Shmot – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

January 14, 2026

Exodus Is the Foundation of Everything (Parashat Shmot 5786)

This was my D’var Torah on Shabbat for Parashat Shmot, January 10, 2026. It has been a week, from Iran to Venezuela to my hometown the Twin Cities. And it has also been the week of Parashat Shmot, the opening of the book of Exodus, the most important book in human history. If you have… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Books, Current Affairs, Equality, Exodus, Freedom, Holidays, Parashat Hashavua, Pesach, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

January 6, 2026

Love Is a Form of Sweet Labor (Parashat Shmot 5779)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Shmot in 5779 just before New Year’s, at the turn of 2018 into 2019. I have come to love the hinge between the book of Bereshit (Genesis) and the book of Shmot (Exodus). The sense of something coiled up and about to uncoil. My rav at the Seminary,… Continue reading

Calendar, Love, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Torah

January 6, 2026

Brotherhood, Evolving (Parashat Shmot, MLK Weekend 5783/2023)

This is excerpted and adapted from a D’var Torah I gave in January 2023, when MLK Weekend began on Shabbat with Parashat Shmot, the opening reading in the book of Exodus. Here I’ve omitted the (long) opening, which is very similar to most of the other words I have posted about those opening chapters of… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Exodus, History, Inclusion, Justice, MLK Day, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

February 20, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #11: Exodus and Ethics

Most of this series is about specific concepts in Jewish ethics, but like the last one I recorded I want to talk here about something foundational, namely the Exodus story and how it generates so much of Jewish ethics. Sometimes when we say “Exodus” we’re talking about the part we focus on during Pesach, the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Abuse, Antisemitism, Ethics, Exodus, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

January 12, 2024

D’var Torah: Questioning and Certainty

This is my D'var Torah for Shabbat, Parashat Va-era, January 13, 2024. It also reminds me of a Rosh Hashanah sermon I gave in 2022/5783, "Right-ology: How To Be Right Better in the New Year" In August we went down to New York for the simchat bat celebration for our newest grandniece, and when we… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Exodus, Gaza, Israel, Justice, Midrash, MLK Day, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Power, Shmot, Torah, Tzedek, Va’era, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

January 5, 2024

Who Were the Baby-Savers of Exodus and Who Are We?

Saving babies, according to the Torah, was the first crack in the oppression of the Israelites by Pharaoh. In the first two chapters of Exodus, the start of this week’s Torah reading in the synagogue and Jewish study cycle, two sets of people save baby boy Israelites from the death decreed by Pharaoh. First it’s… Continue reading

March 31, 2022

Don’t Strike the [R]ock — Reflections on the Oscars

Head over to my blog at the Times of Israel. Continue reading

Chukkat, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Education, Ethics, Exodus, Jewish Education, Moshe, Movies, Pesach, Shmot, USA

December 23, 2021

One of My Best: How the Book of Exodus Changed Everything

I wrote and posted this a few years ago about this week's Torah reading — one of my favorite things I've written. Hardly original, but still good! https://rabbijon.net/2018/01/12/why-exodus-is-the-most-important-book-of-all-time/ Continue reading

Books, Calendar, Ethics, Freedom, History, Holidays, Justice, Parashat Hashavua, Pesach, Shmot, Study, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek

January 28, 2021

Torah for This Week’s Reading

Here are a few of my pieces related to this week’s reading in the Torah on the first days of the Exodus, escaping from Pharaoh and crossing the Sea and heading into the desert toward Mt. Sinai: What Is a Miracle? (why miracles are not about natural/supernatural but the relation of real/ideal) Why Exodus Is the… Continue reading

Beshalach, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Torah

January 8, 2021

The Beginning of Exodus and the Events of the Week

The Torah contemplates something parallel to the national leadership dynamics situation we are judging right now, about the relationship between the president’s words and acts and the actions of the rioters. Thanks to Rabbi Aryeh Klapper for directing my attention to a source on this. I’m linking his shiur (lesson) on the text, but I… Continue reading

Books, Calendar, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Freedom, History, Justice, Leadership, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA

January 12, 2018

Why Exodus Is the Most Important Book of All Time

My D’var Torah at Beth Abraham on Shabbat morning, Saturday, January 6, 2018. Today we begin reading the most important book in human history — Sefer Shmot, the book of Exodus. This is the book that transformed what was possible in the world and what was imaginable in the world. You can divide human history… Continue reading

Books, Current Affairs, Ethics, Exodus, Freedom, Leadership, Pesach, Prayer, Revelation, Shabbat, Shmot, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, Va’era

December 23, 2010

Parashat Shmot: On the Plus Side of Otherness

December is the month of difference for Jews. We usually deal with it by talking about respect for differences, and appreciation of diversity. This year (2010) Parashat Shmot falls right exactly on Christmas Day. The opening of the book of Exodus tells for sure a story about "difference" between the Egyptians and the Israelite nation who… Continue reading

Inclusion, Justice, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek