Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 4 Shevat 5784
Parsha Bo’: (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16)
First Portion: Exodus 10:1 – 10:11

Good evening!  Today we start Parsha Bo’ – which means “Come.” Given that last week’s portion was “And He Appeared.” He is here – and He is asking us to come.

We just left off seeing Pharoah going through somewhat of a grief process.  A lot of denial, a little bit bargaining, and a smidge of acceptance – for a moment – but then backtracking.

Let’s dig in:

10:1The Lord said to Moses: “Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order that I may place these signs of Mine in his midst,

2and in order that you tell into the ears of your son and your son’s son how I made a mockery of the Egyptians, and [that you tell of] My signs that I placed in them, and you will know that I am the Lord.”

So – Hashem tells Moses – WHY he is hardening Pharaoh’s heart.

There are signs being placed here.  For US.

We see how Hashem made a mockery of the Egyptians.

But what are these signs?

My take? Grief.

If we don’t deal with grief? It will mock us.

If we block grief?

It will mock us.

If we MOCK grief (which Pharaoh is doing) – it will mock us.

These are the signs of grief. They are placed in the midst of Pharaoh. Let’s keep going:

3So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “So said the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, and they will worship Me.

4For if you refuse to let [them] go, behold, tomorrow I am going to bring locusts into your borders.

5And they will obscure the view of the earth, and no one will be able to see the earth, and they will eat the surviving remnant, which remains for you from the hail, and they will eat all your trees that grow out of the field.

6And your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians will be filled, which your fathers and your fathers’ fathers did not see since the day they were on the earth until this day.’ ” [Therewith,] he turned and left Pharaoh.

It is interesting.  This plague is all about locusts – but the purpose was to block sight. We went from hardening of hearts to loss of sight.

I reflect on grief. When our heart is hard, and we cannot see, that’s a pretty dark place. And what is interesting here, Pharoah’s servants start to doubt:

7Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this one be a stumbling block to us? Let the people go and they will worship their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is lost?”

The lost of sight was too much for Pharaoh’s servants. They brought Moses back. And Pharaoh goes back to bargaining, doesn’t he?

8[Thereupon,] Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, worship the Lord your God. Who and who are going?”

9Moses said, “With our youth and with our elders we will go, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our cattle we will go, for it is a festival of the Lord to us.”

10So he [Pharaoh] said to them, “So may the Lord be with you, just as I will let you and your young children out. See that evil is before your faces.

Pharaoh is trying to get AS CLOSE TO THE LINE as he can here, isn’t he?

And with our own grief? How much is this like us? We will only grieve as much as we need to to survive. We don’t go past that, do we? Most times?

Freedom is through grief. Sadness. We need to stop bargaining with our grief if we want to be free.  This is the take away.

What are your thoughts?

Here is my commentary from last year:

29 Tevet, 5783

So. Todays portion is SUPER interested and full of good stuff. But before we jump in, let’s talk about the new moon tonight.

https://www.chabad.org/…/Shevat-Rectifying-Our-Eating…

We are jumping into a new month: the month of Shevat. Tonight we should be setting our intentions for the new cycle ahead.

From the article above:

There are two parts of the month of Shevat. The first part, from the First of Shevat until the eve of the Fifteenth (Tu b’Shevat), is considered ‘harsh’ (din). This is because the natural flow of the first part of the Divine Name is reversed in this month’s letter-combination: Hei then Yud. The second part of Shevat is much less harsh, and contains more kindness (chesed).

So. We need to set our intentions on remaining soft in the hardness of the beginning of the month. Remaining soft. Loving. Kind.

The Jewish Holiday of Tu B’Shevat happens in the middle of the month, a fulcrum. And after we reach that holiday, the Chesed (kindness) will begin to flow again.

The theme for this month is expanding holiness. The article mentions the realm of food; because of the Torah passage about exchanging animals, making both holy.

It’s super fascinating and hopefully we can dig into it more!

Moving onto the Torah portion.

I want to explore the idea of Hashem telling Moses to “come to Pharaoh.” As I reflect more on this, I’m struck with the idea that Pharaoh was with God. It’s almost like Hashem was reminding Moses – “come to Pharaoh; not only will I go with you, but I’m already with him.”

How does God remain with Pharaoh while he hurts Hashem’s children?

Because (in my opinion) Hashem can’t separate himself (won’t?) from us. Because all of us, Pharaoh included, are his creation.

Who in our life do we need reminding of that is Hashem’s creation?

That’s what I’m focused on. As harsh as Shevat is going to be, remembering Hashem was with Pharaoh as much as He was with Moses may help us.

What are your thoughts?