HHMI Newsgroup Archives
From:
"Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit
Midrash"
To:
yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject: INTPARSHA -15:
Parashat Bo
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
*****************************************************************
INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA
Parashat Bo - The Korban Pesach: Paschal Lamb
By Rav Michael Hattin
Introduction
As the Plagues agonizingly draw to a close, and the winds of
freedom begin to blow, Pharaoh remains entrenched. Hostage
to
an adamancy of his own making, he is unwilling to consider the
sage
counsel of his chastened advisors to release the Hebrews, even as
disaster stares him squarely in the face. "God said to
Moshe: I
shall bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt and
then he shall send the people forth, he shall surely drive
you out
completely."
As their last tense standoff is about to conclude, Moshe
announces to Pharaoh and to his assembled court the most
frightening plague of all: "Thus says God: at the stroke of
midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt. All of the
firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of
Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the first born of the slave
girl who grinds at the millstone, as well as all of the first
born animals. There shall be a great outcry in the land of
Egypt, the likes of which there has never been, nor shall there
ever be again. As for Bnei Yisrael, a dog shall not whet
its
tongue neither against man nor against animal, that you may know
the distinction that I shall draw between Egypt and Israel.
All
of your advisors assembled here shall come to me and bow down
saying: 'leave with all of your people!' and then we shall
go.
And Moshe left Pharaoh's presence in fury."
The Passivity of the Hebrews
Over the course of many months, nine plagues have already been
visited upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The invisible God of the
Hebrews has patently demonstrated His superiority over the false
gods of Egypt, His mastery of the forces of nature, and His
providence over the affairs of human beings. The Egyptians
have
borne the brunt of the plagues in a pathetic mixture of terror
and wonder, as Pharaoh has impassively resisted their unavoidable
message. As for Bnei Yisrael, they have for the most
part
witnessed them as detached observers, absorbing their pertinent
message without being subject to their painful effects.
It is notable indeed that for a people about to experience the
refreshing air of national freedom, Bnei Yisrael remain
completely passive. In fact, throughout the period of the
plagues we have heard nothing of Bnei Yisrael's preparations and
plans for the Exodus. For an oppressed people chafing under
cruel bondage and anticipating the aurora of liberation, they
have been unusually inert. Have there been no clandestine
meetings of the revolutionary council to discuss the dawning
emancipation and to map out the setup of a provisional
government? Why have we not heard of an aspiring cadre of
firebrands gathering around the 'prophet' and stirring up the
people to heightened acts of protest and to sabotage of the brick
works? Where are the communiques and leaflets that
are
supposed to be periodically issued, to buoy the people's
spirits and to
fan the flames of the insurrection? Indeed, it appears that
the
Exodus from Egypt is the only example in recorded history of a
revolt of slaves in which their leader demands and achieves
deliverance, but where the slaves who long to be free do not
themselves participate in the revolt!
The significance of this 'oversight' is abundantly clear: the
Torah does not make mention of Bnei Yisrael's active
participation in winning hard-earned emancipation, because it did
not take place. There was no popular movement to call for
freedom and no band of inspired activists to oppose Pharaoh's
decrees. When Moshe appeared to announce God's redemption,
"the people believed" but did nothing to realize the
dream, for
nothing more was asked of them. Standing back in awe and
trepidation, they statically and stoically beheld as God's mighty
acts shook and toppled the oppressive regime of the
Pharaoh. The
participation of Bnei Yisrael is conspicuously absent from the
process of the Redemption because the Torah is emphasizing in
no uncertain terms that Divine involvement alone was
responsible for
the Exodus from Egypt. To paraphrase the language of the Haggada, "if God had not taken out our ancestors from
Egypt, surely
we and our children and our grandchildren would still be slaves
to
Pharaoh in Egypt!" The Exodus therefore becomes a
paradigmatic
metahistorical event that declares for all time that the world
has an omnipotent God, transcendent and yet always present,
absolutely surpassing the feeble limitations of pagan
personification but never too distant from the aching heart of
the serf.
The Taking of the Lamb
In fact, however, a careful reading of the text reveals that as
the plague of the first born draws near, God issues a
commandment whose fulfillment by the people constitutes
their first
tentative step away from enslavement (in all of its insidious
forms) and
towards redemption. "God spoke to Moshe and Aharon in
the land
of Egypt, saying: This month shall be for you the beginning of
months, the first month of the year. Speak to Bnei Yisrael
and
tell them that on the tenth of this month each household is to
take a lamb. If the household is too small to consume a
lamb
then let it join with a neighbor to together take a lamb...Guard
the lamb until the fourteenth day of this month at which time the
entire congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at
evening.
They shall take of its blood and mark the doorposts and lintel of
the homes in which they consume it. They shall eat its
flesh on
that night, roasted and with matzot, and with bitter herbs shall
they eat it...This is how you shall eat it: with girded loins,
with your shoes on your feet and with your staff in your
hands.
Eat it in haste, it is a Pesach offering to God. I shall
pass
through the land of Egypt on this night, and I shall smite every
first born in the land of Egypt, human as well as animal, and I
shall execute stern judgements against the gods of Egypt.
The
blood serve as a sign upon the houses in which you dwell, and I
shall see the blood and pass over you, and the destructive plague
shall not be upon you as I smite the land of Egypt..."
The paschal sacrifice, consisting of a lamb roasted whole and
eaten in a state of preparation and haste, is the central element
in the Meal of Redemption. As the surrounding night is
punctuated by screams of dread and muffled cries of anguish, Bnei
Yisrael calmly consume their repast. The lamb is eaten with the
unleavened cakes of matza, symbolic of haste, and the bitter
herbs, recalling the oppression about to be left behind. In an
act both peculiar as well as grotesque, their doorways are marked
with the blood of the lamb, and within the safety of their sealed
homes they wait for the night of terror to pass.
Significantly,
the badge of this blood is here described as the mechanism for
warding off the dreaded visitation of the Destroyer.
What is the significance of the paschal lamb? Why is the
Dawn of
Redemption ushered in by the ceremony of its slaughter and
consumption? What could be the meaning of the ritually
smeared
blood that is enjoined to designate the houses of the
Hebrews?
An investigation of the traditional sources yields a number of
basic approaches, each of which contributes an additional
dimension to understanding this first commandment given to the
people of Israel to perform.
The Polemic against Idolatry
"Draw and take lambs" - this is what is meant by the
verse:
'those that serve idols shall be ashamed.' When God told
Moshe
to command the people to sacrifice the paschal lamb, Moshe was
alarmed. 'Master of the Universe! How shall I do this
thing?
Do You not know that the lamb is one of the gods of Egypt?
(Recall that Pharaoh had granted permission to sacrifice in Egypt
after the plague of wild beasts, but Moshe refused to accept the
offer, fearful that the Egyptian masses would not take well to
the sacrifice of one of their deities: 'shall we then sacrifice
the abomination of Egypt before their eyes? They will stone
us!'
- Shemot 8:22). Said God to him: 'by your life, I
swear that
Bnei Yisrael shall not leave this land until they first slaughter
the god of Egypt before their eyes, to indicate to them that
their gods are powerless.' And so it was, for that very
night
God smote the first born of Egypt and Bnei Yisrael slaughtered
and consumed the lamb. The Egyptians saw their first born
dead
and their god slaughtered and could do nothing, as the verse
states: 'Bnei Yisrael left Egypt on the morrow.and Egypt was
burying their first born which God had smote, and against their
gods He executed judgements' (BeMidbar 33:3-4)" - Shemot
Rabba
16:3.
According to this Midrash, the commandment to take and
slaughter the paschal lamb is understood as the final
demonstration of
God's omnipotence. Bowed and broken by the plagues, unable
to
withstand any more the irresistible message of God's dominance,
Egypt must bear one final indignity: the wholesale slaughter and
consumption of one of their popular deities by their formerly
subservient nemeses. Its blood casually and conspicuously
draping their doorways, Bnei Yisrael eat the lamb in calm
conviction, for no cruel taskmasters shall disturb their peace
this night. What Moshe had earlier regarded as a dangerous
act
of provocation, is here commanded by God as a last, decisive
indication that He alone is Master of the fate of men, and that
there are no other gods to oppose His will.
Of course, in concurrence with this reading, one can only assume
that the blood was smeared on the outside doorframe, plain for
all to see. Such is the view expressed by Rabbi Yitzchak in
the
Mekhilta, the Midrash Halakha on the Book of Shemot (Parashat
Bo, Chapter 6): "Rabbi Yitzchak said: the blood was
smeared only on
the outside, so that the Egyptians might see and their stomachs
churn." Additionally, it seems reasonable that there
is a good
measure of defiance in the act, as Bnei Yisrael thumb their noses
at their former masters by fearlessly ridiculing their
gods.
Though the placing of the blood effectively singles out their
homes for easy identification, Bnei Yisrael are unafraid of
retribution, for God Himself has extended His protective canopy
over them. "And I shall see the blood and pass over
you" is
therefore not meant to imply a limitation on God's ability to
otherwise identify the homes of the Hebrews (this being a
theological impossibility), but is rather a statement in no
uncertain terms that to deserve an act of redemption, one must
perform an act of conviction.
The Merit of Acts
A very different perspective is provided by a Midrash preserved
in the Mekhilta, Parashat Bo Chapter 5: "You shall guard the
lamb
until the fourteenth day of this month" - Why did the Torah
ordain the taking of the lamb four days before its
slaughter?
Rabbi Matya ben Cheresh explained: '...the time had arrived for
God to fulfill His oath to Avraham to redeem his children, but
they had no mitzvot to perform in order to merit
redemption.
Therefore God gave them the twin mitzvot of the blood of the
paschal lamb and the blood of circumcision in order that they
might merit redemption...Thus, they were commanded to separate
the lamb four days beforehand to indicate that one can receive
reward only for acts.'
In this formulation, the gods of Egypt are not at all of
interest. The issue is merits, and merits are a function of
acts. Belief in redemption is seemingly insufficient
without
acts of trust, and for Rabbi Matya acts of trust are the
mitzvot.
The state of passivity of Bnei Yisrael during the course of the
plagues now had to be transcended by deeds, and the two deeds
decreed by God were circumcision and the paschal lamb.
Circumcision is a painful experience, and its adherents must be
ready to suffer that pain in order to testify to their
association with each other as well as with a common
destiny. On
the most fundamental level, circumcision is an identifying mark
that links together individuals to form a community or a
nation.
The paschal lamb is also about identifying marks, for its blood
marks the homes of God's followers. Eaten in units of family and
clan, this sacrifice more than any other speaks of larger,
national affiliations. For Rabbi Matya, it is precisely
these
two mitzvot that usher in the Exodus, for they both speak of
assuming a national identity that is predicated on recognition of
the Supreme God and adherence to His teaching. They
are most
appropriately the 'merits' by which Bnei Yisrael secure their
redemption. It is important to point out that the text makes the
celebration of the paschal sacrifice contingent on being
circumcised, for both are expressions of the same religious
national themes (see Shemot 12:43 - 44).
Significantly, these are also the only two positive commandments
in the Torah that carry the penalty of 'Karet,' or spiritual
excision from the community of Israel, for non-fulfillment.
One
who willfully abrogates either of these rites has rejected any
connection to the destiny of the People of Israel, and is
therefore spiritually expelled from their midst.
Overcoming Idolatry
Finally, we turn our attention to the most striking of the
sources, also a Midrash from the Mekhilta (Parashat Bo, Chapter
5): "Moshe said to the people: 'draw yourselves away from
idolatry and take instead the lamb commanded by God.' Said
Rabbi Yehuda ben Betayra: "the verse states that the
people did not
hearken to Moshe (when he announced the impending redemption
-
see Shemot 6:9) because they were 'short of breath and burdened
with hard labor!' Is it possible that a person could be
informed
of glad tidings and not rejoice? If a person were told of
the
birth of their child would they not rejoice? If a slave was
informed that their master was going to free them, would they not
rejoice? Why then did the people ignore Moshe's encouraging
words? Rather, it was difficult for them to part with
idolatry!"
