This column began back in May ’25 – Lag B’Omer and Parshat Emor. By now, we’ve gone from 5785 into 5786 and, more recently, from 2025 to ’26. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
And now, we are ready to start a new Book once again, Sefer Sh’mot. That begins, as we all know, with Parshat Sh’mot.
Let’s look at the Book first.
Whereas B’reishit is far from the average among the Five Books – size at one extreme and mitzvot at the other – Sh’mot is very close to average among the Chumashim.
It has 11 sedras – that’s 20.4% of the Torah’s 54. B’reishit has 12; Vayikra and Bamidbar have 10 each; D’varim has 11. The Book is written on 2,130 lines in a Sefer Torah. That’s 20.7% of the Torah’s total of 10,274 lines. (Remember that 20% is average per Book.)
Counting p’sukim also results in 20.7%. For comparison, B’reishit has 26.2% of the Torah’s 5,846 p’sukim; Vayikra, only 14.7%; Bamidbar, 22.0%; and D’varim, 16.4%.
As for words: Sh’mot has 16,713 of the Torah’s 79,976 – which is 20.9%.
Finally, letters: Sh’mot has 63,529 of the Torah’s 304,805 – which is 20.8%.
In all four ways to measure length, Sh’mot is closest to the average, a tiny bit above the midpoint.
How about mitzvot? Sh’mot has 111 mitzvot (distributed among 8 of its sedras), constituting 18.1% of the Torah’s 613. That’s a bit below average, but compare: B’reishit, 0.49% (in only 3 of its sedras); Vayikra, 40.3% (in all 10 of its sedras); Bamidbar, 8.5% (in 8 of its sedras); and D’varim, 32.6% (in 8 of its sedras). Among the 54 sedras of the Torah, 37 of them have at least one mitzvah; 17 have none. But again, Sh’mot is closest to the average.
* * * * *
Now, to this week’s sedra, Parshat Sh’mot.
As sedras go, it is towards the bottom of the top third, lengthwise. Written on 215.2 lines in a Sefer Torah, it ranks 18th overall, and 4th among the 11 sedras in this Book.
Sh’mot has 124 p’sukim – giving it a 15th-place ranking (tied with Emor); 1,763 words – putting it at 14th (for comparison, Emor is 22nd); 6,762 letters – ranking it 16th (Emor is 23rd). The sedra ranks second in the Book of Sh’mot in those three categories. Its p’sukim are above average in length (i.e., in number of words and letters).
* * * * *
Numbers (actual numbers, not the Book of Bamidbar) begin Sh’mot.
First are the 12 sons of Yaakov: Reuven, Shimon, Levi, viHuda…
(Notice that “and Yehuda” is not “v’Yehuda.” The conjunctive Vav/Sh’va before a Yud with a Sh’va causes the Vav’s vowel to become a Chirik and the Yud itself of Yehuda goes silent. The result is Vi-Huda.)
The list continues with Yissachar, Z’vulun, u’Vinyamin…
(Notice here that the conjunctive Vav/Sh’va before a Bet changes to a Shuruk – U, as in “food,” and the dot in the Bet drops out. So not v’Binyamin, not u’Binyamin, but u’Vinyamin.)
And Dan, Naftali, Gad, v’Asher.
Then the Torah completes the list of Yaakov’s sons by saying that Yosef was (already) in Egypt.
After that, the Torah tells us that the full number of souls that went down to Egypt with Yaakov was 70, including Yosef and his sons who were already in Egypt. (And not counting the wives of Yaakov’s sons.)
But let’s go back two sedras to Vayigash and count the 70 souls. The math needs a bit of a tweak.
* * * * *
Note the atypical mention (and counting) of female offspring: Yaakov’s daughter Dina (from Leah) and Serach bat Asher. Tradition attributes to Serach great longevity – she was the oldest person to leave Egypt, making her an eyewitness to the entire Egyptian experience. (Perhaps Yocheved was, too, except that she was born as the family entered Egypt.)
