Parshat Bo - 5764

The Education of the Pharaoh, the Jewish People and the World

“Afterwards Moshe and Aharon came and said to Pharaoh, ‘So said HaShem, the G-d of Israel, ‘Send out My people that they may celebrate for Me in the wilderness.’ Pharaoh replied, ‘Who is HaShem that I should heed His voice to send out Israel? I do not know HaShem, nor will I send out Israel!’ ” (Shemot 5:1-2)

The purpose of the ensuing drama of the Exodus, from the plagues in Egypt through the Splitting of the “Yam Suf” till Sinai was to educate Pharaoh, the People of Israel and the world as to the existence and nature of the Creator, the special relationship between the Creator and the People of Israel, and the unique quality of the Torah, for which the World was created.

At the beginning of Parashat Vaera, HaShem had informed Moshe that a new period in history was about to begin, the witnessing of which was denied even to the “Avot;” namely, the Revelation of HaShem in the World through the Name “Havaya,” meaning “faithful” to reward and to punish. HaShem says to Moshe, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov by the Name of “E-L Shakkai,...” (Shemot 6:3) meaning the Almighty Creator of Nature and Administrator of Natural Law. “...but with the Name of ‘Havaya’ I did not make Myself known to them.” (ibid.) Rashi explains that HaShem did not fully reveal Himself in His Aspect of Truthfulness, because He had promised the “Avot” the Land of Israel as an inheritance, and He had as of yet not delivered on that promise of reward.

With each plague, HaShem teaches or reinforces a lesson. HaShem demonstrates His mastery over Nature with the first plague, “Dam,” or Blood. The waters of the Nile, the lifeline of Egypt, and all other collections of water in Egypt, are turned into blood. Moshe is commanded to pronounce, “By this you shall know that I am HaShem...” (Shemot 7:17)

In connection with the second plague, swarming frogs, Pharaoh is invited to request the precise time that the frogs should die. When his request for “tomorrow” is granted, Moshe underlines the lesson: “...so that you will know that there is none like HaShem.” (Shemot 8:6)

When Pharaoh’s magicians are unable to duplicate the fifth plague, lice, the Chumash records their admission of defeat, “It is a finger of E-lohim...” (Shemot 8:15)

Shemot 9:3-4 describes “...a very severe pestilence. HaShem shall distinguish between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and not a thing that belongs to the Children of Israel will die.” In later verses relating to that pestilence we find, “For now I could have sent forth My hand and stricken you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been obliterated from the earth... for this I have let you endure, in order to show you My strength and so that My Name might be declared throughout the world.”(Shemot 9:15-16)

The seventh plague, catastrophic hail intermixed with thunder and lightning, finally seemed to have made an impression on Pharaoh, as recorded in Shemot 9:27, “and he said to them, ‘This time I have sinned; HaShem is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the wicked ones!’ ” Of course, when Moshe prayed to HaShem and the hail stopped, Pharaoh reversed himself.

And when we met our tormentors again at the “Yam Suf,” they still had not given up their murderous intentions regarding us:

“The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide plunder;
I will satisfy my lust with them; I will unsheathe my sword, my hand will impoverish them.” (Shemot 15:9)

But you, HaShem, had something else in mind for the enemies of Israel:

“You blew with your wind – the sea enshrouded them; the mighty sank like lead in water.” (Shemot 15:10)

“Who is like unto You among the heavenly powers, HaShem? Who is like You, mighty in holiness,
Too awesome for praise, performer of wonders?

...Nations heard – they were agitated; terror gripped the dwellers of Philistia.
Then the chieftains of Edom were confounded, trembling gripped the powers of Moav;
All the dwellers of Canaan melted away.
...Until this People You have acquired passes through;
You will bring them and implant them on the mount of Your heritage,
The foundation of Your dwelling-place, that You have made...” (Shemot 15:11, 14-17)

Then, at the foot of Sinai, You proposed Your Covenant to us:

“You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I have borne you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. And now, if you obey Me, and observe My Covenant, You shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire world. You shall be for Me a kingdom of Priests and a holy nation...” (Shemot 19:4-6) And in joy we gave our answer – “The entire people responded together and they said, ‘Everything that HaShem has spoken, we will do...’ ” (Shemot 19:8)

The Ten Utterances at Sinai complemented the Ten Utterances by which the world was created. They are, in a sense, a synopsis or summary or digest of the Torah, as if the magnum opus of the Torah She-Bi’Ktav, the Written Torah, could be summarized in only Ten Commandments of Morality. And the magnum opus of the Written Torah is itself dwarfed by the “Yam HaTalmud,” the Sea of the Talmud, that weaves together all aspects of life, covering the relationship between humanity and its Creator, and between fellow human beings, in a garment that allows for human creativity but remains golden and eternally seamless.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel
Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU

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