Passover Torah Portions: Exodus 12:21 – 51, Numbers 28:16-25

Today, we will cover the Exodus portion. This was written earlier this year:

Let’s dig in to today’s portion!  Hashem just gave Moses the commands to prepare for this first Passover.  He brings the leaders together:

21Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw forth or buy for yourselves sheep for your families and slaughter the Passover sacrifice.

22And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and immerse [it] in the blood that is in the basin, and you shall extend to the lintel and to the two doorposts the blood that is in the basin, and you shall not go out, any man from the entrance of his house until morning.

23The Lord will pass to smite the Egyptians, and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the entrance, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to smite [you].

24And you shall keep this matter as a statute for you and for your children forever.

25And it shall come to pass when you enter the land that the Lord will give you, as He spoke, that you shall observe this service.

Moses basically tells the leaders – here is what we need to do to be free tonight; AND what is asked of them moving forward to REMEMBER this.  Why? For the children.  This is a legacy.  And if the children push back? Moses tells the leaders how to handle this:

26And it will come to pass if your children say to you, What is this service to you?

27you shall say, It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, and He saved our houses. And the people kneeled and prostrated themselves.

It’s interesting – we are currently these children. So many of us wonder “why?” “What is the Passover service?”

The only response Hashem gives is – It’s a sacrifice – BECAUSE – He saved us.  He saved our “houses.”

Now that’s interesting right? The word house evokes a dwelling. A structure. Except, the Israelites did not STAY in their houses, did they? They left.

I’m reflecting on this. How did Hashem save the houses of Israelites in Egypt?

Given this plague was about the first born children?  Houses are families.

I connect this back with the ideas from the past two years that Rabbi Schneerson wrote:

“In all previous cases, the primary purpose of the plagues was to teach the Egyptians about God, “Egypt shall know that I am God” (7:5; see also 8:6, 18; 9:14, 29; 14:4, 18). The Jewish people, however, already believed in God (since “the people believed” – 4:21), and there was no need for them to be taught a lesson of faith.

With the death of the firstborn, however, the goal was clearly one of punishment rather than education. (Once a person is dead he can no longer learn.) With the purpose of the plague redefined, the distinction between Jew and Egyptian was framed somewhat differently, because in terms of culpability for sins, the Jews were not too different from their Egyptian neighbors. Who could say that a Jew was better than an Egyptian?

So now it was crucial for the Jewish people to make a sign on the doorposts, and not leave their houses until the morning, for when the prosecuting angel comes to the streets or to unmarked houses, he will punish anybody for their sins.

Why was this seemingly minor “sign” sufficient to save the Jewish people if they were indeed guilty? Is it rational or fair that one sinful nation should be punished while another is saved?

The answer is no, it is not rational at all. But God’s commitment to the Jewish people is suprarational, it defies and transcends logic. He simply loves us, like a parent loves a child.

But to evoke that love we have to remind Him of it. We need to demonstrate our suprarational commitment to God. The blood of the Paschal Lamb required the ultimate suprarational commitment from the Jewish people–to endanger their lives by slaughtering a lamb, the deity of Egypt, merely to perform a religious ritual.

Love evokes love. The Jewish people’s irrational commitment to God, despite their low

standing, aroused a similar sentiment above, and God saved His people whom He loves so dearly.”

It really does come back to this concept of love evoking love.

To love

To be love

To be loved.

That is what was saved. This is the meaning of Passover.  And how did they respond?

28So the children of Israel went and did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 9 Shevat 5784
Parsha Bo’: (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16)
Sixth Portion: Exodus 12:29 – 12:51

Good morning!  Many of us are going through a ROUGH ROUGH period right now. We are seeing direction, we are seeing stability – the chaos of the last moon cycle is fading away.  And. The results do not seem to be coming.  I was speaking last night with someone who is really important in my life, and we were discussing a slingshot. It almost feels like since the new moon, we have been pulled back and down – away from what we think the results we want and need.

