of Levi goes and marries a Bas Levi (Yocheved) and has a baby boy that they see is special. They hide him in the for 3 months and when they can’t hide him anymore, Yocheved takes a basket of reeds and covers it in pitch and clay and places her baby inside, letting it float on the Nile River. The baby’s sister Miriam watches from afar. The daughter of Paraoh goes to the Nile to wash up and she sees the basket. She stretches out her arm and takes the basket and finds a crying baby inside and knows it’s from the Jewish people. Miriam comes over and offers to find her someone that can nurse the baby. Bas Paraoh is happy with this and Miraim calls Yocheved to nurse him. Bas Paraoh pays her to nurse him. She names the child Moshe and raises him in her palace.

One day Moshe leaves the palace and sees how his brothers are being treated. There is a Mitzri man hitting a Jew and so Moshe kills the Mitzri and hides him in the sand. The next day he sees 2 Jewish men fighting and he tells them “Why are you hitting your friend??” They reply saying “Who made you in charge of us? Are you going to kill us like you killed the Mitzri man?” Moshe is frightened as he realizes that it’s not a secret that he killed the Mitzri. Paraoh finds out and wants to kill Moshe so he runs away for his life to Midyan.

The Kohen of Midyan (Reuel/Yisro) had seven daughters that were shepherds. When they would come to the well to give their sheep to drink, the male shepherds would chase them away usually. When Moshe saw this he came to the rescue and gave their sheep to drink. They run home and tell their father and he tells them to invite Moshe to their home and give him food. He gives his daughter Tziporah to Moshe to marry and they have a son named Gershom.

Meanwhile, the king of Mitzrayim dies and the Jewish people cry out to Hashem in pain. Hashem hears their cries.

One day as Moshe is shepherding the sheep of Yisro near the desert area, a malach of Hashem appeared to him as a flame in a bush that was not being consumed by the fire. (It was by the place of Har Sinai.) Moshe turns to check it out and the malach Hashem calls out to him “Moshe Moshe” to which he replies “Hineini” – Here I am. He is told to take off his shoes because the ground is holy. Moshe hides his face because he is afraid to see the Malach Hashem. Hashem tells him that he came to save the Jewish people and bring them up to the land of milk and honey. He wants Moshe to go to Paraoh to convince him to send the people free.

Moshe doesn not think that he can do this but Hashem gives him signs to use for the people to know Hashem sent him. Hashem tells him to throw his Mateh – his stick to the ground and it turns into a snake. When he grabs the tail, it turns back into a stick. Next Hashem has Moshe put his hand in his cloak and take it out and it has tzaraas white like snow. When he does this again his hand returns to normal. Lastly, Hashem says if they don’t believe him, he should take water from the land and pour it on the ground and it will turn to blood.

Moshe pleads with Hashem saying that I am not a man of words. It is hard for me to speak. Hashem replies, Who is it that makes a man speak? It is I Hashem! Still Moshe is hesitant and requests that Aharon his brother do the talking. Hashem says that Aharon will be the speaker then, and will be happy in his heart for Moshe to be the leader, and Hashem will put the words into their mouths.

Moshe gets permission from his father-in-law to leave and takes his family to Mitzrayim. Hashem tells him to go to Paraoh and tell him to Let my People go or Hashem will kill his firstborns. While he is on the way, he is almost killed by a malach/ serpent because he held off from giving a Bris milah to his newborn son Eliezer. Tziporah realizes the reason for the danger and she does the bris milah with a stone and Moshe is saved.

Hashem tells Aharon to go greet Moshe and Aharon goes and kisses his brother. They go and gather the zekainim – elders and they speak to the people and perform the signs Hashem gave and the people accept it.

Next Moshe and Aharon go to Paraoh and say Hashem said to send out the people to sacrifice in the Midbar. Paraoh says “Who is this Hashem???” They ask for him to let the people go for 3 days. Paraoh sends them away and says they should stop bothering the people. He makes the work even harder for the Jews, making them prepare their bricks from scratch and requiring a higher daily quote to fill. The Jewish officers would get beaten daily by the Mitzriyim because the quota was not filled. They became bitter and complained to Moshe and Aharon for speaking to Paraoh and making their lives harder. Moshe cried to Hashem and Hashem told him Watch what I will do now with the might of My Hand! . (Adapted partially from In a Nutshell by Chabad.org, The Pesukim and Rashi)

And now for the fun part

PARSHA PARTY

SNACKS LISTED FIRST SO YOU CAN TRY AND GUESS TOO!

