TORAH SPARKS
Parashat
Bo
January 23, 2021 10 Shevat 5781
Torah: Exodus 10:1-1:16; Triennial 11:4-12:28
Haftorah: Jeremiah 46:13-28
The
Midnight Harpist
Ilana Kurshan
The Israelites last night in Egypt was tense and dramatic. The Angel of Death was out and about and the Israelite slaves were in lockdown commanded to remain inside their homes, secured behind doorposts smeared with amulets of blood and hyssop. Outside, the streets were haunted by the shrieks of dying men and beasts there was no house where there was not someone dead (12:30). Even the dogs dared not whet their tongues with the Angel of Death so close at hand. Given the richness of the Torah s description of this night of vigil, it seems surprising that when the rabbis discuss the eve of the Exodus, they are focused less on what happened and more on when it happened and on why that timing matters.
The rabbis in the opening pages of tractate Berakhot (9a) discuss the timing of the Exodus to determine whether the Pesach sacrifice may be eaten only until midnight, or all the way until dawn. The answer hinges on whether the redemption happened in the middle of the night when God struck down the Egyptian firstborns; or in the morning when the Israelites went free. The Talmudic rabbis express surprise that when Moses warned Pharaoh of the tenth and final plague, he spoke in approximate terms, informing him that God would strike down the Egyptian firstborns at about midnight (11:4). They assume that Moses was merely relaying what God had told him, and yet God must have known exactly when He would send forth the Angel of Death. Is there any doubt before God in heaven? they ask. Surely God does not speak in approximations! They therefore conclude that God must have told Moses that He would strike down the firstborns at midnight, but Moses was not certain of the exact middle of the night; and thus it was Moses who introduced this language of approximation.
The notion that the ability to calculate time precisely is a hallmark of the Divine comes up in Mishnah Bekhorot 2:6, amidst a discussion of the mitzvah to consecrate every firstborn to God a mitzvah that is taught in this week s parsha, where God commands Moses, Consecrate to Me every first-born, man and beast, the first issue of every womb (13:1). The sages of the Mishnah consider the case of a sheep that gives birth to two males, with both heads emerging simultaneously. If the sheep has never before given birth, how do we determine which is the firstborn? In the Talmud (Bekhorot 17a) the majority of the sages argue that unlike God, human beings lack the capacity to discern between two acts that appear simultaneous, and thus both sheep must be given over to the priest. Only God can get the timing exactly right, at least according to the prevailing rabbinic opinion. Other dissenting rabbinic voices, however, insist that human beings are able to be just as discerning which may explain why the rabbis are so surprised that Moses, the human being who came closest to the divine, lacked this capability.
Another reason the rabbis are so surprised that Moses spoke of the tenth plague in approximate terms is because even King David knew how to calculate the timing of midnight at least according to Talmud Berakhot 3b. The rabbis quote from the book of Psalms, attributed to King David: At midnight I rise to give thanks for your righteous laws (Psalms 119:63). David woke up every night at exactly midnight to praise God. But how did David know exactly when midnight was, if even Moses didn t know? They explain that David had an unusual sort of alarm clock: A harp hung over his bed, and every night at midnight, the northern wind would come and cause the harp to play of its own accord. David, upon hearing the music, would immediately arise from his bed and study Torah until the first rays of dawn. David s lyre is reminiscent of the Aeolian harp, a wooden instrument played by the wind which served for the Romantic poets as a metaphor for poetic inspiration. Indeed, perhaps the poetry of the book of Psalms was inspired by the music of the wind.
The wind also played a key role in the redemption from Egypt. The Torah relates that the sea was split by means of a strong east wind (ruach kadim, Exodus 14:21). The Hebrew word for wind, ruach, is also used to refer to the divine spirit (ruach elokim, Genesis 1:2) and the human soul (ruach chaim, Genesis 7:22). And the English word inspire literally means to draw in breath when Adam was inspired by God, he was transformed from inert earth into a human being with a divine spirit. This is not just a play on words. To be receptive to poetic inspiration is to be receptive to the divine the wind that plays on the poet s lyre is also the wind that heralds redemption.
Flannery O Connor famously said that she used to sit down at her desk at the same time every morning because that was her way of holding office hours for her characters she never knew whether they would drop in, but she wanted her characters to know how to find her. We can never be sure when inspiration will come; even Moses didn t know exactly when the miracle was going to happen. But we can hang our lyres by our beds and keep our windows open unable to discern the precise moment, but awaiting it nonetheless.
