Whether we are preparing for an exam, a simcha, a job interview, or retirement, our success is directly proportional to our preparatory efforts. Immigrants who arrive in a new country without adequate preparation for what lies ahead face enormous difficulties and challenges beyond those that are a standard part of any migration. The numbers of olim who moved to Israel in the euphoria surrounding the return of Jerusalem to...

Throughout the Exodus story, the Jewish people are silent. We do not know what they were thinking or doing during the plagues. We hear them rejoicing when Moshe first arrives with the message of redemption (see Shemot 4:31), and complaining when his initial meeting with Pharaoh ended with an even more onerous slavery. But that is all we hear of them until just before the 10th plague when, to be worthy of redemption, the people were...