In the Parsha Bo
Plants
Hyssop
אזוב
Hyssop is mentioned in Exodus 12:22 in a text which relates the events which that took place before the last plague. It is stated there that in the name of G-d Moses told the congregation that they were to dip hyssop into the sacrificial blood of a sheep, so as to mark out the houses of the Israelites. We are told that this enabled G-d to protect the homes of the Israelites when he unleashed the last plague. Hyssop is a wild marjoram, which is cultivated as a spice. It is a low plant, a little over a foot tall, with blue blossoms.
Habitat: Sinai desert.
Places
Rameses
רעמסס
The city of Rameses was in the Goshen region, and is identified variously with Heliopolis, Hero-opolis and Pelusium. Joseph found an estate for his father and brothers in the best area of Rameses (Genesis 47:11): the city is best-known as the starting-point of the Exodus (Exodus 12:37), but Rabbi Kaplan points out the different spelling of the latter (see Ra'amses).
