Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat BoRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Bo · בא · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:05Parashat Bo. This week's parashah has 1050:08pesukim, and in this week's parashah the Torah tells us about the final three plagues, the final three makot,0:14and the exodus of Mitzrayim. As the Baal Turim, like we mentioned last week, he mentions it again this week.0:20Parashat Bo, the first and last letter, which is only two letters, is the numerical value of three,0:26which is hinting to the three plagues are in this week's0:30parashah. There's another nice remez regarding the makot.0:33When Yaakov Avinu was coming down to Mitzrayim, Hashem tells Yaakov,0:38Ve'anochi a'alecha gam aloh. I'll take you out of Mitzrayim, don't worry.0:41And over there, if you take the word a'alecha, it's the gematria of 121, which is the amount of pesukim in Parashat0:50Va'eira. Aloh is the gematria of 105, which is the amount of pesukim in this week's0:57parashah. We divided the parashah into five parts.1:00The first part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about the final three makot,1:04the first two makot, and then the warning of makat bechorot.1:08The second part of the parashah, Torah tells us about the first commandments that Hashem gave to the Jewish people.1:13The third part of the parashah, Torah tells us about makat bechorot, the plague of the firstborn.1:18The fourth part of the parashah, the Torah tells us how the Jewish people left Mitzrayim, how they left Egypt.1:24And finally, Torah concludes with specific mitzvot remembering Yetziat Mitzrayim, remembering the exodus.1:32Twenty mitzvot are in this week's1:34parashah, nine mitzvot aseh and eleven mitzvot lo ta'aseh. In Sefer HaChinuch, they number from number four until1:40twenty-three. Let's get to the parashah. The first part of1:42the parashah, Torah tells us about the final three makot.1:45The makkat, eighth makkat, the makkat of arbeh, which is translated as locusts, which is really grasshoppers.1:51Chazal tell us that there were seven types of grasshoppers, different types that came to attack Mitzrayim.1:57But they didn't come before Moshe came to Paro and warned him about the2:00makkah. He told him that the plague of grasshoppers, of arbeh, will do three things.2:05Number one, it will cover the whole land of Mitzrayim.2:08Number two, it will eat all the leftovers from the previous plague, from the plague of the2:12hail. And number three, the locusts will be a historic event.2:17Never in the history of Egypt has there been and will there be such a plague where so much locusts will do so much damage.2:25Afterwards, Moshe and Aharon leave.2:27At that point, Paro's servants complain. They tell him,2:31Paro, haven't you watched the news lately? Haven't you seen what happened to Mitzrayim?2:34It's been destroyed from these Jewish people. Just let them out.2:37So therefore, Moshe and Aharon call back to the castle, and Paro asks,2:40Who wants to leave? Moshe replies, Everybody. We're all leaving,2:45even our women, our children, and even our animals. Everybody's coming with us.2:49Paro gives them an ultimatum. He tells them like this:2:52You could leave, but on the condition only the men. Everybody else stays behind.2:56Moshe refuses, and Moshe and Aharon are thrown out of the castle of2:59Paro. At that point, Hashem tells them, Bring the plague.3:02How did he bring the plague? Moshe pointed his staff, his stick, towards Egypt,3:06and the Torah tells us that an eastern wind brought all the grasshoppers, the3:12makat arbeh. And this took place on Rosh Chodesh Adar, according to3:16Rabbeinu Bachya. And this happened—the grasshoppers were coming for the first day and night,3:21were still coming, and they ate up all the plantations.3:25And the Chachamim tell us, Why did the makah of arbeh, why this plague?3:29What was the3:31midah keneged midah? And the answer is because they forced the Jewish people to3:35plow and plant their fields, and now they saw that all their work went to waste3:40because they forced them from forced labor.3:43After this makah, or towards the end of the makah, Paro calls for Moshe to come back,3:46and he asks them to remove the3:48makah arbeh, to remove this plague. I'll let you out,3:50but of course, after Moshe prays