Ladder of Light - Parashah Insights on Sefer Shemot

'And Egypt enslaved the children of Israel with backbreaking labor.' Shemot 1:13 Why did the Jews spend hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt? What is slavery, and what is true freedom? In Ladder of Light: Parashah Insights on Sefer Shemot, Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, renowned Kabbalist and Rosh Yeshivah of Hevrat Ahavat Shalom in Jerusalem, answers these questions and many more. With his distinctive, in-depth approach to the Parshiot of the Torah, he applies the wisdom of the Sages of the Mishnah and Talmud and the teachings of generations of great Kabbalists to many fundamental principles of Judaism and a variety of contemporary issues, including: -The purpose of exile -Divine providence and Hashem's involvement in our lives -Plagues and miracles -The desert and the tabernacle -Torah from Sinai: The written Torah and the Oral Tradition -The rich and the poor -Why do we need mitzvot? -The sanctity of Shabbat -Torah study: full time and part time The Parashah Insights Series has touched the lives of readers worldwide in English, French, Spanish, Turkish, and Russian. Newly revised and expanded in Ladder of Light: Parashah Insights, these essays are a readable guide to the Torah outlook for laymen and advanced scholars alike.