Parsha catch-up: Vayechi, Sh'mot, etc., 5772

Some thoughts from reading Sh'mot this past Shabbat:

• Miriam is one gutsy kid--she's not only a slave girl approaching the daughter of Pharaoh, but she's, essentially, backing Bat Pharaoh/Pharaoh's daughter into a corner by suggesting that Bat Par'oh send her to fetch a nursemaid. Note that Bat Par'oh, while showing pity for poor little Moshe/Moses, had not said that she planned to adopt him. (See chapter 2, verses 1-10.)
  
• In Sh'mot/Exodus chapter 2, verse 18, Moshe's future father-in-law is called Reuel; in chapter 3, verse 1, he's called Yitro/Jethro, a classic case of Documentary Hypothesis, in my opinion. New for me this year was noticing that, in chapter 4, verse 18, Yitro is called Yeter, a name whose spelling in the original Hebrew differs by exactly one missing letter. I think that's a simple scribal error, but I would be interested in knowing whether "yeter" exists as an independent word.
  

Here are some more oldies:

• The cunning of politico-econimics: My husband's d'var Torah on the Joseph story
  
• Parshat Vayigash (re favoritism in raising multiple children)
  
• So much for "yeridat ha-dorot" (Yaakov is a bit short on seichel/common sense in raising Yosef)
  
• Yosef HaTzadik? Well, yes and no
  
• My opinion: Yaakov never knew

And note that I've added more links (and "highlights" notes) to Parshat Sh'mot/Shemot (whatever).

Yes, I will, eventually, get around to blogging about Limmud NY 2012, but that may take a bit more time.