Torah. The Pentateuch of Moses in weekly chapters, in poetic form

Weekly Chapter: Va’erah #14

G-d reveals Himself to Moshe and promises him to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt,
deliver them from slavery, save them, and take them to Himself as His chosen people at Mount Sin?i.
G-d declared to Pharaoh, ‘Let My people go…’, and in the absence of an answer-rescript,
He inflicted great executions on the fertile land of Egypt.

Aaron’s staff turns into a serpent, the Nile River flows blood instead of water,
Toads, lice and wild beasts invade Egyptian cities,
Pestilence, boils, hail from heaven – Pharaoh was hardened by the calamity that fell from heaven,
But the tyrant of Egypt did not let the Children of Israel go out of Egypt…

Book: Exodus

Weekly Chapter: BO #15

Locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn – the three final and most severe punishments of the ten,
G-d sent to Egypt to show that there is only One Lord of the world.
The transformation of a tribe of slaves into a free people could not take place,
without the opposition of monotheism to the Egyptian sacred idols.

G-d gives the Jewish people the first commandment to establish their own calendar,
The months of the new moon, in which they must henceforth.
To sacrifice a lamb for Passover and to stain their doorposts with blood,
That G-d may pass over them, before the Egyptian firstborns are punished.

The death of the firstborn breaks Pharaoh’s resistance, and he drives the Jews out,
The children of Israel are in a hurry, and do not even have time to wait for the dough to rise.
They take with them unleavened bread, the gold of the Egyptians and their own honestly earned money,
In remembrance of the Exodus and their dedication to G-d, they receive the commandment to put on tefillin.

Book: Exodus

Weekly chapter: Beshalah #16

Soon realising what valuable workers Egypt had lost,
Pharaoh chased the Jews in chariots to retrieve them by force.
Sandwiched between the sea and Pharaoh’s army, the people of Israel were disturbed,
And were divided into those who were ready to surrender, to fight, and to dare to go forward.

G-d delivered the Jews from the hands of the Egyptians by a miraculous phenomenon,
The waters of the Red Sea parted to let them through.
The waters closed over the Egyptians… This made the Jews happy,
The children of Israel believed in G-d and there was no turning back.

When they murmured of thirst and hunger in the wilderness,
G-d sent them water and manna and quail from heaven.
Friday is double, the Sabbath is a day of rest, and the Jews honour it to this day.
Joshua soon gained the first victory over the Amalekites.

Book: Exodus

Weekly Chapter: Itro #17

When Moshe killed the Egyptian overseer for his cruelty and fled to Medi?na,
There he found a wife, Tziporah, and two sons were born to them.
On the advice of his brother Aaron he did not take them with him to Egypt, to the tyrant ruler,
so as not to subject his wife and children to the humiliation of slavery.

Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro, having heard of the great miracles, with Moshe’s wife and sons,
He hurried from Medjan to the camp of the Israelites with the best of intentions.
The idolater Yitro made circumcision, accepting the Creator with more than words,
And counselled Moshe to set up a system of judgement to govern the people.

Seven weeks after the Exodus, an exceptional event took place at Mount Sinai,
Not only for Israel, but for the whole world.
G-d’s direct address to the Jews, G-d’s revelation,
‘All that you say, L-rd, we will fulfil,’ replied every single Jew.

G-d announced that, ‘Israel was chosen to be His people from now on.’
and proclaimed the Ten Commandments. The people could not bear G-d’s revelation.
And the children of Israel cried out to Moshe to communicate with G-d on their behalf,
thus giving the leader the right to give the Torah directly to Moshe.

Book: Exodus

Weekly Chapter: Mishpatim #18

G-d, through Moshe, brought out the basic rights of Jewish law,
Restricting the slave owner, on bodily harm, damage to the possessor.
Fifty-four commandments of primary importance were given,
To regulate the relations between men of the most vital importance.

The commandments were given to all Jews, without exception,
regardless of age, origin, merit or rank.
This was of fundamental importance to the Jewish community,
for it signalled G-d’s justice and excluded deceit.

Book: Exodus

Weekly Chapter: Truma #19

G-d commands the Jewish people through Moshe, ‘Let them make Me a Sanctuary.’
On Mount Sinai, Moshe received the knowledge of how to build a portable Temple – the Mishkan.
The Tablets, the Commandments, the Kruvim, the Menorah, the Golden Table must be in the receptacle,
And there was nothing more valuable and important for the children of Israel than this holy talisman.

Book: The Exodus