• Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs, and ends with the descent of Jacob and his family to Egypt.
• The commandment of circumcision, the promise to Abraham that he would receive the Land of Israel and that his descendants would be a blessing to the rest of the world.

• The Hebrew title of this Book refers to the names of the Jews who entered Egypt.
• The exile, the gradual enslavement and suffering. The birth of Moses and his initial prophecies, the ten plagues and the Exodus from Egypt.
• The Revelation at Mt.Sinai, where the Jewish people received the Written and the Oral Torah.
• The building of the Mishkan, a portable Temple which housed the two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed.

• G-d calls to Moses and teaches him the laws of the Priests, the Temple, the sacrifices and the Festivals.
• Much of the Jewish code of morality and ethics appears in Vayikra, including the famous statement "Love your neighbor as yourself."

• The travels, battles and struggles of the Jewish People during their 40 year sojourn in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.
• Begins with a census of the 12 tribes and describes the formation of their camp.
• The rebellion of Korach, his demise, and the sending of 12 spies into Israel.
• The capture of the East Bank of the Jordan river and the subsequent settlement there of the Tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe.

• Final address of Moses to the Jewish People before his death. This prophetic farewell includes rebuke, encouragement and warnings for their future.
• Commandments that apply only in Israel.
• Commandments that govern the interaction with other nations.
• Moses writes 13 copies of the complete Torah, giving one to each tribe and placing one in the Holy Ark.
• The Five Books of Moses close with the death of "the greatest of all prophets" and "the most humble of all men," Moses.

Compiled by Rabbi Mordechai Becher and Rabbi Moshe Newman
HTML Design: Michael Treblow

Copyright © 1996 Ohr Somayach International. Send comments to: ohr@ohr.edu