Torah Commentary - Bo

                                                                                                                                           *Commentary courtesy of Menahem Me-Zahav
 

Our Sidrah today marks the final chapter of the Jewish presence in Egypt as slaves. It is named for one word: “And God Spoke to Moses: “Bo El (Go to) Pharaoh since I have hardened his heart” (Exodus 10:1). 

The final Plague and the fulfillment of God’s Promise. 
In last week’s reading we witnessed God bringing the first 7 plagues upon Egypt. With every ensuing plague, Pharaoh promises to “Let Israel go” and as soon as the plague is gone, he changes his mind and refuses. Today we read about the final 3 plagues: 
8.   Arbeh – Locust, 
9.   Choshech - Darkness,
10.  Makat Be’chorot - Death of the First Born. 
The final (10th) plague, brings an enormous devastation upon Pharaoh and Egypt. “As there is no (Egyptian) home where there is not a death” (Exodus 11:30). In the midst of night, Pharaoh orders the Israelites out of Egypt. They fully do obey Pharaoh’s “command”.
Since they had to leave Egypt in a hurry, there was no time for their bread to rise before the baking.
They baked therefore their bread, this one time when departing Egypt (in a great hurry) in its 
unleavened form.    

Pharaoh changes his mind (again).
As we can expect, soon again Pharaoh changes his mind. This time however Pharaoh is too late. The Israelites have already left Egypt. Pharaoh will catch up with them around three days later, on the banks of the Red Sea where God will totally destroy Egypt’s might (Next week’s Torah reading, Shabbat BeShalach – Shabbat Shirah).  

The newly freed Israelites are given their first commands: 
(a)    Pessach. The Israelites will observe a Holiday for 7 days. 
        “And this day (Pesach) shall be memorialized by you forever…And it shall be a festive Holiday
        To God throughout the generations…And you should observe (the Holiday of) the Matzot, since  
         on this exact day, I (God) brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 12:14 & 17).   
         The Holiday will be called “Pessach” or “Passover”. The name will remind the Jewish people 
         that God ‘passed over’ their homes, when bringing upon Egypt the 10th plague (The death of  
         the first born - “Makat Bechorot).  
(b)    Pidyon Ha’ben.  Jewish parents will redeem their first-born son, when he reaches 30 days of  
         age, in a ritual to be named “Pidyon Ha’ben” - “Redemption of the first-born son”. 
         These commands are to be observed “Throughout the generations” (Exodus 12:17). 
         The Jewish people have observed the Holiday of Pessach and Pidyon Ha’ben, for the past 
         3,300 years. 
(c)    The Fast of The First-Born Son.  Around the time of the Talmud, another commemoration for 
         Pessach was enacted. It became to be known as “The Fast of The First-Born Son”. The first 
         born sons express their thanks to God for “Passing Over” their fore-father’s homes when 
         bringing the 10th Plague on Egypt. 
         The fast is been observed on the day before Pessach, and it ends with the celebration, of the 
         completion, of a Talmudic chapter (A Si’yum). The celebration (The Siyum) involves, food 
         and drinks, effectively ending the fast.   
(d)    The Tefillin. The Sidrah ends with the command to all Jewish people. They are to lay Tefillin. 
       (Two small black leather boxes, containing chapters from the Torah. Leather
       straps are used to tie one box to the hand and the other one to the forehead).
       The Tefillin are to remind us that “By power of the Hand of God we were taken out of Egypt”    
         (Exodus 13:16).         
        Tefillin are worn during the morning prayer, six days a week, except for Shabbat and Holidays. 

        Note : On what Hand (Right Hand or Left Hand) should a person lay the Tefilin ? 
        Please see the note at the end.  

Non-Payment for Borrowed Egyptian Goods. 
The Israelites “Borrowed” gold, silver and clothing from the Egyptians before leaving their land. It was never returned. 
There is here a clear moral issue at hand. Bible commentators have been struggling to find some ethical explanation, such as: 
(a) It was a gift. 
(b) It was compensation for the slavery. 
(c) The Egyptians gave it willingly. 
(d) It was God’s order. 
(e) It was Moses’ order. 
(f) The Egyptians were always against the slavery enacted by their king, so they begged the  
     Israelites to take it as compensation. 
(g) It should be treated as ‘spoils of war’ that belong to the victor.           

What do you think?  
 
A Very Bright Future.
At the time of the Exodus, the number of the Israelites amounts to: “Around 600,000 men, not counting women and children” (Exodus 12:37). 
The freed Israelite slaves are now ready for a long process of transformation that will culminate in their becoming a nation of laws, that believes for the first time in human history, in one God.     
 
 
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28, Page 395 
The Babylonians won the crucial battle of Carchemish (605 BCE), decisively defeating Egypt and Assyria. Babylonia became then, the dominant power in the old world. It ruled therefore also over Israel.
A few years later many prominent Jews, were forcibly taken to Babylonia with “The exile of King Yehoyachin” (598 BCE). The Babylonians elevated to the throne King Zedekiah (Zidkiyahu). Zedekiah later contemplated rebellion against his benefactors, the Babylonians, hoping to be helped by the (weak and defeated) Egyptian army. Jeremiah vehemently objected to a rebellion and especially the reliance upon help from Egypt. Egypt was no match against the ‘Super Power’ Babylonia. 
It will be totally destroyed.  
In our Haftarah Jeremiah reaffirms his anti-rebellion stance by declaring that Egypt is not a worthy partner at war against Babylonia. Its fate has already been sealed. It will suffer total destruction from the hands of the Babylonians. “Egypt will be put to shame. It will be delivered into the hands of the North (Babylonia)…
I (God) will punish Pharaoh and Egypt, with her gods and her kings and I will deliver them into the hands 
of their enemies” (Jeremiah 46:24-26). 
The Jewish people though battered and scattered, will nonetheless survive, return to their homeland and flourish again. “But fear not Jacob my servant…He shall again be at peace. And none will scare him again” 
(Jeremiah 46:27-28).                                                                               ִ                                            The linkage to our Sidrah is the common theme of the breaking and the humiliation of arrogant Egypt. In the Sidrah Egypt is punished by God considerably through the Ten Plagues. In the Haftarah Egypt is decisively defeated by the Babylonians. In the Sidrah the Jewish people head to their promised land. In the Haftarah the Jewish people are promised a future return to their homeland as well.    

Note : On what Hand (Right Hand or Left Hand) should a person lay the Tefilin ? 
           The Torah is very clear about one Box of the Tefillin. It should be laid “Between your eyes” Meaning –  “On your forehead”. 
            As to the other Box we are not sure. The Torah tells us that the other Box should be laid “On your hand”. But what hand, is not clearly specified.             
          The Hebrew words used are “Al Yadcha” Meaning – “on your hand”. 
           The word ‘Yadcha’ is usually spelled: Yud, Dalet & Chaf (An end of word Chaf).    
           In the Torah we find the spelling: Yud, Dalet, Chaf & Hei (With a regular Chaf). 
           The word ‘Yadcha’ can therefore be read as ‘Yad  Keihah’ which will mean: 
           ‘Weak Hand’. Hence, our tradition: “A person lays Tefillin, on the WEAKER hand”.