ON THE PARSHA
          Parshas Bo

          by Dovid Lipman, Israel
          Year 2, No. 15


Introduction

This parsha, which tells how Hashem took the
Jews out of Egypt by force, has five parts:
       1) Plagues of Torture (2) 
       2) Final Warning          
       3) The Korban Pesach      
       4) Plague of Death        
       5) Pesach and Freedom     
       6) Mitzvos of Remembrance 

1. Plagues of Torture (2) -- 10:1 [Beg.] to 10:23

Hashem brings plagues to break the spirit of Egypt,
first locusts (with warning) which cover the land
and destroy all crops, and (after Par'oh tries to
negotiate again) then three days of darkness and
motionlessness for Egypt, while the Jews have light.

   Worthy of Note

   (10:17) "...only remove from me this death." The
   language "only this death" implies Par'oh was
   willing to take OTHER plagues, just not THIS one.
   That's Par'oh's approach - like a child, he only
   thinks about NOW. In fact, this world is called
   the world of "this"; only those who can prepare
   for "what will come" reach the World to Come. So
   Moshe's constant warnings about "tomorrow" fall
   on deaf ears - a worthwhile lesson for the Jews.

2. Final Warning -- 10:24 to 11:10 [end, Chap. 11]

After Par'oh's last try at negotiating fails, Moshe
(at Hashem's command) tells him of the final plague
to come - death of every firstborn in Egypt.

   From the Gemara

   (11:2) The word "na" implies request - this was
   a "favor" for Hashem, as it were, because He'd
   promised Avraham that the Exodus would make his
   children rich, so now they had to get the money.

3. The Korban Pesach -- 12:1 to 12:28

Hashem tells Moshe, and he tells the Jews, that the
night of the Exodus, they must slaughter and eat a
lamb as a sacrifice (sprinkling of the blood was to
be done on the doorposts), with matzah and marror.
In addition, most of the future laws of Pesach were
given now, to be kept in the land of Israel.

   Rare and Unusual Words

   (12:4) "Seh". Translated 'lamb', from the context
   it obviously refers to a young sheep or goat. The
   Torah divides the domesticated animals in three
   groups: 'ox' types, 'donkey' types, and 'lamb'
   types. An 'ox' is one that is kosher and works,
   a 'lamb' is one that is kosher but does not work,
   and a 'donkey' is any that isn't kosher.

4. Plague of Death -- 12:29 to 12:42

At midnight on the fifteenth of Nissan, Hashem kills
every Egyptian firstborn except Par'oh, who in panic
rushes to Moshe and Aharon and frees the Jews. The
following day the Jews gather and leave from Ra'amses,
after 430 years (along with a non-Jewish rabble), and
bring matzah to eat, having no time to bake bread.

   The World of the Supernatural

   (12:35) "...and clothes..." Why did they take
   clothes from the Egyptians, when during the whole
   slavery they never wore non-Jewish clothes? Maybe
   they planned to re-sew them, but maybe this shows
   the principle of R' Moshe Feinstein, that showing
   'differentness' by clothes and speech is only
   needed before the Torah - after we got the Torah,
   ACTIONS show a deeper 'differentness' making the
   Egyptian clothing irrelevant.

5. Pesach and Freedom -- 12:43 to 12:51

Several laws of the Korban Pesach are recorded here,
which show the exclusiveness of the Pesach for the
Jews (no non-Jew may eat it) as it is the offering
of freedom and separation from bondage to the non-
Jewish world of physicality.

   Do You Remember? - from the files of On the Parsha

   1. How did Hashem execute the plague of darkness?
   2. How do we know a person's agent is like himself?
   3. Where is a sefer Torah compared to tefillin?
   4. What does "BeMischsaas Nefashos" mean?
   5. Did Moshe know when midnight was?

6. Mitzvos of Remembrance -- 13:1 to 13:16 [End]

Hashem gives mitzvos: to recall the Exodus and go
into detail on Pesach night, to respect the first-
born of man and animal (sacrifice if possible, and
otherwise redeem), and to record the Exodus in the
tefillin that all Jewish men must wear as a sign.

   A Time to Laugh

   (13:4) "Today you leave, in the month of Spring."
   Why say this? This explains the argument whether
   the future redemption will be in Nissan or Tishrei.
   There's an argument in the gemara (Pes. 28b) if
   the word "today" teaches (for the previous pasuk)
   that chametz was only forbidden that year for one
   day. So if "today" concludes the previous pasuk,
   the prediction for the future is "You will leave
   in the month of Spring" - in Nissan. But if the
   word "today" belongs in THIS pasuk, it implies
   TODAY you leave in the Spring - in the future, the
   redemption will be in the fall, in Tishrei.