Parshat Shemot
Exodus 1:1 – 6:1

By Jen Smith

Shemot is my favorite book of the Torah (doesn’t everyone have one?!)  I am what you might call a desertphile. The hot sand, the incomparable sense of space, and the dry sunshine (great hair weather) sound positively dreamy as I look out on our frozen landscape. And while these qualities alone would be enough (Dayenu!), Shemot “drops the mic” with the most epic story of all: OUR origin story – the one where we become a People. This chapter contains all the elements of a true masterpiece: slavery and oppression, heroes and heroines, supernatural geology, resilience and redemption. 

“And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; every man came with his household.” (Exodus 1:1)

Parsha Shemot begins not with Moses, but with a list of names. These names are more than a census; they are a testament to identity, legacy, and the enduring strength of our ancient community. Even as the Israelites descended into oppression and fear, their names are symbols of individuality within a collective and they remind us that the people behind these names are not just slaves – they were the b’nai Yisrael, the children of Israel, inheritors of the covenant, upon whose shoulders we’ve built a thriving Jewish community.

The idea of Kehillah (community) is deeply embedded in Jewish tradition. In Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Hillel teaches “Do not separate yourself from the community.” (Pirkei Avot 2:4) The Israelites, though enslaved, retained their sense of peoplehood. They did not assimilate entirely into Egyptian culture or lose their connection to one another, and by proxy, their community. It was the Israelites’ steadfast unity that served as the solid foundation for their future redemption.

When Moses is introduced, his first act is undeniably one of communal solidarity. Though raised in Pharaoh’s palace as a prince of Egypt, he steps outside the walls to witness the suffering of the Israelites. When he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, Moses is compelled to intervene. Later, when two Israelites are fighting, Moses is again driven to intervene to restore peace. In these moments, we see that Moses has a deeply rooted understanding of arvut (mutual responsibility) as a cornerstone of Jewish communal life.

In our modern world, community is both a blessing and a challenge. We are more connected than ever through technology, yet loneliness and isolation persist. Shemot calls us to reaffirm our bond to one another, leaning in to experience the joys and pains of our community as if they were our own. Like Moses, we are called to step outside the refuge of our “palaces” and engage with the needs of our community.

Rabbi Tarfon taught that it is not our responsibility to complete the work of perfecting the world, but neither does that absolve us of the responsibility to try (Pirkei Avot 2:21). We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors: our parents and our grandparents, all the way back to Abraham and Sarah as a young couple setting off on an adventure of a lifetime, driven by faith in a God that was to be found inside the human capacity to dream and love.  Shemot is a startling reminder of life’s infinite cycle of birth and creation, a cycle that requires each one of us to embrace our unique role in God’s divine plan. By engaging in Jewish communal life, we embody the concept found in Talmud: [we] found a fruitful world because [our] ancestors planted it for [us]. Likewise, we must continue their work by cultivating and caring for our community, safeguarding our collective dreams, traditions, and values for future generations. (Talmud Ta’aniet 23a).

Jewish mystical tradition teaches that every soul contributes unique sparks of holiness to the world, and when someone dies, those sparks never vanish. This light dwells within us, the community, and within the Torah by which they lived. We honor their legacies by fanning the sparks of Divine light left behind by our loved ones. When we honor this legacy, we are reminded that each of us bears a responsibility not just to preserve the embers of this Divine spark, but to nurture them, exponentially increasing the light that was left behind.

The sukkah of Shemot – our sacred community – becomes its own sanctuary; a place where we remember and rebuild, transforming memory into enduring legacy. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, once wrote about the Torah’s vision of society as community driven by a common covenant: a people bound together not by power or wealth, but by shared values and collective destiny.

This Shabbat, let us be like Moses, stepping forward when the world calls for leadership. Let us be like the Israelites, holding onto our names, our community, and our connections to each other and to God. May we move forward on our journey with steady hearts, honoring the memories of those who came before us by living meaningful lives that nurture the raging flame of our collective Divine light.

Shabbat Shalom.