Here, the Midrash informs us, the paschal sacrifice constitutes a
protest against idolatry. But it is not the idolatry of the
Egyptians being derided, nor is it their gods being defiantly
dispatched. Rather, it is the idolatry of Bnei Yisrael that
must
be extirpated! Sojourning in Egypt for generations, Bnei
Yisrael
have adopted the erroneous beliefs and values of their oppressive
hosts. Conditioned in the comfortable and alluring worship
of
the Egyptian pantheon, the personable and tangible gods of the
River, earth and sky, Bnei Yisrael find the prospect of a single,
absolute, morally demanding God, unsettling. With growing
alarm
they have witnessed the demolishing not only of their cruel
oppressors, but also of their system of belief. As each
plague
drives home with greater force the futility of idolatry and their
unsolicited selection as God's own, they stand passively by,
hopeful of an end to their servitude but disconcerted by the
prospect of freedom. Finally, with dawn about to break
after the
darkest night, God for the first time imposes a challenge on the
people: slaughter the lamb god of Egypt whom you worship, loosen
your embrace of idolatry, and demonstrate to YOURSELVES that
you are ready for Redemption.
The placing of the blood on the doorway is not to be understood
as an act of confrontation but rather as a symbol of faith.
As
such, rather than associating the markings with the outside
doorframe which tends to suggest a statement for Egyptian
consumption, it is more probably the inside frame that was
smeared, implying a message to be internalized by Bnei
Yisrael.
Significantly, Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Natan both understand
that the blood was in fact daubed on the inside frame as a sign
for Bnei Yisrael exclusively (see Mekhilta, Chapter 6).
We have seen a variety of sources that seek to explain the
meaning of the paschal sacrifice and its attendant rituals.
One
thing is clear according to all of the views: like Avraham of
old, Bnei Yisrael are about to embark on their odyssey in the
world as a free people. That journey will be filled with triumphs
as well as with setbacks. The freedom so hoped for
and
anticipated was extended to them only after they had taken the
first critical spiritual steps, and it is this fact which emerges
as an axiom of God's relationship to His people. Spiritual
accomplishments are only possible if one is willing to take
spiritual risks, to discard the conventional and customary
shackles of a comfortable culture in order to embrace a more
profound approach to living, a sincere life of mitzvot. To
do so
requires courage, trust and not a small amount of
determination.
The Paschal Sacrifice, celebrated for the first time over three
thousand years ago and commemorated ever since, serves as a
profound example of that possibility.
Shabbat Shalom
For further study:
1) See Yechezkel Chapter 20 and Yehoshua Chapter 24:14 - 15
for explicit references to Bnei Yisrael's worship of idolatry in
Egypt. Why, in contrast, does the Torah not state this fact
directly?
2) The celebration of the Paschal Sacrifice is one of the few
holiday celebrations attested to throughout the Biblical
period.
We find it prepared by Yehoshua (3:2-12) when the people of
Israel enter the land, by King Chizkiyahu (Divrei
HaYamim/Chronicles 2:30:5-15) in the aftermath of the Assyrian
exile, by King Yoshiyahu (IBID, 2:35:16-19) as the storm clouds
of Babylonian domination begin to gather, and by the nascent
community of Jews who return to Zion under the aegis of Cyrus
King of Persia (Ezra 6:19-22). The common theme is that all
of
these celebrations occur at pivotal moments of national religious
renewal, and are often initiated by a leader animated by a spirit
of reformation and change. The Egyptian precedent is therefore
repeated not only in deed as a ritual act, but in intent and
purpose as well.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
*******************************************************************
Return to
Newsgroup Archives Main Page
Return to our Main Webpage
©2011
Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. Designed by
Web Design by JB.