In this week’s Torah portion Yitro the children of Israel receive the Aseret Dibrot, the 10 utterances or commonly known as the Ten Commandments. The scene is awe inspiring, the Israelites are standing at the bottom of Mt. Sinai, there is thunder and smoke and the voice of God is heard, delivering His message to His people. We recreate this scene in our minds as we hear the words of God as we receive the 10 Commandments once again, as the Torah is chanted during this week’s Torah portion. It is the custom to stand as the 10 Commandments are chanted.

Why do we stand while this Torah portion is chanted? I have two theories. The first is that the children of Israel stood together as they all heard what God wanted of them .They huddled close giving each other strength. They were together facing their challenges. The second theory is that this is the pivotal moment for the Israelites, the time that they became a people doing God’s work. To show respect for that moment and to illustrate their understanding of the monumental responsibility the Jewish People have to bring Torah to the world we rise together. We will chant Yitro this Shabbat, come and be inspired by the words of our tradition.

This week’s Torah portion contains the famous section, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds by the Children of Israel. This portion is called Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Sea, it is called a song because we chant this portion with a special tune and it is written in the Torah like a poem. It is one of the two poems in the Torah. In this section of B’shallach the Israelites at long last are set free by Pharaoh because of the last plague, the death of the first born. They escape, heading towards the Sea of Reeds, when Pharaoh changes his mind and pursues his former slaves. The Israelites come to the shore of the sea and no one moves. There is a famous midrash, or story about the Torah, that says the Israelites are being chased by the Egyptians and they have to cross the Sea of Reeds but they are afraid because it is wide and deep. Someone has to be brave enough to be the first one. Tradition says that Nachshon believing that God would ultimately save the Jewish People jumps into the water and immediately the sea separates and the Israelites can cross to the other side escaping from their enemy, the Egyptians. The moral of the story is clear there has to be a first. There has to be someone who has the courage to take the first step. History is filled with people who were courageous to be the first to take action. Thank God for them.

This week’s Torah portion begins the saga of the Jewish people in Egypt. We hear of the birth of Moses and the suffering of our People. The name of the portion is Sh’mote or names.

We are known in the household of Israel by our Hebrew name. When we are called up to the Torah the Cantor asks us to ascend to the bima by our Hebrew name, when we are sick and our name is mentioned it is with our Hebrew name, and then finally when we are called back to God at a funeral, in the El Male Rachamim prayer those leading the service invoke our Hebrew name.

It is the tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews to name a child after a deceased relative. It is to honor those who came before us and to remember our past. The Sephardic Jews do not have that tradition and name their children after those who are still living. That is why there are some Jews who are juniors. Our Hebrew name is very important it connects us to our people. It is our special name. Our given name is then paired with the Hebrew names of our parents. So our full name is our given name, Bar/Bat son or daughter then the Hebrew names of our parents. This once again connects us to our families. This week let us recall our Hebrew names and remind our children of their names and who they are named after.

It is customary on Shabbat to bless your children. After the candles are lit the parents place their hands on the head of their son and say “May God inspire you to live like Ephraim and Menasseh”. This is quoted from Mishkan T’fillah, our new prayer book. I say to my son on Shabbat when he is home, ” may you grow to be like Ephraim and Menasseh, a credit your people.” For the girls we say, also quoted from Mishkan T’fillah,”May God inspire you to live like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah”. Of, course there is no Biblical verse speaking of blessing one’s daughters but there is for blessing one’s sons.

The Rabbis felt it was important to bless the sons of Israel because in this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, Jacob blesses the sons of Joseph, his grandsons, Ephraim and Menasseh. That is why we bless or children because of what Jacob did. However, it is a little weird that we use this verse as the reason for the blessing because there have been many blessings cited before this verse.

The question is why do we always bless our sons with the names of Ephraim and Menasseh. The Rabbi say it is because they are the first siblings to get along with each other. Between them there seems to be no envy or distrust, they love each other. Joseph seems to have established a loving home. All of us want to model our families after the family of Joseph. As we say in Judaism ” ken y’hi ratsone”, let it be so.