Parsha Points to Ponder

A digest of Torah thoughts on each Aliyah

Compiled by Rabbi Aron Rosenberg

PARSHAS BO

First Aliyah

(10:8) "And Moshe and Aharon were returned to Paro and he said to them, 'Go serve Hashem; who and who goes?' And Moshe said, 'With our youth and our elders we will go; with our sons and our daughters and our flocks and cattle we will go; for it is a festival of Hashem for us.'" Paro did not ask who will go, rather in the present tense, who goes. Paro was stating that if you look at all people in the world that sacrifice, only the males partake. You can only take the males. Moshe answered that this is a holiday of Hashem for us. Besides the sacrificing we celebrate with our families. The joy we can experience with our youth and elders makes the festival an elevated experience. (Kli Yakar)

Point to Ponder: (10:2) "In order that you will relate in the ears of your children and grandchildren that I toyed with Egypt and the signs that I placed in them, and you will know that I am Hashem." What is the reason Hashem brought the plagues on Egypt?

Second Aliyah

Last week we presented the approach of Rabbi Shimshon Refoel Hirsch, which shows that Hashem brought the plagues in a specific order, to repay measure for measure the alienation, slavery and pain which the Egyptians brought upon the Jews.
Locusts: The Egyptians watched helplessly as the locusts ate the remnants of their crops. They were powerless to protect their property and became like the slaves whom they had stripped of their property.
Darkness: The tangible darkness that immobilized the Egyptians caused them physical anguish in repayment for the pain they inflicted upon the Jews. Thus ended the third cycle, in an air attack.

Point to Ponder: Why were the sinful Jews killed during the plague of darkness and not beforehand?

Third Aliyah

(11:3) "And Moshe was very great in the eyes of the servants of Paro and in the eyes of the people." A person can rise to prominence because he first captures the spirit of the masses. Later, the upper echelons of society may start to recognize him in response. But Moshe’s greatness was recognized first by the upper echelon, the servants of Paro and then later by the masses. (Meshech Chachmah)

Point to Ponder: (11:2) "Please speak in the ears of the people; and they should request from their neighbors...silver vessels..." Why did Hashem have to say please for this request?

Fourth Aliyah

(11:4) "And Moshe said, 'So says Hashem: About midnight I will go out amongst Egypt.'." Rashi says that Moshe did not say midnight exactly for he feared the Egyptian astrologers might miscalculate the time. When the time they thought was midnight came, if the plague of slaying the first born did not occur Moshe would have appeared foolish. But even if they miscalculate, the plague is going to happen anyway so why should Moshe be so concerned? We see that Moshe did not want to risk even the slightest perception that he is not the guaranteed prophet of Hashem.

Point to Ponder: What was the first mitzvah given to the Jews on a national level?

Fifth Aliyah

(12:21) "And Moshe called to all the elders of the Jews and said to them, 'Pull, mishchu, and take a sheep..." Chazal say that
they had to pull their hands away from idol worship in order to take the sheep for a karban Pesach. But Chazal also tell us that the Jews did not change their distinctive Jewish names, language, or dress. We see that the external signs of Judaism, as important as they are, are not a guarantee against committing the most terrible sins.

Point to Ponder: What is significant that Moshe told the Jews to dip a bunch of hyssop into the blood of the Karban Pesach?

Sixth Aliyah

(12:39) "And they baked the dough which they took out of Mitzrayim, loaves of matzah and not leavened, for they were cast out of Mitzrayim and they could not delay..." The implication of the verse is that they would have baked chometz loaves if they would have had time. But isn’t chometz prohibited, at least on the on the first day of Pesach at that time? The Malbim explains that before the giving of the Torah the Jewish day began in the morning, not in the evening as it does now. The one-day prohibition was only for the fifteenth of Nisan. The morning began on the 16^th and then they could have baked chometz.

Point to Ponder: Would the mixed multitude that accompanied the Jews make any contribution to Jewish history?

Seventh Aliyah

(13:8) "And you will relate to your son on that day saying, because of this Hashem did for me in my leaving Mitzrayim." Rashi explains the phrase because of this refers to the fact that 'because I will fulfill the mitzvos, Hashem took me out of Mitzrayim.' The miracles were not just a reaction to the bitter enslavement. The exodus only took place because the Jews would be the standard bearers of Hashem in the world. In fact all of creation was waiting to see if the Jews would accept the Torah at Har Sinai. Otherwise there would be no purpose to creation.

Point to Ponder: How do we know to place the arm tefillin on the left hand?

Pondered long enough?

ANSWERS to POINTS TO PONDER

Note: These are not necessarily the only answers!