We can release this energy now – and get better results than maybe we got a year ago.  Or? We can trust – and allow ourselves to be in this space – allowing the soil to be dug up – the old trees being removed – and wait.  This is not a waiting that is passive, sitting on the couch kind of waiting. This is waiting on the results and utilizing this time to prepare and get READY to CATCH the results that are coming our way.

As someone who is has a side business of spiritual coaching – what containers am I putting together in this time to catch the abundance that is coming?  What NEW structures or EXPANSION of current structures that are working can I be navigating as I am being stretched to greater CAPACITY during this period of time before the fullness of Shevat?

And. Aim. Just because our slingshot is being pulled back and ready to launch, doesn’t mean we are going to go where we want to. Where am I being aimed? How much do influence do I have on this? Do I know my purpose?

What is my purpose? Where do I want the slingshot to take me? If I don’t have this figured out, it’s ok – we live every moment as a slingshot – maybe this energy is going to slingshot us TO our purpose!

Let’s dig in!

We left off yesterday with the nation of Israel getting ready (oh look – they were getting ready for launch TOO!) to leave Egypt. They prepared themselves.  That’s the context for us to dig in:

29It came to pass at midnight, and the Lord smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who is in the dungeon, and every firstborn animal.

30And Pharaoh arose at night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great outcry in Egypt, for there was no house in which no one was dead.

I’ve said this before. Either it’s the Mandela effect, or the Patriarchy – but I always thought it was firstborn SONS. That is not what to Torah says. That is an aha moment. This slingshot? This death? It’s meant to be EXPANSIVE. It had a purpose. To launch the people to freedom!

That is painful. Because old structures had to pass away. Old trees that were deeply rooted (cough Pharoah cough) had to be ripped from the ground so the soil could be turned for a NEW TREE to be planted.

How did Pharaoh respond?

31So he called for Moses and Aaron at night, and he said, “Get up and get out from among my people, both you, as well as the children of Israel, and go, worship the Lord as you have spoken.

32Take also your flocks and also your cattle, as you have spoken, and go, but you shall also bless me.”

Lol. The old tree really doesn’t want to release from the ground does it?

Even WHEN the firstborn children pass away, Pharoah still wants to hold on – “but you shall also bless me.”

He won’t release his power.

Ok. So what is our takeaway?

In this time – what are we needing removed from our lives that is getting in the way of freedom? Like snakes attaching to our hair – getting caught up and unwilling to release us – or roots of a tree that just won’t let go? What is our purpose? The Torah tells us – freedom. Liberation.

Where in our lives is Pharoah STILL holding on, even though we have ALL the motivation to be free?

How does Egypt respond?

33So the Egyptians took hold of the people to hasten to send them out of the land, for they said, “We are all dead.”

34The people picked up their dough when it was not yet leavened, their leftovers bound in their garments on their shoulders.

35And the children of Israel did according to Moses’ order, and they borrowed from the Egyptians silver objects, golden objects, and garments.

36The Lord gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they lent them, and they emptied out Egypt.

The Egyptians were like – we WANT you to go. And still? Pharoah was going to hold on. “but you shall also bless me.”

I’m getting chills here.

Pharoah IS Esau. We focus on Jacob. We focus on Israel. And. The Torah has a message for us through Esau and Pharaoh.

The message is for us.

Let’s time travel back to the moment. Esau comes to Isaac. He pleads for a blessing.

Genesis 27:36And he said, “Is it for this reason that he was named Jacob? For he has deceived me twice; he took my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I made him a master over you, and I gave him all his brothers as servants, and I have sustained him with corn and wine; so for you then, what shall I do, my son?”

38And Esau said to his father, “Have you [but] one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father.” And Esau raised his voice and wept.

39And his father Isaac answered and said to him, “Behold, your dwelling place shall be the fat places of the earth and of the dew of the heaven from above.

40And you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, and it will be, when you grieve, that you will break his yoke off your neck.”

Hashem hardened Pharoah’s heart to point us back to Esau.

40And you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, and it will be, when you grieve, that you will break his yoke off your neck.”

Pharaoh was unwilling to truly grieve.  NOT EVEN for his firstborn. NOT EVEN for the firstborn of everyone in Egypt. He was the Leader. And. He was arrogant.  Arrogance is the shadow of Leadership (thank you to Kristina Sullivan who is teaching me about Gene Keys and Shadow work – if you want someone to really push your journey – besides me – she is AMAZING!).

How do we release the slingshot? Grieve. Release our arrogance. Esau grieved and was healed. Pharaoh would not release. All Pharaoh wanted was blessing.

Which I think points us all to our grief.

It is this question. This is the slingshot question.

“Why have I not been blessed?”

We have a lot to unpack with this, but for now – we need to digest that question. This is THE question to dig into for the next week until the full moon.  What trees are needing to be uprooted that is getting in your way.  EVEN FOR ESAU – who we read in the Torah almost superficially – he received a blessing. Grief.  That is the path to freedom!

And let’s see what today’s portion says about the results:

37The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, the men, besides the young children.

38And also, a great mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks and cattle, very much livestock.

Full stop. “A GREAT MIXED MULTITUDE” went up with them.  This MEANS – there were Egyptians who CHOSE to align with Israel and release their allegiance to Pharaoh. They were free.

I get this question often with my Torah thoughts.  “Is the Torah for me? I am not Jewish.” My response? The Torah is for EVERYONE.  Because just like we are learning to synthesize and integrate the yin and yang, the masculine and feminine, survival and stability…we are learning to synthesize the Jew and Non-Jew.  For my Christian friends, it’s the synthesis of The Jew and Gentile.

And it comes back to sovereignty. 1 +  1 = 3.

More on that as we go.  Let’s keep going with the portion today.

39They baked the dough that they had taken out of Egypt as unleavened cakes, for it had not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt, and they could not tarry, and also, they had not made provisions for themselves.

40And the habitation of the children of Israel, that they dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

41It came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass in that very day, that all the legions of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt.

42It is a night of anticipation for the Lord, to take them out of the land of Egypt; this night is the Lord’s, guarding all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Wow. “It is a night of anticipation for the Lord.”  Just take that in. Breathe that in. We look around us. It seems dark. It seems harsh.  And. This is a night of anticipation for the Lord.

This night is Hashem’s.  These two weeks of Harshness belong to Him.

Hashem is guarding ALL of the children of Israel FOREVER.

The Moon will reach full light in less than a week. The Sun is coming out of winter and heading into spring. The incredible potential energy in this moment – it’s significant. Be here. Don’t get ahead of the timeline. Don’t get stuck behind. Just be. Grieve. Expand our capacity. And be ready to GOOOOOOO!!!!!

Let’s finish:

43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover sacrifice: No estranged one may partake of it.

44And every man’s slave, purchased for his money you shall circumcise him; then he will be permitted to partake of it.

45A sojourner or a hired hand may not partake of it.

46It must be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the meat out of the house to the outside, neither shall you break any of its bones.

47The entire community of Israel shall make it.

48And should a proselyte reside with you, he shall make a Passover sacrifice to the Lord. All his males shall be circumcised, and then he may approach to make it, and he will be like the native of the land, but no uncircumcised male may partake of it.

49There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who resides in your midst.”

50All the children of Israel did; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51It came to pass on that very day, that the Lord took the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt with their legions.

Here’s the TL:DR version.

• Who can join us?
  • Anyone purchased (we will get to the purchasing laws in Leviticus – this isn’t chattel slavery we are talking about) needs to be circumcised and they can join us
  • A proselyte residing with us – they need to be circumcised and they may partake it
• Who does Hashem say may not?
  • Sojourners and Hired Hands
    • People passing through. People not ROOTED in our family of Israel.

All are welcome home. Those who just want to pass through? You are honored guests. Those who want to stay, you may stay. Provided you are circumcised as a dude.  That’s it.

Adam and Chavah had only ONE requirement in the garden – DON’T DO SOMETHING.

Now? There is only ONE requirement to return – Circumcision.

And? I’d argue? That comes with and through grief. That is the true blessing. Grief.

Those are my thoughts.  What are yours?