12 Pack of Smily face Cupcakes	Cry Babies	Lady fingers or Finger Jelly cookies	White chocolate
6 Pack of (any candy/cookie)	Fire ball candies	Lahit Bar (Dairy –breakfast Parsha Treat)	White Marshmallows
Animal Crackers	Fire Extinguisher candy	Lip Candies	White Ices
Baby bites	Fizz Candies	Mazel Tov Boy Candies	Hot Sauce chips
Blue Powerade	Fruit by the foot	Pacifier candy
Blue Sour Belts	Graham cracker houses (Can be made with Marshmallow Fluff)	Pesach Candies
Brittle (it means hard but breakable)	Green or yellow laces candy or green licorice / twerpz	Pretzel Rods
Candy Brix	Gummy Worms/snakes	Red Powerade
Candy Corn (as thorns)	Heart Lollies	Salt water taffies
Chocolate spread and Peanut Butter Spread	Honey Candies/cookies	Snake Puzzle Spray
​Coconut covered chocolates (or white sprinkles)	Hot Tomales	Sour Ropes or Licorice

THE PARSHA PARTY ANSWER LIST!

12 Pack of Smily face Cupcakes – The 12 Shevatim

6 Pack of any Candy / Cookie ­ - They had 6 babies at a time

Pacifier candy - They had many babies at a time, also baby Moshe is born, baby Gershom and Elazar are born

Baby bites They had many babies at a time, also baby Moshe is born, baby Gershom and Elazar are born

Candy Corn (as thorns) - Rashi says the growing Jewish nation was like thorns in the eyes of the Mitzriyim

Brittle (breakable) – The Mitzriyim worked the Yidden with back breaking work

Candy Brix - They Yidden had to make their own bricks

Mazel Tov Boy Candies – The Baby boys were supposed to be killed but they kept having baby boys born

Animal Crackers - The midwives said that the Yiddishe Mamas were like “Chayos” animals that they delivered their babies without the midwives help

Graham cracker houses (Can be made with Marshmallow Fluff) – The midwives Shifra and Puah were blessed with Batim – houses because they saved the babies. (Houses of Kohanim, Leviim and Kings)

Blue Sour Belts – The Nile River that the baby boys were to be thrown into

Blue Powerade - The Nile River that the baby boys were to be thrown into

Green or yellow laces candy or green licorice / twerpz - Yocheved made a basket of reeds/grass for Moshe

Chocolate spread and Peanut Butter Spread - The basket was shmeared with pitch on the outside and clay inside (You can also use Peanut butter cups – there is a pareve brand sold in Jewish Stores)

Lady fingers or Finger Jelly cookies – The daughter of Paraoh reaches her hand out and takes the basket with Moshe in it from the Nile

Fizz Candy – The cities that the Jews had to build were not good ground for building. There are some that say it was on sand, like quicksand, that it made the buildings get swallowed up. – (Gemara Sota Daf Yud Alef Amud Alef – Thank you to R’ Yaakov Biderman)

Lahit Bar (Dairy –breakfast Parsha Treat) – Mitzri was hitting Jew, then a Jew was hitting another Jew. Also the Mitzriyim would beat the Jews and the officers if they didn’t fill their quota.

Cry Babies – The Yidden cried out to Hashem from the slavery

Salt water taffies - The Yidden cried out to Hashem from the slavery

Hot Tomales – Moshe stopped to see the burning bush

Fire ball candies - Moshe stopped to see the burning bush

Fire Extinguisher candy - Moshe stopped to see the burning bush

Fruit by the foot - Hashem told Moshe to take off his shoes because the ground was holy

Honey Candies/cookies - Hashem tells Moshe that he will save the Jewish People and bring them to the land of milk and honey

Pretzel Rods – Moshe was told to take his stick and throw it and it became a snake

Gummy Worms/Snakes – The stick became a snake

Snake Puzzle Spray - The stick became a snake

Coconut covered chocolate – Moshe stuck his hand in his cloak and it came out full of white tzaraas

White chocolate - Moshe stuck his hand in his cloak and it came out full of white tzaraas

White Marshmallows - Moshe stuck his hand in his cloak and it came out full of white tzaraas

White Ices - Moshe stuck his hand in his cloak and it came out full of white tzaraas

Red Powerade - Moshe was told if he needs another sign he should take water from the Nile and pour it on the ground and it will become blood

Lip Candies – Moshe did not want to be the one sent because he had a speech impediment

Hot Sauce Chips – Medrash of Moshe as a child in Paraoh’s palace touching the hot stuff instead of the Jewels and then putting it in his mouth causing a speech impediment. (See also Hot Tomales)

Heart Lollies – Aharon was happy in his heart for Moshe being the leader

Sour Ropes or Licorice - The whips that the Mitzryim used on the Yidden

Pesach Candies - Kosher for Pesach candies/cookies etc as the Parsha is all representative of the Yom Tov of Pesach

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Have a wonderful Shabbos!

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