Torah Tidbit

Parashah Bo (come), Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 

God performs the 8th and 9th plagues and Moses visits Pharaoh for the last time.  God instructs Israel (through Moses and Aaron) about preparing for a hasty departure from Egypt, the festival cycle beginning with passover, performing passover and feast of unleavened bread.  God performs the last plague (death of the firstborn), Egypt drives Israel out and God instructs Israel about sanctifying the first born.

“Hashem said to Moses, ‘Come to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs of Mine in his midst; and so that you may relate in the ears of your son and your son’s son that I made a mockery of Egypt and My signs that I placed among them – that you may know that I am Hashem.’ … Hashem said to Moses:  ‘Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ “  Exodus 10:1-2, 11:9

Walking the Walk

This is quite the process to take Israel out of Egypt – recruit a leader from the desert, then ten cycles of pharaoh “let my people go”, pharaoh says no, hit Egypt with a plague, rinse and repeat.  These events transpire over a full year.  And if all goes well Israel has at least two months of walking to get to the land of Canaan.

Why did God bother with all of this?  He can do whatever He wants.  He could have sent all the rhinos and elephants from Africa to wreak havoc, then have them gently carry the Israelites out of Egypt.  Or blow in a gazillion magic carpets, freeze the Egyptians in place, and whisk Israel straight to their promised whole new world.  Better yet, He could have opened time/space portals in front of each Israelite to step through and poof! they’re in the land of Canaan.  And you Lord of the Rings nerds, why oh why didn’t those eagles just carry Frodo and Sam to mount doom in the first place?  

God states why – that you may know that I am Hashem.  These wonders strikingly demonstrate that not only can God suspend or overrule the laws of nature, but that He controls the laws of nature. (thanks, R. Hirsch!).  Yet even if we witness such amazing events, we can’t immediately absorb all of their lessons and then make big sudden changes in our attitudes and behaviors.  Rather, He designed us such that we best accomplish significant and lasting change through small decisions made day after day.  Even though the Israelites and Egyptians enjoyed a year’s subscription to the wonder-of-the-month club, digesting the lessons from these wonders and applying the lessons to daily life choices takes much much longer – for those that chose to do so, Pharaoh being a notable example.  But as they made changes, their awareness of how God works in the world increased as well.  So much so that there’s always a part of Israel that clings tenaciously to a life built around God’s ways.

Of course we’re no different.  And we don’t need outright wonders to make the same changes and grow our awareness of God.  We have plenty of resources to draw upon.  It’s just a question of if we will take the time to make change happen.  It starts with carving out regular time to spend with Him, just as we do with anyone else we care about in our lives.  Don’t wait, make it happen today, even if it’s for just a few minutes.  Start growing your awareness of God working in your life.

From the Jewish Sages

“I envy Pharaoh!  What glorification of the Name of God did his stubbornness beget!” – Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev

Have a great week!