Parshat Bo: Walkthrough
Posted by Jack Kustanowitz on January 6, 2011 | Tags:
Loyalty to the literal text, with a modern voice [All editorializing in brackets]
Now God says to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, because it was I who has been making him stubborn, in order for you to be able to tell your children and grandchildren the story of all that’s happened here.”
So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and asked him, “How long are you going to keep this up? Let the people go worship already! Otherwise, the next plague will be locusts. They will cover the entire land and eat anything that wasn’t already destroyed by the hail – they’ll fill your houses like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” And they left.
And then Pharaoh’s servants started in on him: “How long is this going to on for? Let them go worship their god already, before Egypt is destroyed.”
So they brought them back, and Pharaoh said, “All right, go already. Who’s planning on going?”
“Every man, woman, and child, including our property.”
Pharaoh: “Wouldn’t it be enough to send the men for this religious festival? Now get out.”
So the locusts came out of the east, as had never been seen in Egypt, and ate everything in sight until there wasn’t a blade of grass left untouched.
Pharaoh then rushed out to call Moses and Aaron back, saying “I have sinned to your god and to you. Just PLEASE pray for me and get rid of these locusts!”
So they did, and a western wind came and blew the locusts back where they had come from, and God once again hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let the Israelites go.
Now God told Moses to bring darkness over the whole land of Egypt for three days. You couldn’t see the next guy over, and people just stayed put the whole time – but the Israelites had light in their homes.
So Pharaoh brought back Moses and Aaron, and this time offered for all the people to go, but the livestock to remain. To which Moses retorted, “Not only will we bring our livestock, but you will send a range of animals with us, since we won’t really know what we need for the sacrifices until we get there.” God again strengthened Pharaoh’s heart and he didn’t want to send them.
“Get out of here,” Pharaoh said, “and be careful not to come back because the next time you see me you will be put to death.”
And Moses replied, “In fact you are correct, I will not see you again.”
(God said to Moses, “I have one more plague to bring, after which Pharaoh will actually chase you out. Start telling people to borrow gold and silver from their neighbors.” And God made it so that the Egyptians were in fact willing to so this.)
Moses continued to Pharaoh, “This is what God has said: At the stroke of midnight, I will pass through Egypt, and every firstborn of Egypt will die, from Pharaoh’s son to the lowliest servant, and even the firstborn animals. And you will hear a shriek that has never before been heard and never will be again. And yet among the Israelites no one will be touched, and it will be clear that God can discriminate between the Israelites and the Egyptians. At this point, all of these servants of yours will come to me and tell me to leave, and I will!” And with that, Moses left, infuriated.
“He won’t listen to you…” God reminds Moses.
[We now take a break from the narrative for the first real detailed commandment that God gives the Israelites.]
God spoke to Moses and Aaron, still in Egypt: “This month will be the start of a new year for you. Tell all the Israelites that on the tenth of the month, each household should get a hold of a lamb (they can join up with their neighbors if a family is too small). Take this sheep (or goat) and hold onto it until the 14th, and then slaughter it in the evening.
“Then take the blood, and smear it on the two doorposts [mezuzot] and on the top of the door frame, wherever they will be eating that night. And that night, they should have a feast with the meat, grilled, with matzot and bitter herbs. It can’t be raw or boiled. Any leftovers must be burned in the morning.
“When you eat, you should eat ready to move – fully clothed, shoes on, walking sticks in hand. And eat quickly – this will be called God’s Passover.”
“I will pass through Egypt that night, and kill every firstborn in Egypt, and do justice to Egypt’s gods. The blood on the door frame will be a sign, and I will pass over those houses, no one will be hurt. And that day will be a memorial holiday for the generations – for seven days you will eat matzah, getting rid of any bread on the first day, and whoever eats bread during these seven days will be cut off from the Israelite people.
“Do no work on the first or last day, only what you need to eat. You need to eat matzah from the 14th at night until the 21st at night. EAT MATZAH!”
So Moses called a meeting with the elders of Israel and repeated these instructions. “When your children ask you,” Moses told them, “What is all this worship that you’re doing? You should tell them that it is God’s Passover sacrifice, to commemorate when He killed the Egyptians while saving our homes.” And this is exactly what the people did.
And so it was at midnight, God killed every firstborn in Egypt, from the house of Pharaoh to the lowliest prisoner, and even the animals. So Pharaoh and his servants all got up (because there wasn’t a single house without a victim) and called to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Get out of my country! Go worship God as you’ve been describing. Take anything you want, and pray for me.”
The Egyptians rushed the Israelites out, thinking that if this continues they will all die. The Israelites grabbed the dough they had prepared before it had a chance to rise, with the crumbs still on their clothes from dinner. (They had borrowed gold and silver from the Egyptians as God had instructed, which God made the Egyptians agree to, and they took all that with them.)
So the Israelites traveled from Ramses to Sukkot, some 600,000 men, including many stragglers and vast amounts of livestock. There they finally baked the dough they had grabbed on their way out, but it came out more like matza than bread, since they hadn’t had a chance to let it rise – they hadn’t even packed food for the road.
In total, the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years.
And so, after 430 years, on that very day, all of God’s multitudes left Egypt. It was a night of being watched, a night to be watched by God for all time.
[A break for laws:]
God proceeds to go over all the various laws of the Passover sacrifice with Moses and Aaron – who can and cannot eat it, where it should be eaten, etc. All these things the Israelites did, exactly as God had commanded.
And so it was, on that very day, God took the multitudes of Israelites out of Egypt.
[And a break for more laws:]
God told Moses: “All firstborns should now be mine, man or beast.”
Moses told the people: “Remember this day, when God took you out of Egypt – don’t eat any leavened bread, as you leave today in the spring. When God brings you to the land that he promised your ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, you should perform this ceremony during this month. Seven days eat matzah, and the last day will be a festival. And you should tell your child at that time that it was because of this ceremony that God took me out of Egypt. And it should be a sign on your arm and a memorial between your eyes, so that you should be fluent in God’s instructions, as God has taken you out with mighty force. Remember this commandment in its time from year to year.”
“When God brings you to the land of the Canaanites as He promised your ancestors and gives it to you, transfer all firstborns to God, including firstborn of the domesticated animals. Any firstborn donkey you can exchange with a sheep, otherwise you must chop its head off; any human firstborns should be exchanged. When your son asks you in the future what this is all about, you should tell him that God took us out of Egyptian slavery with great might. And when Pharaoh refused to send us, God killed all of the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast, and that’s why we have all these ceremonies that involve the firstborn. And so it should be a sign on your arm and between your eyes, that God took us out of Egypt with great force.”
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Jack KustanowitzJoined: July 15, 2007 Jack is an Internet professional living in Silver Spring, MD. He is a proud alum of the Frisch School in Paramus, NJ as well as Boston University, where he was active at BU Hillel. Divrei Torah (32) |
