This Shabbos we discussed parsha Bo, including commentary
from Rav Yeager. We discussed why some
holidays take up more than 1 day. And we
heard a Dvar Torah about our practice of using non-Jews to help us out on Shabbos. David
Schlesinger led discussion.
Yoseph gave us a dvar Torah after davening, on the subject of
using non-Jews on Shabbos. Because of the prohibitions against asking anyone directly to violate Shabbos, we often have to “throw”
hints to our non-Jewish friends so they know how to help us. For example, we can
not tell a non-Jew directly to turn on a light, but may be able to make a comment
such as “I have trouble finding things in this room”.
We discussed a few cases which are exceptions to this, in which it is ok to tell a non-Jew directly how to
help us. We discussed asking a non-Jew directly to turn on hot water for us. This may not be a problem, since it will not directly cause water to be heated. It does however cause water to be heated indirectly, which is why we are prohibited from turning on hot water ourselves.
We discussed parsha Bo, including commentary from Rav
Yeager. We discussed how the number of
plagues – 10 – is the same number as the number of sayings from Hashem, when he
created everything in 6 days. We
discussed how each saying, such as “let there be light”, is part of the creation
of nature. We discussed how nature can
sometimes put a shield up which can lead to our losing connection, consciousness,
and awareness of Hashem. When we see an
event, we believe it happens because of the laws of nature, and forget that Hashem
orchestrates everything from behind the scenes.
We have discussed in the past, how there was a time when
Hashem intervened with nature, in order to let us know that he is the true
ruler of everything. Certainly this is the case with the 10 plagues. Although Hashem no longer does these type of direct, supernatural interventions, we can still see miracles every day that should lead towards our appreciation of Hashem and awareness that he is in charge of things.
Eliona discusses this in her dvar Torah, which we discussed. It appears in the newsletter of Young Israel for parsha Bo. She points out that whether or not something
is a miracle, depends a lot on how we define a miracle. There is a tendency for us to be numb to
Hashem’s presence when we define miracles as something unexpected.
We discussed, from Rav Yeager, how each of the 10 plagues,
helps remove a piece of the shield that was created by one of the “sayings”
from Hashem. The plagues were not only designed to send a message to Pharaoh, but to send a message to us as well, that Hashem is available to do his part if we do our part. We discussed, that this is why we were commanded to leave the blood from the lamb on our doorposts - because we have to do our part and Hashem will not do everything for us. Having gained this increased awareness of Hashem, this gave us a foundation and motivation for receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
One of the questions we discussed, is why 10, for the number
of sayings and number of plagues. Why not 8 or 9 or 11. Rob
brought up an interesting point, which is that Hashem had to choose a number and simply
chose 10. We can keep asking why
something is the way it is, but at some point the answer is simply because that is the way Hashem choose to do it.
We discussed in particular the 10th plague, which is the
death of the first born. We discussed
the idea that Moshe knew this would be the last plague, from a prophecy he had
received a long time ago. When Pharaoh told
Moshe not to come back, Moshe knew the last plague was coming.
We discussed how the last plague – death of the first born – is a message from Hashem, that power should not be based on status in
society, but on doing what is right. In
Egyptian society, the first born had special status and privilege. It is important to do what is in theTorah, and what is right, rather than what we have the power to do. The last plague sends a message, that status
should be earned, rather than something one is born into.
Harold Katz commented to me that Pharaoh did not only allow
us to leave, he pushed us out of Egypt.
We discussed how Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened by Hashem, in order
that there be 10 plagues, as each of the plagues has special meaning. Part of the parsha, is the commandment that
we remember the Exodus from Egypt on the 15th of Nissan.
We discussed how certain holidays are celebrated on 2 days,
because there was a time when we did not know exactly when the holiday was to
occur. Although today some of the doubt
may be resolved, we still must follow what we have been commanded to do. We discussed how when we celebrate a holiday
on 2 days, often the halakuh is stricter on the first day.
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