that the makah to go away,3:55Paro hardens his heart yet again.3:57And therefore, we go on to the next makah, the ninth plague, the plague of darkness,4:02makat choshech. This makah took place on Rosh Chodesh Nisan,4:06and Hashem told Moshe to point his hand towards the sky,4:10and therefore the makah came, and it came in different stages,4:14three different parts.4:15The first three days, the Torah tells us there was complete darkness,4:18pitch black, no lights at all.4:21And the next following three days,4:24it was thicker type of darkness where a person was kind of like in a jelly.4:29Imagine being thrown into a pot of jello where you cannot move.4:32You could feel the darkness.4:34And as the Shut HaRadbaz says,4:36on the seventh day, the darkness slowly reverted, slowly started diminishing4:41and allowed the light to come in.4:42Meanwhile, for the Jewish people, it was complete light.4:45In fact, some Midrashim say that the Jewish people had no darkness whatsoever.4:50Unfortunately, Chazal tell us that during this plague,4:5380% of the Jewish population died,4:55and the Jewish people buried them during the time of the plague of darkness4:59where the Egyptians couldn't see them.5:01After this makah, Moshe is called back to the palace,5:05and now Paro offers something else.5:07He tells him, Okay, now I have a better deal for you.5:09Let everybody leave. It's okay.5:11Everybody can leave Mitzrayim. I have no problem with it.5:13Just keep the animals behind.5:15Moshe refuses the offer, and he says, No.5:17Not only will we take our animals, but you will provide us with your own animals as well.5:21At that point, Moshe is thrown out, never to come back again.5:25And if you come back again, you will be killed.5:28And right then on the spot, Hashem speaks to Moshe.5:31Even though usually He never spoke to him in Mitzrayim, which was full of avodah zarah,5:34in the middle of the castle of Paro, right then, Hashem tells Moshe,5:38and He gives him the prophecy of the final plague that Hashem is going to make,5:41which is the plague of the firstborn, how He's going to kill all the firstborns of Mitzrayim.5:46And Moshe tells Paro about the plague of makat bechorot,5:51and he tells him that there will be a cry in Mitzrayim, in Egypt,5:55that has never been experienced and will never be experienced again like the way it's going to happen.6:00At that point, Moshe leaves,6:03and he tells the Jewish people to prepare themselves to leave Mitzrayim,6:07and they should prepare themselves by borrowing, quote6:11unquote, the utensils from the Egyptians, which of course they will keep6:14for compensation for all the slave labor they had throughout the years.6:18And Moshe tells Paro, But you should know,6:21at the end of this plague, this last one,6:23you and your servants will beg me and my nation to leave from your land.6:28As Moshe leaves the castle,6:30the Chachamim tell us that what happened is there was a civil war.6:34What was the civil war? The civil war was in Egypt between the Egyptian army and the firstborn.6:40All right, not so much different from current events a little bit.6:43In any case, there was a major civil war6:45because the firstborns knew that Moshe was on the ball.6:47He's batting nine for nine. He hasn't missed yet,6:49so they don't want to be killed,6:51and they fought against Paro's army to allow the Jewish people to leave,6:55and of course there were many casualties.6:56And we move on now to the second part of the6:58parashah. The first commandments from Hashem to the Jewish people as a nation,7:02and the first one commandment comes in the famous words,7:07Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chadashim. This is the first month.7:09The simple, the pashut pshat, the simple explanation of these words7:13is that the Torah tells us that the month of Nisan7:16will be considered for the Jewish people on their calendar7:19as the first of the month, regarding the holidays, that is.7:22But the Chachamim tell us that in this pasuk7:25are contained two mitzvot are contained in this pasuk.7:27Number one is that the Jewish courts have to make sure7:30that the leap years are done when necessary,7:32like in Tav-Shin Ayin-Daled, where we have a leap year, a double Adar,7:36in order to align the solar calendar together with the lunar calendar.7:41And the second mitzvah is7:43that when we declare the new month, Kiddush7:47HaChodesh, it should be done through an eyewitness.7:50And the Torah also tells us other7:53mitzvot, the mitzvah of Korban Pesach.7:54And mitzvah of Korban Pesach, although it's just bringing a korban,7:57however, over here the Torah mentions thirty.8:00Mitzvot, thirteen commandments related to mitzvah of Korban Pesach,8:30but there are certain commandments that were unique only to that generation, not part of the thirteen, other commandments, but only to that generation. We'll just give you a list of a few. Number one is that the lamb should be taken from the tenth of the month and prepared by tying it to the bedpost for the following four days until it's slaughtered on Erev Pesach,9:34which is the fourteenth of Nisan. Number two is to take from the blood of Korban Pesach to place by the doorpost, the mezuzot, and the mashkof, which is the lintel on top of the door. And number three is that when they ate the Korban Pesach, on ליל סדר in Mitzrayim, they had to eat it prepared to leave, with their shoes on, with their belts on, and their sticks in their hand. And Moshe delivers this message to the Jewish people that they should do all what Hashem told them, especially with the blood to avoid the plague of makat bechorot that shouldn't happen to them. And he also commands them that this mitzvah of Korban Pesach10:30is a mitzvah for all future generations, not just for now we're leaving, but for all future generations, like the thirteen mitzvot that we mentioned beforehand. And the Torah tells us that the Jewish people were medakdek b'mitzvot; they did precisely as they were commanded from Hashem through Moshe Aharon. And here we move on to the third part of Parashah, makat bechorot. You should know, the Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer mentions that makat took place on Wednesday night, the fifteenth of Nisan, and as the Torah tells us, precisely the moment, vayehi bachatzi halayla, exactly at midnight. Nobody can measure this time except for HaKadosh Baruch Hu, who knows exactly. It was exactly at midnight. Everyone was struck at the same moment. You know, some people have a picture of like a smoke coming, traveling from house to house that killed people. That's not how it happened. At the same moment, every single person who was an Egyptian, regardless if he was in an Egyptian house or in a Jewish house, if he was Egyptian, then he was struck by the plague, from the richest to the poorest, everybody was struck. In fact, the Midrash even says even the animals, and even the idols of the Mitzrim, the avodah zarah of the Mitzrim, was also destroyed, with the exception of one, which is Baal Peor, which we'll discuss in next week's parashah. That was the plague. The aftermath of the plague was that there was a great cry, exactly as Moshe said. There was a tremendous loud cry in the whole land of Mitzrayim. Meanwhile, if you turn the camera to the people in Goshen, to the Jewish people in Goshen, it was very quiet. Even the dogs didn't bark. And usually with dogs, when they sense some sort of fear, they bark. Nothing happened of such a thing.10:32Paro and his servants ran to Mitzrayim10:35and searching for Moshe and to beg him to leave.10:39And when they found Moshe, the Midrash says that10:42Paro begged Moshe to pray for him, because10:44Paro himself was, according to some opinions, the10:46firstborn. Even though according to say that Doroti was the second child,10:49but still some explain that he was also bechor, so he also prayed10:53that he also begged Moshe to pray for him that he shouldn't die.10:57And we move on now to the fourth part of parasha, the exodus.11:00The Torah tells us how the Jewish people left Mitzrayim.11:04First of all,11:06who left?11:11Torah tells us 600,000 men between the ages of 20 to 60 who were married left, not counting all the unmarried men,11:13all the men older than 60 and younger than 20,11:17and that's called the children, and also not counting in the women.11:20You're also not including in this number the erev11:23rav. What's the erev rav? These were the many Egyptians who converted,11:27and of course all the many animals. And still,11:29this was only 20% of the Jewish people.11:3280%, like we mentioned, died in11:35makat choshech. How did they leave? Torah tells us that