Bo (parsha)

Bo (בא — Hebrew is the command form of “go,” or “come,” and is the first word that God speaks in the parshah, in Exodus 10:1) is the fifteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the Book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 10:1–13:16. Jews in the Diaspora read it the fifteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or early February.
== Summary ==
===The last plagues of Egypt===
After seven plagues, God continued visiting plagues on Egypt. Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, or suffer locusts covering the land. (Ex. 10:3–5.) Pharaoh's courtiers pressed Pharaoh to let the men go, so Pharaoh brought Moses and Aaron back and asked them, “Who are the ones to go?” (Ex. 10:7–8.) Moses insisted that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds would go, but Pharaoh rejected Moses’ request and expelled Moses and Aaron from his presence. (Ex. 10:9–11.) 
Moses held his rod over the land, and God drove an east wind to bring locusts to invade all the land. (Ex. 10:12–15.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, asked forgiveness, and asked them to plead with God to remove the locusts. (Ex. 10:16–17.) Moses did so, and God brought a west wind to lift the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. (Ex. 10:18–19.) But God stiffened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go. (Ex. 10:20.) 
Then God instructed Moses to hold his arm toward the sky to bring darkness upon the land, and Moses did so, but the Israelites enjoyed light. (Ex. 10:21–23.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to go, leaving only the Israelites’ flocks and herds behind, but Moses insisted that none of the Israelites’ livestock be left behind, for “[W]e shall not know with what we are to worship the LORD until we arrive there.” (Ex. 10:24–26.) But God stiffened Pharaoh's heart, and he expelled Moses saying: “[T]he moment you look upon my face, you shall die.” (Ex. 10:27–28.) Moses warned Pharaoh that God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but not a dog of the Israelites. (Ex. 11:4–7.) And Moses left Pharaoh in hot anger. (Ex. 11:8.)
===The first Passover===
God told Moses and Aaron to mark that month as the first of the months of the year. (Ex. 12:1–2.) And God told them to instruct the Israelites in the laws of Passover, and the Israelites obeyed. ( 43–50; 13:6–10.) (See Commandments below.)
===The plague of the firstborn===
In the middle of the night, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt. (Ex. 12:29.) Pharaoh arose in the night to a loud cry in Egypt, summoned Moses and Aaron, and told them to take the Israelites and go. (Ex. 12:30–32.) So the Israelites took their dough before it was leavened, borrowed silver, gold, and clothing from the Egyptians, and left the Land of Goshen for Sukkot. (Ex. 12:34–37.) God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to consecrate to God every firstborn man and beast, and Moses did so. (Ex. 13:1–2, 11–15.)
==In classical rabbinic interpretation==
===Exodus chapter 11===
The Gemara deduced from the words, “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,” in that even Moses did not know exactly when midnight fell. The Gemara reasoned that could not say “about midnight” because God told Moses “about midnight,” for God cannot have any doubt about when midnight falls. Thus the Gemara concluded that God told Moses “at midnight,” and then Moses told Pharaoh “about midnight” because Moses was in doubt as to the exact moment of midnight. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 3b; see also Mekhilta Pisha 13.) But Rav Zeira argued that Moses certainly knew the exact time of midnight, but said “about midnight” because he thought that Pharaoh's astrologers might make a mistake as to the exact moment of midnight and then accuse Moses of being a liar. And Rav Ashi argued that in Moses spoke at midnight of the night of the thirteenth of Nissan as it became the fourteenth of Nissan, and thus Moses said: “God said: ‘Tomorrow at the hour like the midnight of tonight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt.’” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 4a.)
Rabbi Johanan taught that speaks of Moses when it says, “The voice of the turtle (tor) is heard in our land,” reading the verse to mean, “The voice of the good explorer (tayyar) is heard in our land.” Rabbi Johanan taught that thus speaks of Moses at the time of which reports: “And Moses said: ‘Thus says the Lord: “About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt . . . .”’” (Song of Songs Rabbah 2:29.)
