Bo 5785: The Mystery of the Destiny, and Survival, of Am Yisrael

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January 28 2025
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The mitzvos and events in Parshas Bo are many.  The topics include: the final three makkos - Arbeh/Locusts, Choshech/Darkness, and Makkas Bechoros/the Plague of the Death of the Firstborn. The first national mitzvah - Rosh Chodesh - is transmitted to the Bnei Yisrael (12:1-2); the Korban Pesach (Paschal Lamb) and its many laws are commanded to the nation (12:3 and on); three of the Four Sons - the tam (simple son), rasha (wicked son) and the she’einoh yo’dei’ah lish’ol (the one who does not know how to ask) are outlined in the parsha; finally, after hundreds of years in Egypt, the Bnei Yisrael march to a hopeful future; and the parsha ends with the mitzvah of tefillin (13:16).  

In regard to the Korban Pesach, the first national korban which represents our freedom, the pasukim tell us: וַיֹּאמֶר האֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח כָּל-בֶּן-נֵכָר, לֹא-יֹאכַל בּוֹ, and Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, this is the statute of the korban Pesach, no stranger may eat of it (12:43)… בְּבַיִת אֶחָד יֵאָכֵל, לֹא-תוֹצִיא מִן-הַבַּיִת מִן-הַבָּשָׂר חוּצָה; וְעֶצֶם, לֹא תִשְׁבְּרוּ-בוֹ, in one house it shall be eaten, you shall not take any of the meat out of the house to the outside, and no bones of it shall be broken, כָּל-עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, יַעֲשׂוּ אֹתוֹ, the entire assembly of Israel shall do it (12:46-47).

It is interesting that the Torah refers to the korban Pesach as: חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח, the chok - the statute - of the Korban Pesach.  Generally, the category of mitzvos referred to as chukim (‘chok’ pl.) are mitzvos such as the laws of kosher, shatnez (the prohibition to wear wool and linen together), and the parah adumah (laws of the Red Heifer) - all of which are mitzvos that have no rational, human reasoning. These mitzvos are the ‘mysteries’ of Torah, which we keep because we are servants of Hashem, and the King commanded us to do so.  

What, then, do we learn from the Torah’s classification of the Korban Pesach as a ‘chok’? Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt’l, the Rav, teaches, “The paschal offering is referred to as a chok, involving suspension of one’s reason, similar to the laws of the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer. Here, at this sacrifice commemorating the birth of the Jewish people, the Jew is committed to the collective unfolding of the Jewish historical destiny. Ours is a paradoxical history with unrealized dreams, unfulfilled hopes and yearnings, supported by an unbounded faith and promise - a history that is both tragic in suffering and glorious in its unyielding loyalty and amazing survival.

“One of the unique aspects of our history is surely our capacity to evoke sinas Yisrael, the persistent and ever-present hostility which humanity directs at us as a people; it is a strange and inexplicable fact of our history. Another is the contradictory, zig-zagging patterns of our historical past, seeming to violate the geometric rule that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. At times we seems to be approaching our destiny, slowly but surely; suddenly, we are deflected, thrust aside or forced to move in the opposite direction. Positions previously achieved are abandoned and the accomplishments of entire generations are wiped away. Just as surely, geulah (redemption) once again starts beckoning, inspiring new hopes and movements. This process of historical detours is unlike the history of other nations, which seem to move more or less in a straight course - from the inception of nationhood to eminence, upon occasion, and to subsequent decline. 

“…This mystifying pattern of Jewish history is a chok, demanding our loyalty even as it defies our comprehension. It is as irrational as the Parah Adumah is in the realm of the individual… And yet the Jew waits patiently, filled with expectancy, with an unshakeable faith in the inevitable redemption. If rationality were our guide, we would never have survived all these detours; we would have given up long ago, even in Egypt. But instead, the Jew makes a total commitment which stubbornly persists irrespective of pragmatic circumstances.  

“This sovereign will, as it is reflected in the korban pesach, is expressed in the words, I firmly believe in the coming of the Messiah; and although he is slow in coming, I daily wait for his coming (Maimonides’ Twelfth Principle of Faith). The enormous capacity of the Jew to wait perseveringly for the redemption with a sense of its imminent advent, despite all delays and discouragement, is a unique endowment of our people. This is symbolized by the chok of korban pesach” (Chumash Masores HaRav, Shemos, p.100-101).  