they left11:38with their mitzvot in hand. They had the matzah11:41and maror, the matzot. They had them with them.11:43And why did they have matzot, unleavened bread?11:46And because they didn't have time to make their own fresh bread.11:49And the Torah tells us that they stayed in11:53Mitzrayim for 430 years. Now really, the truth is,11:55the Jewish people from the time that Yaakov entered Mitzrayim11:58until the time they left Mitzrayim was only12:01210 years, 210 years. Why does the Torah say 430 years?12:05And the answer is because when Hashem told12:08Avraham Avinu in brit bein habetarim regarding12:11the galut of Mitzrayim,12:13it was 430 years ago. 30 years from brit12:17bein habetarim until Avraham had Yitzchak, until Yitzchak was born.12:19From the time Yitzchak was born until the Jewish people left Mitzrayim was another 400 years,12:23and that's how we come to the 400 years.12:25And the Torah says the Jewish people left in midday, making it12:29that the Jewish people left on Thursday,12:31the 15th of Nisan, in the year 2448.12:35And finally, we come to the last part of this week's parasha,12:38the special mitzvot that Hashem commands at the end of the parasha12:41to remember yetziat Mitzrayim, to remember the exodus.12:43First, the Torah tells us about some more mitzvot12:46regarding korban Pesach and the holiday of Pesach.12:49First, regarding korban Pesach, Torah tells us that only12:54circumcised... Jews,12:56as far as men is concerned, can eat from the Korban Pesach,12:58and of course Jewish women. Also, must be in all in one group.13:02Even the group decides to move location, but it has to be13:04only in one group. And when you're eating from the Korban Pesach,13:07you cannot break from the bones of Korban Pesach.13:09There's a lot more details, and of course the depth of it.13:12If a person really is interested, he should look in the great13:15beautiful book by the Maharal. It's called Gevurot Hashem,13:18in perek samech, in chapter 60. You'll see a beautiful13:21explanation and deeper insights. And finally, the last two13:25paragraphs in this week's13:26parashah is a famous parashah called Kadesh Li Kol Bechor,13:29which the Sefardic custom is to read them every morning after putting on tefillin.13:32And over there it mentions a few other mitzvot. Number one is13:36the mitzvah of kiddush bechorot. What is that?13:40Sanctifying the firstborn to the Jewish13:42people from humans and animals,13:45and that's of course kosher animals. Also mentions over there13:48the mitzvah of the holiday of Pesach, plus all the13:51mitzvot that come with it, like chametz and matzot.13:54And also Torah tells us about sanctifying the firstborn13:57of a donkey. That's called peter13:59chamor. This is the only non-kosher animal which has its firstborn14:04sanctified if it's a male. And finally, Torah concludes14:06with the mitzvah of tefillin. Of14:09course, that's a very holy mitzvah. So what can we learn14:12from this week's parashah? What's the lesson to be learned?14:15The lesson is an important lesson.14:18This parashah tells us the making of the Jewish nation. And if you ask,14:21how is it that the Jewish people became a14:24nation from this week's parashah? How do you see it? Most people say, of course, we came out14:27of Mitzrayim. Hashem took out a nation from14:30amongst the nations, like it says in the Haggadah,14:32goy mikerev goy. He took out one nation, the Jewish nation, from the Mitzrayim,14:35and we became a Jewish nation. And yes,14:38there's room to say that. But like Rashi says in the14:42beginning of the Torah, Torah begins with the first Rashi.14:44He says like this, אמר רבי יצחק, that really the14:47Torah should have began with this week's parasha,14:53החודש הזה לכם ראש חודשים. That's the beginning14:54of the Jewish nation, the commandments.14:56What makes us a Jewish nation14:58is based on the commandments of God. Here, when Hashem commanded us15:02with mitzvot, it made us into a nation.15:04Now we can see, up till now the commandments were given to individuals,15:07to Noach, or some say Adam HaRishon, or to Yaakov Avinu,15:11or to Abraham Avinu. But now the Jewish people15:13as a nation were commanded by God, and that's what makes us15:16the Jewish nation. We are the nation of the Torah,15:20and that's how we are defined as a15:23nation.15:47Shabbat shalom.