Shabbat Shalom Weekly

Torah Portion:  Bo   (Exodus 10:1-13:16)

Mo’ray Haish
It’s the Children
by Rabbi Ari Kahn
The plagues continue; in fact, their severity seems to have increased. Pounded by plague after plague, the Egyptians suffer both physical discomfort and financial ruin. Although the Israelites had, for generations, been the engine that powered the Egyptian economy, the price the Egyptians were now paying to keep the slaves had become excessive. Did Pharaoh not have a competent actuary capable of charting the financial folly of his policy of intransigence, or was he motivated by other concerns?
Perhaps the slave-based economy and standard of living was not at the head of Pharaoh’s list of problems; rather, his struggle to retain power and stature took precedence.
Should Pharaoh capitulate to the demands of the lowest echelon of his kingdom, his days as ruler would be over. Things had already begun unraveling: Even his court advisers had become emboldened enough to do what had once been unthinkable: They voiced an opinion that contradicted Pharaoh’s decision, advocating the freeing of the slaves. In their words, “Egypt is already lost.” (Shmot 10:7).
Pharaoh, while steadfast in his refusal, begins to show some signs of weakening. In a step toward negotiating a partial and temporary release of the slaves, he inquires about the planned three-day prayer retreat. Who will be going? (Shmot 10:8) Moshe responds that young and old, males and females — every single member of the Israelite nation, must be released. Pharaoh warns Moshe of the folly of this plan: It would be a terrible mistake, he tells him, to take everyone. To Pharaoh’s mind, a religious experience of this sort is exclusively “men’s work;” the women and children should be left behind. This may have been no more than self-serving advice, designed to insure that the slaves would not run off; alternatively, this may have been an expression of sincere concern, a moment of weakness on Pharaoh’s part that allows us a glimpse of his inner world. Pharaoh warned Moshe not to make the mistake of creating a democratic society, a society lacking the clear caste distinctions on which Egyptian culture was based. To do so would be even more destabilizing than the plagues, as it would have a devastating domino effect on the very underpinnings of Pharaoh’s rule. If men and women, boys and girls, young and old, people of all social strata, were to serve God equally in the wilderness, where would such feelings of equality lead?
This, of course, was a “deal breaker”: Moshe would not agree to a partial exodus. Until they could all leave Egypt to serve God, they would not leave at all.
Had Pharaoh acquiesced, had he let them take a three-day furlough to serve God in the wilderness, the story would surely have had a different ending. The Egyptians’ suffering and eventual death could have been averted; all Pharaoh had to do was to allow the Israelites universal worship. After this three-day religious experience, the Israelites would have returned to Egypt, to share the lessons they had learned with their erstwhile oppressors. Slavery and tyranny would have come to an end, and the Israelites would have marched on to the Promised Land. The three days of universal worship in the wilderness would have endowed them, as a nation, with the spiritual fortitude to face whatever lay ahead; everyone, without exception, was to participate.
Moshe’s demand stands in stark contrast to the longstanding Egyptian ethos. Egyptian society was built on a clearly defined hierarchy, not only between the sexes but in terms of utility: taskmasters, overseers, Israelite slave handlers, common slaves.
From the outset, the Pharaohs had distinguished between men and women, boys and girls: The boys were to be killed, and the girls were to become personal slaves to the Egyptians. Moshe, on the other hand, lays out the first steps of the nascent Jewish nation, and his focus is not limited to the men or even to the adults. When Moshe makes this declaration of universal worship, an authentic Jewish ethic is born: Judaism’s greatest investment is in the children. The Jewish People does not exist without the children, and we are willing to remain in Egypt as long as necessary, until such time as the children are freed. We will sacrifice for our children.
Tragically, Pharaoh chose the opposite track, preferring to sacrifice Egypt’s children — even his own flesh and blood — to maintain the status quo. From the outset, Pharaoh had been warned that if the Jews (and their children) are not freed — the Egyptians’ children will die. After nine plagues, it should have been clear to Pharaoh that Moses’ warnings were not empty threats, they were guarantees: The worst plague of all, the plague of the firstborn, was imminent.
The events recounted in this parashah teach us that our children were not merely a part of the Exodus story, they are the focus Exodus itself, and of the retelling of the tale every year on Passover Eve. For at least one night, every Jewish parent becomes a teacher and every Jewish child a student. Our children are the focus of the Passover Seder, and it is our duty to make them feel that they are a part of the events of the Exodus.
The education of our children is no academic exercise; it is a defining element of our religious identity. Although the Seder is a once-a-year lesson designed to draw our children into the Jewish experience, the investment we make in our children goes far beyond that one special night. It is a constant in Judaism that began with Moses’ declaration that everyone — men, women, and most importantly, children, worship God equally and directly.
When we retell the Passover story each year at the Seder table, our children are the focus, just as they were the focus of the Exodus itself.
For a more in-depth analysis see: http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2015/01/parashat-bo-lectures-and-essays.html
1.  This point I heard from Rabbi Soloveitchik.

 

Family Parsha
Double Take
by Nesanel Yoel Safran
From this week’s Torah portion
Nothing’s wrong with making mistakes, as long as we learn from them. Pharaoh, in this week’s Torah portion, keeps making the same mistake of not listening to Moses and letting the Jewish slaves free – and he pays the price of plagues. Let’s learn from the mistakes we make, not repeat them.
In our story, a girl has the challenge of not falling in the same trap twice.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE
Wendy had just sat down to cram for her test when the doorbell rang.
“Hey, Shauna, Deb — what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Is that a way to greet a couple of long-lost friends you haven’t seen in a whole day?” Shauna laughed.
“No, it’s not that,” Wendy smiled, “I just have a lot of studying to do for my math test in two days and you guys are just sooo interesting that there’s just no way that trigonometry can compete.”
“I guess I should take that as a compliment,” Debby sniffed, holding open a shopping bag. “We just came from the sale at Clothes Calls and wanted to show you the great stuff we snatched up at half-price. We’ll only stay for ten minutes. You got anything cold to drink?”
The three fell into a short chat, which soon turned into one of their marathon ‘heart-to-heart-to-hearts’ and before Wendy knew it, it was dinnertime and, of course, her friends could stay. Then, there were snacks, more chatting, music, and by a lot later when they actually left, Wendy sat down again at her desk to study — and promptly fell asleep until the morning.
The next day Wendy really didn’t have any idea what her math class was about and now there was only one day left to study. So this time she tried to put a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on her front door — which her sister, Dana, immediately tore off. “Why should she have to live like a hermit,” she claimed, “just because Wendy had a test?”
This time she had actually gotten the math book open before her friends showed up at the door.
“Guess who?” Shauna said.
“What a surprise.” Wendy deadpanned. “Look, guys — it’s always fabulous to see you but I have a…”
“Yeah, yeah. We know, ‘a big test to study for,'” Debby said. “But we knew there’s no way you wouldn’t want to see the latest disc that just came out today from your absolute world’s favorite singer…” She flashed the square of plastic like a precious treasure. “Come on, let’s pop it in your player, just listen to a song or two. We’ll only stay ten minutes. Anything to drink?”
“Well,” Wendy said, her resolve melting faster than a snowman in the summer, “I really should study now … but….” Wendy thought about how cool it would be to hear the new tunes … how much fun it always was to hang around with her two best buddies … how she’d made that exact mistake yesterday and in the end got nothing done!
“Sorry guys!” she said, handing each of them a can of coke at the door. “Today the drinks are ‘to go.’ Come back tomorrow — after my test — and we can go as late as your parents let. But for today,” she said closing the door with a wave and a smile, “working on my numbers has to be number one.”
Discussion Questions
Ages 3-5
Q. How did Wendy feel about spending time with her friends before studying at first?
A. She felt it would be okay and she could study later.
Q. How did she feel in the end?
A. After she’d been too tired to study the day before, she felt it had been a mistake to play first, so she didn’t do it again.
Ages 6-9
Q. What life-lesson do you think Wendy learned from what happened?
A. She’d made a mistake in judgment by letting her friends come in to spend time when she had a big test to study for. She was about to do it again the next day, when she thought twice and learned from her earlier mistake and didn’t repeat it.
Q. Why do you think people repeat mistakes?
A. A big reason is that they don’t think about what went wrong the first time, and why. So when the same circumstances arise, they’re bound to make the same wrong choice. With a little reflection and forethought, a person can save himself a lot of grief.
Ages 10 and Up
Q. A wise person learns from his mistakes. Do you think there can be an even higher wisdom than that?
A. While it’s good to learn from mistakes, a real wise person doesn’t have to live them — but can rather observe the mistakes others make, see where they went wrong and take steps not to fall into the same trap.
Q. Does learning from mistakes mean that we should try to accomplish something once, and then if it fails, never try the same thing again?
A. While we should learn from ‘what went wrong’ and adjust things if we can — sometimes it just takes persistence and a lot of tries before things work out.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

“He who guards his mouth and tongue protects himself from trouble.” — (Proverbs 21:23)

 

JOKE OF THE WEEK

A yeshiva student was at the local swimming pool when he got in trouble with the lifeguard for running.
“Hey,” said the lifeguard. “Can’t you read? The sign says no running.”
“What are you talking about?” said the yeshiva student.
“The sign says to run.”
“Do you need glasses?” asked the lifeguard.
“The sign says ‘Walk. No Running.’”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” said the yeshiva bochur. “The sign says ‘Walk? No! Running!’”

Shabbat Shalom!
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