Parshas Bo 5766

Commentary by Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum

---

The last three of the ten plagues that were inflicted upon the Egyptians were locusts, darkness and the Plague of the Firstborn.

The locust destroyed any vegetation in Egypt that had survived the previous plague of hail. The plague of darkness came in two stages. The first three days of the plague brought pitch-black darkness to the Egyptians, where they could not see anything at all. During the following three days, the darkness intensified so much that the Egyptians were actually frozen into position, unable to move. The Jews, however, had light and were able to move about freely.

The last plague was the Plague of the Firstborn, where every Egyptian firstborn child and animal died at midnight. This was the first time that Pharaoh felt his own life in danger, and he finally let the Jews go free.

The Jews were instructed to sacrifice a lamb, the god of the Egyptian nation, for the Paschal sacrifice. Slaughtering their taskmasters’ god in front of their eyes without fear of repercussion instilled a sense of fearlessness and pride in the Jews. Each family had their own sacrifice to be eaten together.

The people were ordered to take some of the blood from the sacrifice, and smear it on their doorposts. With this show of solidarity and trust, the Jews would be protected from the Plague of the Firstborn.

The people were also given the mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon. The court would sanctify the beginning of each month after witnessing the new moon. Time itself would thus be elevated into something holy. The first month to be sanctified was Nissan, the month of the exodus from Egypt. This represents the birth of the Jewish nation, and marks the beginning of the Jewish year. (Although Rosh Hashana marks the anniversary of Creation, the months are counted from Nissan, the month of the Exodus.)

Because of the salvation of the firstborn Jews in Egypt, there is a special holiness associated with the firstborn. Thus, the firstborn of the flocks was given to the kohain, and the firstborn of the humans is redeemed to the kohain.

These are the laws of the Pesach offering… you shall not break a bone in it…. (Exod. 12:43-45)

In explanation of this mitzvah, the Sefer HaChinuch suggests that a person is molded more by his actions than he is by ideas. By eating the offering with dignity, without breaking bones, a person is influenced to behave in a more dignified manner.

That is the reason it is important to dress nicely on Shabbos and holidays, because even if one does not feel the festivity of Shabbos, by dressing the part he will eventually feel it.

Rabbi Moshe Lieber sees an allusion to this in the tefillin. The arm tefillin are wrapped before the head tefillin are donned. Similarly, the arm tefillin remain in place until after the head tefillin are removed. Thus, the head tefillin, representing wisdom, are never worn without the arm tefillin, representing action. Ideas and wisdom must always be accompanied by action, otherwise they are not worth too much.

Did You Know…

One should not procrastinate performing any mitzvah; rather he should do it as soon as he is able to. For this reason one should finish building his succah shortly after Yom Kippur, so as not to push off the mitzvah until last minute.

Similarly, although one dons the tallis before wrapping his tefillin, if he has no tallis now, he should first wrap the tefillin and not wait until he gets a tallis before wrapping the tefillin.

There is a difference of opinion whether one may wait to perform a mitzvah if by waiting he can perform the mitzvah in a nicer manner. An example of this is circumcision. Some authorities say it should be done first thing in the morning, even if many family members and friends cannot attend, while others permit delaying it until later in the day in order to celebrate in a more respectable manner.