Notice the label of b’chor (firstborn) for Reuven, here and in other places in the Torah. Although Levi, Yehuda, and Yosef each ended up with a “feature” that we would identify with the firstborn, these roles being taken away from Reuven because of his shortcomings, he nonetheless is repeatedly identified as Yaakov’s b’chor.
Here’s the count:
Reuven (1) and his sons Chanoch (2), Palu (3), Chetzron (4), and Carmi (5);
Shimon (6) and his sons Y’mu’el (7), Yamin (8), Ohad (9), Yachin (10), Tzochar (11), and Shaul (12); (Rashi says that Shaul was Dina’s child from Sh’chem, raised by Shimon as his own. On the other hand, some say that Dina had a girl who was raised by Potifar and his wife – namely, A-s’nat);
Levi (13) and his sons Gershon (14), K’hat (15), and M’rari (16);
Yehuda (17) and his sons Eir and Onan (both of whom died in Canaan, but are mentioned here, though not counted among the 70), Sheila (18), Peretz (19), Zerach (20), and Peretz’s sons Chetzron (21), and Chamul (22);
Yissachar (23) and his sons Tola (24), Puva (25), Yov (26), and Shimron (27);
Z’vulun (28) and his sons Sered (29), Eilon (30), and Yachl’eil (31).
These are Leah’s children plus Dina (32). The Torah says the total from Leah is 33. Rashi says that the 33rd of Leah’s “children” is Yocheved (33), daughter of Levi, who was born as they entered Egypt (or conceived in Eretz Yisrael and born in Egypt, hence, “brought down” to Egypt).
That’s 33 souls from Leah.
Continuing, we have: Gad (34) and his sons Tzifyon (35), Chagi (36), Shuni (37), Etzbon (38), Eiri (39), Arodi (40), and Areili (41);
Asher (42) and his children Yimna (43), Yishva (44), Yishvi (45), B’ri’a (46), their sister Serach (47), and the sons of B’ri’a, Chever (48) and Malki’el (49);
The souls from Zilpa are 16.
Yosef (50) and Binyamin (51); Yosef’s sons who were born from A-s’nat in Egypt (they are nonetheless included in the 70 souls), Menashe (52) and Efrayim (53);
Binyamin’s sons Bela (54), Becher (55), Ashbel (56), Geira (57), Naaman (58), Eichi (59), Rosh (60), Mupim (61), Chupim (62), and Ard (63).
The souls from Rachel are 14.
Dan (64) and his son(s) Chushim (65); Dan’s one son is identified with “B’nei,” plural. The Gemara explains the use of the plural is a glimpse into the future of a large tribe that descended from Dan.
Naftali (66) and his sons Yachtz’eil (67), Guni (68), Yeitzer (69), and Shileim (70).
The souls from Bilha are 7.
Sixty-six souls went down to Egypt (actually 67, counting Yocheved), and Yosef and his sons were already in Egypt, bringing the total – not counting daughters-in-law – to 70.
Another possibility for the “missing” person is to count Yaakov among the 70 souls and not Yocheved. The total is still 70 with all the names actually mentioned in the text. (But then Yaakov would be part of the Leah sub-total, which doesn’t work too well, unless we put him there with the majority of his offspring.)
* * * * *
Returning to Parshat Sh’mot, the Torah now tells us that Yosef and all his brothers and all of that generation died. Only then was there a “new” king of Egypt that did not “know” Yosef… and thus begins the oppression and slavery.
Back to the brothers. Tradition tells us that Yosef was the first of Yaakov’s sons to die (at 110 years old in the year 2309 from Creation). His brothers died over the following 22 years – the last one being Levi (who died in 2331).
For those who enjoy the extra details, here is the order of the deaths of the brothers, with the age at which they died in parentheses: Yosef (110), Shimon (120), Yehuda (119), Reuven (125), Binyamin (111), Yissachar (122), Dan (125), Asher (123), Gad (125), Z’vulun (124), Naftali (133), and Levi (137).
