‘Parsha Growth Spurts’
Rabbi Dani Staum
Parshas Bo
(10:9) “Moshe said ‘with our youngsters and with our elders we shall go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our cattle’…”
Chasam Sofer notes that the philosophers of yesteryear would isolate themselves in caves where they would ponder life in silent meditation. They felt that G-d could be found when one is alone with himself, divorced from the world.
The Torah however teaches that holiness is to be found when one serves G-d among, and together with, the masses. It is for this reason that the halacha is that the Korbon Pesach could not be slaughtered by an individual, but rather by a pre-registered group who would eat it together (Pesachim 91a).
In response to Moshe’s declaration that all of their families and possessions would leave Egypt, Pharaoh replied, (pasuk 11) “Let the men go now… for that is what you seek!” Pharaoh’s argument was that if their purpose in leaving Egypt was so they could serve G-d as Moshe claimed, for that only the men needed to leave.
To that Moshe replied (pasuk 26) “Our livestock as well will go with us – not a hoof will be left – for from it we shall take to serve Hashem, our G-d…” Our Avodas Hashem suffuses every aspect of our lives. Even our possessions are used to worship G-d, surely our wives and our children.
Chasam Sofer concludes that it is for this reason that when we say Ha Lachma Anay on Seder night, we declare “All who are hungry let them come and eat; all who need let them come and partake in our Pesach.” We seek to publicize and relate the miracles and omnipotence of G-d to all, because everyone is an integral component of our Avodas Hashem.
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(12:41) “It was at the end of four hundred and thirty years… all of the legions of Hashem left the land of Egypt.”
A number of years ago, prior to an impending winter storm, I mentioned the forecasted storm to Rabbi Yisroel Meir Shain, who came to our yeshiva each day to tutor a talmid. Rabbi Shain was paid by the hour and wasn’t excited about the prospect of the yeshiva being closed the following day. He replied, “I guess we will just have to wait until tomorrow and see what happens. In the meanwhile, there’s no use being worried about it now.” Then he continued, “Let me ask you a question: If you bang your hand with a hammer how long does it hurt for? Maybe ten minutes. But what if you know today that tomorrow you’re going to bang your hand with a hammer. Then it will hurt you for twenty four hours and ten minutes. When you anticipate a problem you’re nervous about it and it bothers you the whole time.
“I believe that with this idea we can understand a pasuk in the Torah. The Torah says that Yetzias Metzrayim transpired “at the end of four hundred and thirty years”. How can the pasuk say they were there for 430 years if they were only there for 210 years? Even if Hashem was ‘justified’ in taking them out early, because we had already filled the work quota how can the pasuk say they were actually there for 430 years?
“Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Hashem revealed to Avrohom that his descendants would be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. From that moment the Patriarchs (who were ‘Klal Yisroel’ at that time) worried about the impeding exile and feared for the welfare of their descendants. In that sense, the Egyptian exile was indeed 430 years.”
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(12:43-48) “When a proselyte sojourns among you he shall make the Pesach-offering…”
Oznayim LaTorah notes that our Pesach celebration is not for the physical redemption from Egyptian servitude, because that joy was nullified when we returned to exile. Rather, it celebrates our spiritual redemption, our transformation into servants of Hashem. That redemption was/is everlasting, as we say each evening, “He took out His Nation from amongst them to eternal freedom.”
Our ability to see ourselves as Jews whose primary mission is to fulfill the Will of Hashem was accomplished when we left the confines of Egypt. Despite the pangs of our elongated exiles we have never lost sight of that destiny.
It is for this reason that a convert is included in the Korbon Pesach. Despite the fact that his ancestors were not subject to the physical servitude, as a Jew he too can celebrate the spiritual redemption, for that is the real focus of our joy.
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