In This Week’s Parashah: מָה בַּפָּרָשָׁה
Full Parashah Reading: Shemot 10:1-13:16
God sends the eighth, ninth, and tenth plagues to מִצְרַיִם (Mitzrayim, Egypt).
Aliyah #1 (Shemot 10:1-10:11)
Aliyah #2 (Shemot 10:12-10:23)
- The eighth plague is a swarm of locusts that blocks the sun and eats crops.
- The ninth plague is a heavy darkness. For several days, no one could see each other or move.
Aliyah #3 (Shemot 10:24-11.3)
- God tells Benei Yisrael that they will soon be freed and that they should ask for gold and silver from their Egyptian neighbors.
Aliyah #4 (Shemot 11:4-12:20)
- The month of יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם (yetziat Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt) becomes the first month in the Jewish calendar.
- God commands Benei Yisrael to sacrifice a lamb, and to place some of the animal’s blood on their doorposts. This is a sign for God to pass over their homes during the tenth and final plague.
- Future generations are told to celebrate Pesah by eating matzah and not eating hametz for seven days, and by sacrificing a קָרְבַּן פֶּסַח (korban pesah, pesah offering).
Aliyah #5 (Shemot 12:21-12:28)
- The final plague is the killing of the firstborns.
Aliyah #6 (Shemot 12:29 -12:51)
- After the last plague, the Egyptians beg Benei Yisrael to leave. They depart in such a hurry that their dough does not have time to rise.
- After 430 years in Egypt, Benei Yisrael are free.
Aliyah #7 (Shemot 13:1-13:16)
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