The Gemara advised that because of the principle that a dream’s realization follows its interpretation (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 55b), one who dreams of a dog should rise early and say the fortunate words of “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue,” before thinking of the unfortunate words of (regarding Israel's corrupt aristocracy), “Yea, the dogs are greedy,” so as to attribute to the dream the more favorable meaning and thus the more fortunate realization. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 56b.)
Rabbi Jannai taught that one should always show respect to a ruler, following the example of Moses, who in told Pharaoh that “all your servants shall . . . bow down to me,” but out of respect for royalty did not say that Pharaoh himself would seek favors of Moses, as reported in (Babylonian Talmud Menachot 98a.)
Rabbi Joshua ben Karhah taught that a lasting effect resulted from every instance of “fierce anger” in the Torah. The Gemara questioned whether this principle held true in the case of which reports that Moses “went out from Pharaoh in hot anger,” but does not report Moses saying anything to Pharaoh as a result of his anger. In response, the Gemara reported that Resh Lakish taught that Moses slapped Pharaoh before he left Pharaoh's presence. (Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 102a.)
150px|thumb|right|Hillel (sculpture at the Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem)
===Exodus chapter 12===
The Mishnah reported that on the fourth Sabbath of the month of Adar, congregations read (Mishnah Megillah 3:4.)
Tractate Pesachim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49; 13:6–10; 23:15; 34:25; 28:16-25; and (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.) And elsewhere, the Mishnah in tractate Zevahim taught that intent to eat the Passover offering raw (violating the commandment of ) or to break the bones of the offering (violating the commandment of ) did not invalidate the offering itself. (Mishnah Zevahim 3:6.) The Mishnah in tractate Challah taught that anyone who eats an olive's bulk of unleavened bread on Passover has fulfilled the obligation of and interpreted to teach that anyone who eats an olive's bulk of leavened bread on Passover is liable to being cut off from the Jewish people. (Mishnah Challah 1:2.) Similarly, the Mishnah in tractate Beitzah reported that the House of Shammai held that an olive's bulk of leavening or a date's bulk (which is more than an olive's bulk) of leavened bread in one's house made one liable, but the House of Hillel held that an olive's bulk of either made one liable. (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1.) The Gemara noted that the command in to eat matzah on the first night of Passover applies to women (as did the command in for all Israelites to assemble), even though the general rule (stated in Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 34a) is that women are exempt from time-bound positive commandments. The Gemara cited these exceptions to support Rabbi Johanan's assertion that one may not draw inferences from general rules, for they often have exceptions. (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 27a.)
Chapter 10 of Mishnah Pesachim taught the procedure for the Passover Seder. On the eve of Passover, no one was to eat from before the Minhah offering (about 3:00 pm) until nightfall. That night, even the poorest people in Israel were not to eat until they reclined in the fashion of free people. Every person was to drink not less than four cups of wine, even if the public charities had to provide it. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:1; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 99b.)
They filled the first cup for the leader of the Seder. The House of Shammai taught that the leader first recited a blessing for the day, and then a blessing over the wine, while the House of Hillel ruled that the leader first recited a blessing over the wine, and then recited a blessing for the day. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:2; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
Then they set food before the leader. The leader dipped and ate lettuce (which was karpas) before the bread. They set before the leader matzah, lettuce [hazereth], charoset, and two cooked dishes. The charoset was not mandatory, although Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Zadok said that it was. In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, they would bring the body of the Passover lamb before the leader. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:3; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
They filled a second cup of wine for the leader. Then a child asked questions. If the child was not intelligent, the parent would instruct the child to ask why this night was different from all other nights. On all other nights they ate leavened and unleavened bread, while on this night they ate only unleavened bread. On all other nights they ate all kinds of herbs, while on this night they ate only bitter herbs. On all other nights they ate meat roasted, stewed, or boiled, while on this night they ate only roasted meat. On all other nights they dipped once, while on this night they dipped twice. And the parent instructed according to the child's intelligence. The parent began to answer the questions by recounting the people's humble beginnings, and concluded with the people's praise. The parent recounted the credo of “My father was a wandering Aramean . . . .” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:4; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a.)
