The Exodus

Partial statue of Ramesses the Great found in ancient Egyptian capital city along Nile

Ramesses II (“Ramesses the Great”) is believed by many to have been the pharoah in the biblical story of the Exodus.

Partial statue of Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great") discovered at Tel Faraon, Egypt, April 23, 2026.
CHERRY TREES blossom in New York City in April.

The scourge that is anti-Israel US politicians - opinion

Exodus from Egypt (Edward Poynter)

When miracles demand courage: A moral reading of Exodus for our time - opinion

Exodus from Egypt (Edward Poynter)

In every generation: The revolutionary spirit of Passover - opinion


Jews of Egypt, Europe were bound by mental enslavement - opinion

The Hebrews in Egypt during Moses’s time, and the Jews in Europe during Herzl’s time, failed to envision the path to freedom.

 Strawberry Fields, New York City.

Did the Exodus happen? Israeli scholar tours Egypt to show it did

The right approach is to look for signs of Egyptian culture in the Torah, Bar Ilan Prof. Joshua Berman says.

 Tourists look at the 3200-year-old Abu Simbel temple during a daily sound and light show, on the eve of the anniversary of pharaoh king Ramses II's coronation.

Parashat Beshalach: Just be strong and have courage!

Parashat Beshalach opens with a rare verse in that it offers a detailed explanation for a decision of God’s. 

THE STORY ends with the familiar Parting of the Red Sea

Parashat Bo: The victory of the poor man’s lamb

God asked every family or group to get a lamb or sheep and to eat it during the night when the Jewish nation was slated to leave Egypt.

A LAMB bleats after separation from its mother

Saving Jews from persecution: The lesson from my bar mitzvah - opinion

If I had had access to the Kremlin the way Moses did to Pharaoh, I suspect I’d have gone there, too.

 RALLYING FOR Soviet Jewry in the US, Simhat Torah, 1983.

Parashat Va’erah: Contrasting households

On the moral plane, the Torah taught the world how to see. That remains our responsibility, our struggle and our task.

‘Hand of God in Exodus and the Crossing of the Red Sea,’ wall painting from the Dura-Europas synagogue in Syria

Parashat Vayigash: Incitement as the little secret

We must look closely: What was the background of this incitement? Why did the king of Egypt incite his nation against the Israelites and why was he so successful?

DETAIL FROM ‘Moses Leaving to Egypt’ by Pietro Perugino, c. 1482. Zipporah is in blue.

The essence of the Exodus- From Egypt and from Europe

The Exodus from Egypt and the exodus from Europe 3,000 years later are so similar that biblical critics in the far future might argue that they were one and the same.

Herzl immortalized in Dimona, Israel

Parashat Beshalach - What do you carry?

All of us carry a great deal through life – memories, aspirations, relationships, burdens, natural gifts.

Exodus from Egypt (Edward Poynter)

Parashat Beshalach - Exodus from slavery to song

This Shabbat is termed Shabbat Shira for Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea, read in this parasha.

THE STORY ends with the familiar Parting of the Red Sea