Course description:
This course covers the first half of the Book of Exodus (Chapter 1-17, consisting of Parshiyot Shemos through Beshalach) and selected commentaries of Rashi. Topics include the birth and development of Moshe, Egyptian slavery, the ten plagues, the Exodus, the korban pesach (the sacrifice slaughtered and eaten on the first eve of Passover) and other commandments given to remember the exodus, the splitting of the Red Sea, and the mann (food from heaven) and the quail which Bnei Yisrael (the Israelites) ate in the desert.
. Course structure:
3 credits, lower level
Course Syllabus
Study Guide
End of Course Review (approx. 40 slides)
Exam:
66 questions, all multiple choice
2 hours to complete
Closed book
Sample questions:
1. What is Miriam preparing to do in the following phrase?
וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן אֶת־הַתֹּף בְּיָדָהּ
a. save baby Moshe from the river
b. find baby Moshe a wet-nurse
c. praise G-d for splitting the Yam Suf
d. announce that Moshe was wrong for separating from his wife
2. If someone’s family was too small to consume a lamb for the korban pesach, the Torah instructs that family to:
a. eat only matzah and maror
b. join with another family
c. make a bird offering instead
d. make an unleavened meal offering instead
3. How is a firstborn donkey to be redeemed?
a. give it to a kohein
b. sacrifice it
c. pay 5 shekel to a kohein
d. give a lamb to a kohein
4. What is Paroh essentially saying in the following phrase?
רַק הַרְחֵק לֹא־תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת הַעְתִּירוּ בַּעֲדִי
a. he is desperate for relief but he doesn’t want Bnei Yisrael to go too far
b. he wants to cut back the amount of work that his slaves are forced to do
c. he won’t allow the Jews to live in Goshen any more, but they may continue to build synagogues
d. he wants the Jews to stay in Egypt as free men and make him a crown
5. Which trait is portrayed in the following verse?
וַיַּכְבֵּד פַּרְעֹה אֶת־לִבּוֹ גַּם בַּפַּעַם הַזֹּאת וְלֹא שִׁלַּח אֶת־הָעָם
a. generosity
b. stubbornness
c. empathy
d. laziness
Answers:
C 2. B 3. D 4. A 5. B