On Beginning Shemot

I don't feel I have the luxury of not working all the time, it's the nature of my vocation. I need to focus on my teaching. At this time of the year I am learning names and essences, laying down foundations of content and form, of material and class. I am working constantly on the beginning of the beginning with six classes, one department, twelve counselled students, hundreds of Torah Guidance customers, two and a half clubs, and and and. Yet, I have a need to write and release. Compromise: I will gather teaching related thoughts while typing them here:

We started off Shemot with an overview/introduction to the book. Leaving Egypt, Getting the Torah, Building the Mishkan - these three topics relate to the two demands of G-d through Moshe - "Let My people go that they may serve me." The Ramban says that it's the book of galut and geulah. The Ramban redefines, or at least re-frames, geulah, because if he didn't he's stuck with the fact that the book ends with the Jews in the desert, while he states it ends with redemption. The Ramban and we discussed how Shemot starts off (lehavdil) as TV episodes often do - "Previously in The Torah." It goes back to recap the Jews going down to Egypt, We discussed the length of the sojourn in Egypt and what the issues surround the question of this number. We looked at the first chapter and divided into three sections. Here's a bit more detail:

At the start of Shmot, Paroh (that spelling makes sense to me, though it hasn't caught on) says that the Jews are many and that if there's a war they will join Egypt's enemies to fight Egypt and then leave the land. Many students said that it made sense that Paroh didn't want the Jews to leave because they'd be losing their slaves. This sounds sensible, other than the fact that the Torah (Shmot 1:9-14) reports that slavery was a later development based on this fear of leaving. Daniel K. suggested that it's embarrassing to have a large group of people leave your country. This idea resonated for me. When I was being deported from Ethiopia, the chief of police told us that Ethiopia was a proud but poor country. After tapping our phones and following us for two weeks they decided we (me and my fellow teachers of the Ferris Mora community) were missionaries. And so they rang our bell, interrupted our dinner, confiscated our passports, and pushed us on a plane (details available upon request). The police chief explained to us in a holding room in the air port (flanked by his girlfriend and his men and their girlfriends) that if this group of people that we were teaching were to leave, soon the whole country would want to say they were Jewish and then get out of Ethiopia. He was uncomfortable with the prospect of the exodus of many of the inhabitants of his country...