A new era – Sh’mot
The opening chapter of Sefer Sh’mot records a dramatic change: “There arose a new king over Egypt”.
With the new king we commence new themes, new thoughts, new challenges.
The familiar faces that began with Creation and introduced characters and countries – Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Flood and the Tower of Babel, Canaan and Pharaonic Egypt, the family of Abraham, with Lot and the Pillar of Salt, the patriarchs and the matriarchs – are over.
History now becomes really serious. Man is now an adult, no longer a child stepping gingerly into events and experiences. The chief character is now Mighty Moses, and the Jewish people are no longer merely a colourful family but a nation drawn by a national destiny.
