Sefer Shemot

We began a new parsha this week (Shemot) and the timing couldn't be better: The parsha opens with two instructive lessons about the notion of personal courage and conviction:

• Rashi: Yosef remained faithful to his religious beliefs even though he was immersed in an immoral culture
• Yocheved and Miriam (known here as Shfrah and Pu'ah) defied Pharoh's edict and secretly enabled newborn Jewish boys to live, at great personal risk

Students compared these respective portrayals of courage and came to some interesting conclusions about how we can demonstrate courage. This discussion aligned nicely with some of the lessons students learned in general studies about Martin Luther King.