Rabbi Gamaliel said that one needed to mention three things on Passover to discharge one's duty: the Passover offering, unleavened bread (matzah), and bitter herbs (maror). The Passover offering was sacrificed because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. They ate unleavened bread because the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. And they ate bitter herbs because the Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites in Egypt. In every generation, all were bound to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt, because says, “You shall tell your child in that day: ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” Therefore it was everyone’s duty to thank and praise God for performing those miracles for the Insraelites and their descendants. God brought them forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore they were to say hallelujah! (Mishnah Pesachim 10:5; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a–b.)
A midrash noted that God commanded the Israelites to perform certain precepts with similar material from trees: God commanded that the Israelites throw cedar wood and hyssop into the Red Heifer mixture of and use hyssop to sprinkle the resulting waters of lustration in God commanded that the Israelites use cedar wood and hyssop to purify those stricken with skin disease in and in Egypt God commanded the Israelites to use the bunch of hyssop to strike the lintel and the two side-posts with blood in (Exodus Rabbah 17:1.)
Rab Judah in the name of Samuel deduced from that Joseph gathered in and brought to Egypt all the gold and silver in the world. The Gemara noted that says: “And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,” and thus spoke about the wealth of only Egypt and Canaan. The Gemara found support for the proposition that Joseph collected the wealth of other countries from which states: “And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy corn.” The Gemara deduced from the words “and they despoiled the Egyptians” in that when the Israelites left Egypt, they carried that wealth away with them. The Gemara then taught that the wealth lay in Israel until the time of King Rehoboam, when King Shishak of Egypt seized it from Rehoboam, as reports: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house.” (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 119a; see also Avot of Rabbi Natan 41.)
A Baraita taught that in the time of Alexander the Great, the Egyptians summoned the Israelites before Alexander, demanding from them the gold and silver that reported that the Israelites had borrowed from the Egyptians. The sages granted Gebiah ben Pesisa permission to be Israel's advocate. Gebiah asked the Egyptians what the evidence was for their claim, and the Egyptians answered that the Torah provided their evidence. Then Gebiah said that he would also bring evidence from the Torah in Israel's defense. He quoted and demanded back wages from the Egyptians for the labor of 600,000 Israelite men whom the Egyptians had compelled to work for them for 430 years. Alexander turned to the Egyptians for a proper answer. The Egyptians requested three days’ time, but could not find a satisfactory answer, and they fled. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 91a.)
A Baraita taught that when Moses broke the stone tablets in it was one of three actions that Moses took based on his own understanding with which God then agreed. The Gemara explained that Moses reasoned that if the Passover lamb, which was just one of the 613 commandments, was prohibited by to aliens, then certainly the whole Torah should be prohibited to the Israelites, who had acted as apostates with the golden calf. The Gemara deduced God's approval from God's mention of Moses’ breaking the tablets in Resh Lakish interpreted this to mean that God gave Moses strength because he broke the tablets. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87a.)
===Exodus chapter 13===
The Mishnah taught that invalidity in any of the four portions of the Bible in tefillin — one of which is and another of which is — impair the validity of all four, and even one misshaped letter impairs their validity. (Mishnah Menachot 3:7.)
