January 16, 2020 / 19 Tevet, 5780 • Parshat Shemot
Issue 597
Dedicated in loving memory of Mrs. Miriam Friedman

SHEMOT

G-d then told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse to release the Jewish people, and that only after suffering a series of miraculously harsh plagues would he do so. G-d therefore instructed Moses to warn Pharaoh about these plagues.

G-d told Moses, "Say to Pharaoh: 'Thus says G-d: Israel is My preeminent son.'" .

Shemot 4:22


We Are G-d's Children

By referring to the Jewish people as His "son," G-d implied two things: First, that He would be angry with anyone who harms this child. Second, that the love between G-d and His people is as essential as that between and father and a son.

From the second point we learn that no matter how depraved we may become, G-d's love for us always remains intact. And conversely, each of us should feel as close to G-d as a son or daughter feels to his or her parents. Just as a child's feelings of closeness to his or her parents may sometimes be dormant, so might our feelings of closeness to G-d sometimes seem dormant. But just like a child's feelings of closeness to his or her parents can always be awakened, so can our feelings of closeness to G-d always be awakened.

From Kehot's

Daily Wisdom #2