When the Torah tells us that Moses carried Joseph’s bones out of Egypt, it’s teaching a Jewish ethic of dignity: the body still matters.
Mark Twain once wrote that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. This week, contemporary events in Jewish history did not only rhyme; they resonated deeply with events from thousands of years ago that occur in this week’s Torah Portion.
On January 26, 2026, the remains of IDF Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in captivity in Gaza, were located and brought back to Israel, 843 days after he was kidnapped on October 7, 2023. His return marks the first time since 2014 that no Israeli hostages are being held in captivity in Gaza.
In Parshat Beshalach, read this Shabbat in synagogues around the world, we encounter one of the final actions Moses and the Israelites take before leaving Egypt: “And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph.” (Exodus 13:19)