Tractate Bekhorot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the firstborn in 12–13. (Mishnah Bekhorot 1:1–6:12; Tosefta Bekhorot 1:1–7:15; Babylonian Talmud Bekhorot 2a–61a.) Elsewhere, the Mishnah drew from that money in exchange for a firstborn donkey could be given to any Kohen (Mishnah Challah 4:9); that if a person weaves the hair of a firstborn donkey into a sack, the sack must be burned (Mishnah Orlah 3:3); that they did not redeem with the firstborn of a donkey an animal that falls within both wild and domestic categories (a koy) (Mishnah Bikkurim 2:9); and that one was prohibited to derive benefit in any quantity at all from an unredeemed firstborn donkey. (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 5:9.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and 17, 13:5, and 33:3, and 14:8, and 11:9, 26:9 and 15, 27:3, and 31:20. Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod to Ono, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasangs by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
==Commandments==
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 9 positive and 11 negative commandments in the parshah:
*Courts must calculate to determine when a new month begins. () 
*To slaughter the Passover lamb at the specified time () 
*To eat the Passover lamb with matzah and maror on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan () 
*Not to eat the Passover meat raw or boiled () 
*Not to leave any meat from the Passover lamb over until morning ()
*To destroy all chametz on the fourteenth of Nisan ()
*To eat matzah on the first night of Passover ()
*Not to find chametz in your domain seven days ()
*Not to eat mixtures containing chametz all seven days of Passover () 
*An apostate must not eat from the Passover lamb. ()
*A permanent or temporary hired worker must not eat from it. () 
*Not to take the paschal meat from the confines of the group ()
*Not to break any bones of the Passover lamb ()
*An uncircumcised male must not eat from it. () 
*To set aside the firstborn animals ()
*Not to eat chametz all seven days of Passover () 
*Not to see chametz in your domain seven days () 
*To relate the Exodus from Egypt on the first night of Passover ()
*To redeem the firstborn donkey by giving a lamb to a Kohen ()
*To break the neck of the donkey if the owner does not intend to redeem it ()
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, vol. 1, 93–137. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
==Haftarah==
The haftarah for the parshah is Jeremiah 46:13–28. Both the parshah and the haftarah describe God's judgment against Egypt. The parshah reports that God told Moses to go (bo’) to Pharaoh (); the haftarah reports God's word that Nebuchadrezzar would come (la-vo’) to Pharaoh. () Both the parshah and the haftarah report a plague of locusts — literal in the parshah, figurative in the haftarah. ( ) Both the parshah and the haftarah report God's punishment of Egypt's gods. ( ) And both the parshah and the haftarah report God's ultimate deliverance of the Israelites from their captivity. ( 13:3; )
==In the liturgy==
Reading the Passover Haggadah, in the magid section of the Seder, many Jews remove drops of wine from their cups for each of the ten plagues in (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 51. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 94–95. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to elucidate the report in that “the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” The Haggadah cites for the proposition that God took the Israelites out of Egypt not through an angel, not through a seraph, not through an agent, but on God's own. (Davis, at 48–49; Tabory, at 93–94.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to provide the question of the wicked son and quotes to answer him. And shortly thereafter, the Haggadah quotes to answer the simple child and quotes again to answer the child who does not know how to ask. (Davis, at 38–40; Tabory, at 87.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to answer the question: For what purpose did the Israelites eat the Passover offering at the time of the Temple in Jerusalem? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that the Israelites did so because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. (Davis, at 58; Tabory, at 99.)
In the concluding nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it is the Passover sacrifice” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Eleazar Kallir. (Tabory, at 125–28.) Also in the nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it was the middle of the night” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Yannai. (Tabory, at 122–25.)
Also in the nirtzah section, in a reference to the Israelites’ despoiling of the Egyptians in the Haggadah recounts how the Egyptians could not find their wealth when they arose at night. (Davis, at 108.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to answer the question: For what purpose do Jews eat matzah? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that Jews do so because there was not sufficient time for the Israelites’ dough to become leavened before God redeemed them. (Davis, at 59; Tabory, at 100.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah responds to a question that “one could think” that raises — that the obligation to tell the Exodus story begins on the first of the month — and clarifies that the obligation begins when Jews have their maztah and maror in front of them. (Tabory, at 88.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes — emphasizing the word “for me” (li) — for the proposition that in every generation, Jews have a duty to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt. (Davis, at 60; Tabory, at 100.)
right|thumb|150px|tefillin
Many Jews recite and two of the four texts contained in the tefillin, either immediately after putting on the tefillin or before removing them, as Jews interpret to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes,” and to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes.” (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 10–12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)
Much of the language of the leshem yihud prayer before putting on tefillin is drawn from Ramban's commentary on (Davis Siddur, at 6.)