Sh’mot 1:6 reads, “And Yosef died, as well as all his brothers and all of that generation.” Sounds very final. Dead and finished. But… We have a concept in Judaism, recorded in the Gemara (B’rachot 18a), that tzaddikim, righteous people, even in their death are considered and described as living.
The Maharal connects this concept to D’varim 4:4 (in Parshat Va’etchanan): “V’atem had’veikim…” – But you who cleave to Hashem your G-d are alive, all of you, this day.
These two p’sukim, linked via the Gemara’s statement, have the same gematria (numeric value) – 981.
* * * * *
There is an amazing observation to make about the first 10 p’sukim of Sh’mot chapter 2. Notice how many people are referred to and how it seems obvious that their names are purposely not mentioned (I added them in parentheses):
A man from the House of Levi (Amram) went and he took (as a wife) the daughter of Levi (Yocheved). The woman (Yocheved) became pregnant and she gave birth to a boy (you know who that is) … She made a basket, waterproofed it and placed the yeled (same you-know-who) in it. She placed his sister (Miriam) at a distance to watch over him. Par’o’s daughter (Bitya, not Batya) went down to bathe in the water… She opened the basket and she saw the yeled and behold there was a naar crying… His sister (Miriam, again) asked Bat-Par’o if she should get someone from the Jews to nurse the baby. Bat-Par’o said, “Go.” And the alma (maiden, Miriam, once again) went and called to the mother of the child (Yocheved)… And the woman (Yocheved) took the boy (he’ll get a name soon), and she nursed him. The boy grew up (was weaned) and was brought to Bat-Par’o; she adopted him, and called him [drum roll…] Moshe…
It is remarkable how many times within these 10 p’sukim the Torah describes the people in the story but doesn’t use their names. These 10 p’sukim are here to introduce the most special person for the rest of the Torah: Moshe Rabbeinu. This is the first of 647 times that Moshe is mentioned in the Torah.
This narrative brings to mind the absence of the name Eliezer in Parshat Chayei Sara, in which he is a main participant. There he is called “Eved Avraham,” “Ha–Eved,” or “Ha–Ish” repeatedly, but never by his name. Sometimes a person’s role or function is more important than his name.
* * * * *
Back in the Vayeitzei column, I wrote about Sara, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah having been more astute and aware of what was going on and what needed to be done than were Avraham, Yitzchak, or Yaakov. The list of heroines in B’reishit also includes Tamar and A-s’nat.
Continuing the list in Sh’mot are the midwives (either Jewish or for the Jews). The Torah names them as Shifra and Puah, whom Rashi identifies as Yocheved and Miriam. Other commentaries suggest that Shifra and Puah were Egyptian midwives who were assigned to help the Hebrew women give birth. Either way, Shifra and Puah continue the list of heroines.
Side point (very much to the side): I asked ChatGPT if there was a connection between heroine and the narcotic heroin. His (its?) answer surprised me: Heroine, as the female form of hero, comes from the Greek word which describes a protector, demi-god, or great figure. The narcotic heroin was Bayer’s name (in 1898) for diacetylmorphine, because the company claimed that the drug made users feel strong, energetic, and heroic. (They also claimed that the drug was non-addictive and good for coughs.)
Back to the heroines of Sh’mot. Note that when Moshe was born, there was in force Par’o’s decree to kill baby boys. Moshe was saved by the actions of three women – Yocheved, his mother; Miriam, his sister; and Bat-Par’o, the princess of Egypt who adopted him.
And later in the sedra, it is Moshe’s wife Tzipora who saves him by circumcising their son Eliezer.
The heroism of women in Parshat Sh’mot expands from specific individuals to the Israelite women in general. The Gemara (Sotah 11b) states that it was because of the righteous women that our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt. This started with young Miriam who is called Miriam HaNevi’a because she prophesied to her father Amram that his decree (for Israelite men to separate from their wives) was harsher than Par’o’s decree to kill just the boys.
(And we’ll talk about Chana and Devora and Esther some other time… Thank G-d for our women!)
Shabbat Shalom.