[Avodah] SHMOS "The Fall And The Rise of the Jewish People"

[Cantor Wolberg]

The Book of Shmos (Exodus) deals first with the descent of the Jews to  
slavery and then their eventual emancipation.

The gematria of the word Shmos (shin,mem,vov,sof) is 746. There are  
only two verses in the entire Tanach with that gematria and
they are both in the Book of Psalms.  The first is 109:22 'Ki ani  
v'evyon anochi v'libi chalal b'kirbi'  'For I am poor and needy, And my
heart is wounded within me.'  That certainly would be an apt  
description of the slaves.

The other verse is Psalm 116:5 'Chanun HaShem v'tzadik veilokeinu  
m'rachem' 'Gracious is the Lord and righteous; Yes, our God
is compassionate.'

I find it intriguing that the above two verse can summarize, albeit  
briefly, the Book of Shmos.

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