==Further reading==
The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:
===Biblical===
*Genesis 7:12–23 (God's destruction in the flood); 15:14 (leaving Egypt with wealth); 19:23–29 (God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah).
* (command to kill sons); 4:21 (hardening Pharaoh's heart); 7:3 (hardening Pharaoh's heart); 9:12 (hardening Pharaoh's heart); 14:4 (hardening Pharaoh's heart); 14:8 (hardening Pharaoh's heart); 22:28–29 (firstborn); 23:15 (Passover); 34:25 (Passover).
*Leviticus 14:4–6, 49–52 (hyssop); 23:4–8 (Passover).
*Numbers 3:11–13 (firstborn); 9:1–14 (Passover); 18:15–18 (firstborn); 19:6, 18 (hyssop); 28:16-25 (Passover).
*Deuteronomy 2:30 (hardening of heart); 15:7 (hardening of heart); 15:13–14 (parting gifts for freed slaves); 15:19–23 (firstborn); 16:1–8 (Passover).
*Joshua 2:18–21 (destruction of all but those with a red mark on their dwelling); 11:20 (hardening of heart).
*Jeremiah 31:8 (firstborn).
*Ezekiel 9:4–6 (slaying those without the mark).
*Joel 2:2 (darkness).
*Psalms 51:9 (“Purge me with hyssop”); (midnight).
*Job (midnight).
===Early nonrabbinic===
*Ezekiel the Tragedian. Exagōgē. 2nd Century B.C.E. Translated by R.G. Robertson. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume 2: Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic works. Edited by James H. Charlesworth, 814–17. New York: Anchor Bible, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7.
*Wisdom of Solomon, 17:1–20. Alexandria, Egypt, 2nd–1st Century B.C.E.
*Romans 9:14–18. 1st Century. (hardening Pharaoh's heart).
*Hebrews 9:19 (hyssop); 11:28 (Passover). Late 1st Century.
*Revelation 17:17. Late 1st Century. (changing hearts to God's purpose).
*Josephus. The Wars of the Jews, 5:9:4. Circa 75 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston, 716. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
*Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 2:14:4–2:15:1. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston, 73–74. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
*John 19:29 (hyssop).
===Classical rabbinic===
*Mishnah: Challah 1:2, 4:9; Orlah 3:3; Bikkurim 2:9; Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Beitzah 1:1; Megillah 3:4; Avodah Zarah 5:9; Zevahim 3:6; Menachot 3:7; Bekhorot 1:1–6:12, 8:1; Keritot 1:1. 3rd Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 148, 157, 165, 171, 229–51, 291, 321, 672, 705, 739, 787–800, 803, 836. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Tosefta: Terumot 10:7; Challah 2:9; Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Sukkah 2:1; Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:4–5; Rosh Hashanah 1:1, 3; Megillah 3:4; Sotah 4:5; Makkot 4:1; Zevachim 1:1; Menachot 8:28; Bekhorot 1:1–7:15. 3rd–4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 198, 339, 471–522, 572, 585–86, 605, 645, 846, 1208–09, 1308, 1445, 1469–94. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 9a, 21b, 37a, 61a; Challah 49a; Orlah 35a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–2, 11–12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2005–2009.
*Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael: Pisha 1:1–18:2. Land of Israel, late 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:1–119. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-237-2.
*Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 3b–4a, 9a–b, 10b, 37a, 38b, 56a–b; Shabbat 24b–25a, 28b, 60b, 87a, 108a, 114b, 133a, 147b; Eruvin 23a, 27a, 96a; Pesachim 2a–121b; Yoma 36a, 49b, 51a, 79b; Sukkah 11b, 13a, 27a, 29a, 33a, 42b; Beitzah 2a–b, 7b, 12b, 20b–21a, 22a, 28b, 32b; Rosh Hashanah 4b, 7a, 8b, 11b, 20a, 22a, 25b; Taanit 7a; Megillah 5a, 6b, 7b, 21a, 29a, 30a, 31a; Chagigah 7b, 10b, 16b–17a; Yevamot 5b, 40a, 46a, 48a, 62a, 70a–71a, 72a, 74a; Ketubot 7a, 102a; Nedarim 25a, 36a; Nazir 7a, 23a; Gittin 10a, 25a, 38a; Kiddushin 6b, 29a, 34a, 35a, 37a–b, 41b–42a, 57b, 72b, 76a; Bava Kamma 13a, 37b, 41a, 50b, 54a–b, 60a, 63a, 64a, 76b, 78a, 110b; Bava Metzia 6b, 42a, 115b; Bava Batra 97b, 118b; Sanhedrin 4b, 12b, 18a, 36a, 42a, 48b, 63a, 91a; Makkot 4b, 8b, 11a, 13a–b, 15a, 16a, 17a–b, 21b–22a; Shevuot 3b; Avodah Zarah 24a, 27a, 74a; Zevachim 7a–b, 9a, 10b–12a, 23a, 25b, 36a, 37b, 57b, 91a, 102a, 106b, 116a; Menachot 28a, 29a–b, 34a–b, 36b–37a, 42b, 47b, 49b, 53a, 66a, 67a, 82b, 83b, 98a; Chullin 11a, 17b, 68a, 69b–70a, 74b, 78b, 82b, 91a, 115a, 120a, 129a, 133b–34a, 136b, 141b; Bekhorot 2a–61a; Arakhin 8b, 13b, 18a–b, 19b, 24b; Temurah 4b, 5b, 18b, 30b; Keritot 2a, 4a, 28a; Meilah 13a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
===Medieval===
*Exodus Rabbah 13:1–19:8. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Rashi. Commentary. Exodus 10–13. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 2:91–141. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-027-7.
*Judah Halevi. Kuzari. 2:80; 3:35. Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 132, 166. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
*Zohar 2:32b–44a. Spain, late 13th Century.
===Modern===
*Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan, 3:38. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 487. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Jewish Cemetery at Newport . Boston, 1854. Reprinted in Harold Bloom. ‘‘American Religious Poems’’, 80–81. New York: Library of America, 2006. ISBN 978-1-931082-74-7.
*A. M. Klein. Concerning Four Strange Sons. Circa 1937. Haggadah. 1940. In The Collected Poems of A.M. Klein, 78–79, 143–46. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974. ISBN 0-07-077625-3.
*Thomas Mann. Joseph and His Brothers. Translated by John E. Woods, 79, 384–86, 715, 788. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
*Dan Jacobson. “A Plague of Darkness.” In Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales. Edited by Howard Schwartz, 157–60. New York: Avon, 1983. ISBN 0-380-81091-3. Reissue ed. Jason Aronson, 1991. ISBN 0876688490.
*Ziony Zevit. “Three Ways to Look at the Ten Plagues: Were They Natural Disasters, a Demonstration of the Impotence of the Egyptian Gods or an Undoing of Creation?” Bible Review, 6 (3) (June 1990).
*Aaron Wildavsky. Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel, 14. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1-56000-081-3.
*Barack Obama. Dreams from My Father, 294. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3. (Moses and Pharaoh).
*Jacob Milgrom. “The Alien in Your Midst: Every Nation Has Its Ger: The Permanent Resident. The Torah Commands Us, First, Not To Oppress the Ger, and Then To Befriend and Love Him.” Bible Review, 11 (6) (Dec. 1995).
*William H.C. Propp. Exodus 1–18, 2:290–461. New York: Anchor Bible, 1998. ISBN 0-385-14804-6.
==External links==
*Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation
*Hear the parshah chanted
Category:Weekly Torah readings
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