I didn’t write a wrap-up of last week’s parshah, Bo, but it actually went very well. There were some gaps, some stretching to explain what I was asking, but the discussion was wide-ranging and fascinating. Almost everyone there said something, which was particularly nice because most of them were not regulars (the fifth-graders were there to help lead, and their parents with them).
If you remember, I was on about the Egyptian’s gift of gold, silver and fancy clothes to the parting Israelites. From that, we talked about reparations for slavery, anti-semitic stereotypes, the method of carrying the mishkan, as compared to individual chests of jewels, the individual and collective responsibility of the Egyptians for their slave culture, and some other things besides. It was swell. I don’t think anybody left with any answers, but I imagine that come Passover, there will be people who notice the absence of that bit from the Haggadah, and that’ll be good, too.
Thank you,
-Vardibidian.