The following was published on Nov.13, 2023: Omri Miran, 46, was taken captive on October 7, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, leaving his wife, Lishay, 38, and their two daughters. Roni, 2, and Alma, 6 months old, were both still sleeping when the sirens began, waking their parents who put the girls into the safe room. At 10:30 a.m., terrorists entered their house through the bathroom window. Omri and Lishay tried to keep their daughters quiet in the safe room, and had two knives with them to try and protect themselves. The terrorists began yelling outside the safe room door, and brought a 16-year-old neighbor, Tomer Arbe-Eliaz, who asked them to open the door, otherwise the terrorists would hurt him. “We opened the door,” Lishay later said.

They were all seated in the living room, and at one point, the terrorists appeared to be ready to kill them, and then decided to take the entire family to the neighbor’s house. Both families were seated on the floor, while the 18-year-old daughter of the neighboring family had been killed by the terrorists in their safe room. Around 1:30 p.m., the terrorists told Omri and the other father to stand, and they took them, with their car keys to their own cars. Minutes later, said Lishay, she saw them driving away. “I had told Omri minutes before, ‘I love you, I’ll protect our girls, we’re waiting for you, and don’t be a hero.’

Lishay and her girls, along with her neighbors, sat for another four hours until IDF soldiers arrived at 5:30 p.m (https://www.timesofisrael.com/taken-captive-omri-miran-driven-in-his-own-car-to-gaza/).

The following was published a few days ago, on Jan. 26, 2025: Danny Miran, the father of Omri, who is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, spoke with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about his feelings on the release of the first hostages in the deal, knowing that his own son was not included in this stage of the deal… Danny emphasizes that the feelings he is experiencing now are not difficult because he is fully confident that his son will return alive. However, he criticizes the division into groups, according to humanitarian categories. "I believe that all the hostages are a humanitarian case. It is impossible to call one humanitarian and the other not. This is selection," he says, mentioning the pain of a mother who is waiting for her son, "Isn't that humanitarian?" and his daughter-in-law, who is waiting in tears for her husband and her daughters who are waiting for their father and kiss his picture every night. Isn't that humanitarian?"

"I don't know who devised this list, but I respect it because this deal has already been launched. The next deal must not be divided. All those who remain must be released in one phase. If there's an agreement with the other side that we give them something and they give us everything, let them give it and we'll close the deal. Why spread it out? Why three every week? It’s draining on everyone's soul.”

… Regarding the moments of contemplation, the moments when he thinks of his son's return to his family, Danny says that he imagines those first moments and wonders who will be the first to hug him; whether he himself, or his wife and daughters, or perhaps Omri's brother. He believes that Omri will first reunite with his wife and daughters, and then he and the brothers will join in one big family hug. "I'm bothered by the rehabilitation that he is going to need. How long does a person who sat in the Hamas tunnels need in order to get back on his feet? I told people to test this, not with Hamas, but at home. Go into a room for a week and we'll see how crazy you are to get out of there. It's crazy and frustrating. A little bit more, 16 months ... just thinking about it is driving me crazy” (https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402913).

זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח… this is the chok, the incomprehensible, the unfathomable, of the Korban Pesach. This is the korban that marks the birth of our nation and symbolizes our trajectory through time and our journey towards fulfillment. 

And despite all that we cannot understand, all that is shrouded in mystery, all the pain and darkness of exile, we continue - as a nation and as individuals - to thrive, to succeed, to build, to persevere. Despite it all, we continue to hope - יֵשׁ-תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְ (Yirmiyahu 31:16) - and we never give up believing in the rebuilding that will come, Akiva nechamtanu, Akiva nechamtanu (Makkos 24b). We maintain our steadfast faith in the Redeemer and the redemption, and we know that one day soon, may it be immediate and in our days, the final geula will arrive.  

בברכת בשורות טובות, חודש טוב, ושבת שלום

Machshava:
Emunah Galut Israel Pesach 
Parsha:
Bo 
Personalities:

Collections: Mrs. Horowitz Parsha Post

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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Miriam & Alan Goldberg and Ruth Peyser Kestenbaum to mark the twelfth yahrtzeit of their father, Irwin Peyser, Harav Yisroel Chaim ben R' Dovid V' Fraidah Raizel Peyser