Vered Hollander-Goldfarb
Inside, Outside
Text: Shmot 12:3-13
(3) On the tenth of this month they shall take a lamb (6) On the fourteenth day all the assembled congregation shall slaughter it (7)And they shall take from the blood and put on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it (13)And the blood shall be for you a sign on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
● For whom is the blood a sign? Read v. 13 carefully.
● God states that He will see the blood and pass over those houses. But God should not need to see the blood to know where the Israelites live. So, what will God see when He sees the blood?
Commentary: Rashi Shmot 12:13
And the blood shall be for you a sign it shall be for you for a sign, and not to others for a sign. From this we may learn that they put the blood only inside their houses. And when I see the blood But surely everything is manifest to Him! [and He therefore did not need to look whether the blood had been put on the doorposts.] Rather: God says, I will set My eye (my attention) to take notice of the fact that you are engaged in the performance of My commands then will I pass over you.
● What word(s) in the verse suggested to Rashi that the blood was put inside the houses?
● What will this sign mean to the Israelites if it is not visible to others? Are there other Jewish signs that are internal, hidden from the outside world? What effect does the practice of such internal signs/mitzvot have on us?
●
Commentary: R. David Zvi Hoffman
And the blood shall be for you a sign this means: for your benefit; for The LORD does not need a sign to differentiate between the houses of the Israelites and the Egyptians The LORD wishes in Egypt to differentiate by a visible sign, so that the entire world will see that He differentiates between Egypt and Israel; nonetheless, Israel will know that they owe their salvation to the worship of The LORD that is expressed by an action.
● According to Hoffman, for whom is the sign? What is its purpose?
● According to this reading, where would the blood be placed? What Jewish practices do we practice in a manner clearly visible to the outside world? What is the effect of this public visibility on us?
Rhetoric and Action
Bex Stern Rosenblatt
Jeremiah is a book of desperation, telling the story of a rudderless nation. Our haftarah likely takes place in the years after the battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, a battle in which the Babylonians routed the Egyptians, pushing them out of Judah, which they had controlled since the fall of Assyria in 609 BCE. Although Egypt had been driven away, nonetheless, Jeremiah cautions Judah against thinking it is free. Freedom for Judah lies not in independent action or a return to alliance with Egypt, but rather in submission to Babylon. Of course, according to Jeremiah s belief, Babylon was only a tool that God was using to punish Judah. Submission to Babylon was not meant to be utter defeat or loss of self, but rather submission to God. It is not easy to accept loss of autonomy. And indeed, Jeremiah persuaded Jehoiakim, King of Judah, to submit to Babylon only temporarily. Eventually Jehoiakim, who had been put on the throne of Judah by Egypt, will turn to Egypt again for help. And Babylonia will return to crush Judah and Egypt s help will not save them.
The majority of the haftarah pronounces the coming judgment of Egypt. The haftarah begins with an exhortation to the people of Egypt to take a stand against their enemies, before immediately ridiculing them for even thinking such a stand is possible. In verse 15, Jeremiah mocks the failure of the mighty men of Egypt to protect themselves, and perhaps also makes allusion to the failure of the gods of Egypt, particularly Apis the bull god, to protect them. Their gods are contrasted with God, who brings about the destruction. God is shown to be the force causing Egypt s fall and Babylon s rise. These great and mighty powers between whom Judah is caught and used like a pawn are in fact themselves the pawns of God, in service to Judah.
This is an incredibly powerful reframing and an incredibly difficult reframing. The people of Jeremiah s time could not accept it. They could not trust in Jeremiah and trust in God to the point of abdicating human responsibility. Indeed, the term with which Jeremiah condemns Pharaoh seems to contain a condemnation of inaction, of abdication of responsibility. In chapter 46:17, Jeremiah calls Pharaoh, shaon he ebir hammoed which carries the meaning of spending so much time talking the talk that he missed the moment to act. Of course, Jeremiah does some of that himself. A man of words, he counsels against military action. He puts his faith in God, whose name in the next verse is declared as Lord of Hosts, God of military might.
The last time the Israelites came out of Egypt was in our parsha, when they themselves are described as hosts, as the legions of God s army, constructed to free themselves from Egypt. The story of the nation which was born as a military power in the Exodus ends with rhetoric, with a hope that it is God using the hosts of the Babylonian army to administer the defeat to Egypt, because Israel is no longer a player on the world stage. As we navigate in the world, may we recognize the power of rhetoric and feel the weight of responsibility, both for ourselves and for our nations.