Parshas Shemos Shabbos Times Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Plag HaMincha 7:14pm Latest time for Shema 9:48am Candle Lighting 8:28pm Shabbos Ends 9:34pm Shkiya 8:45pm Shaarei Shabbos Riddles 1. How many different times on Shabbos could one end up saying מקדש השבת? 2. When do you say ויכלו - 3 times, 2 times or once? 3. In what context does the number three appear in this parsha? (2 answers) 4. In this parsha, where do five verses in a row begin with the same word? 5. In what context is snow mentioned? Short Vort on the Parsha Shemos begins with a description of galus Mitzrayim. Rav Wolbe comments that while other nations relate to exile as something entirely negative, the Jewish People understand that galus is also very beneficial. Mitzrayim is referred to as the "kur habarzel" (Devarim 4, 20). Rashi explains that kur habarzel is a pot used for refining gold. The exile in Egypt refined and purified Bnei Yisroel, thereby honing them into the Chosen Nation. However, at face value, it seems that the galus had the exact opposite effect! Bnei Yisroel descended all the way down to the forty-ninth level of impurity, and the only credit whereby they merited redemption was their holding onto their Jewish names, language and mode of dress. How was the benefit of galus achieved? The Torah tells us (Shemos 5:14) that the Jewish taskmasters were lashed when Bnei Yisroel failed to fill their daily quota of bricks. Rashi explains that they had compassion on their brethren and therefore they did not push them past their limits. The taskmasters paid dearly for this kindness because whenever the daily total of bricks fell short, they were the ones who endured the punishment. This was a manifestation of the purification process achieved by the galus. While in years of tranquillity Hashem might gauge a person by his performance in the area of Torah and mitzvos, during galus Hashem measures a person by his level of mesirus nefesh.