Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 7 Shevat 5784
Parsha Bo’: (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16)
Fourth Portion: Exodus 11:4 – 12:20

Good morning!

We are halfway through this harshness of Shevat. Tu B’Shevat (the full moon) is a week away – where we will plant NEW trees and begin again!

For the past two years, I have been at this passage in various states of the storm.  If you read below, you will see – in 5782, I could see I was in the Calm before the Storm. In 5783, I could see I was in the Storm before the Calm. This year? I am in the Calm OF the Storm. I am safe. I am home. I am free.

Let’s dig into the portion!

We are at the final plague. The final process for Pharoah to let the Israelites go.  Here is what Moses tells Pharoah. His last chance:

4Moses said, “So said the Lord, At the dividing point of the night, I will go out into the midst of Egypt,

5and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave woman who is behind the millstones, and every firstborn animal.

6And there will be a great cry throughout the entire land of Egypt, such as there never has been and such as there shall never be again.

7But to all the children of Israel, not one dog will whet its tongue against either man or beast, in order that you shall know that the Lord will separate between the Egyptians and between Israel.

8And all these servants of yours will come down to me and prostrate themselves to me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who are at your feet,’ and afterwards I will go out.” [Then] he [Moses] exited from Pharaoh with burning anger.

So Moses told Pharoah what was going to happen.  All for the purpose to grieve. Because grief is the pathway to freedom.

I was speaking with a friend about this. Our souls have chosen grief. Our souls – without our bodies – would never understand what grief is. Our souls – Hashem – our Neshamas – have CHOSEN to need our bodies. Why?

To understand grief.

This sounds harsh, doesn’t it?

And. Reflect on this.

Without grief? How could we know forgiveness? Empathy? Grace? Devotion? Compassion? Clarity? Just to name a few.

Just reflect on that.  Limiting ourselves in this way? We experience so much more than the unlimited source of souls we come from.

This is our humanity.

Hashem has chosen to need us. He could have chosen not to. But this is where we find ourselves. Let’s keep going:

9The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, in order to increase My miracles in the land of Egypt.”

I always find this interesting when we read it. Pharoah doesn’t listen for the PURPOSE of increasing Hashem’s miracles in Egypt.

I wonder. Just a thought.

Is Israel our self? Is Egypt our body? Is Pharaoh the ego?

Is Hashem hardening our ego for the purpose of Egypt and Israel (body and self) seeing more miracles?

Does grief impact our ego because our ego struggles to grieve?

I’m reflecting on this concept; “The Heart of Ego.” Hashem has been strengthening the heart of ego this entire time. For what purpose?

Surrender. And our ego hates that, huh? We don’t want to surrender. Let’s see what happens here:

10Moses and Aaron had performed all these miracles before Pharaoh, but the Lord strengthened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel out of his land.

And now? We get the prescription for Passover:

1The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year.

Passover is the beginning of the physical calendar. When the plagues happen, and the ego is destroyed so that we may grieve and be free.

3Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying, “On the tenth of this month, let each one take a lamb for each parental home, a lamb for each household.

4But if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor who is nearest to his house shall take [one] according to the number of people, each one according to one’s ability to eat, shall you be counted for the lamb.

5You shall have a perfect male lamb in its [first] year; you may take it either from the sheep or from the goats.

6And you shall keep it for inspection until the fourteenth day of this month, and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon.

10^th day, select a lamb. Inspect on the 14^th day of the month, and slaughter.

7And they shall take [some] of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat it.

8And on this night, they shall eat the flesh, roasted over the fire, and unleavened cakes; with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9You shall not eat it rare or boiled in water, except roasted over the fire its head with its legs and with its innards.

10And you shall not leave over any of it until morning, and whatever is left over of it until morning, you shall burn in fire.

11And this is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord.

And Hashem is saying LETS GOOOOO!!!!!!  We are getting ready to leave Egypt. To leave the Ego!

12I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and I will smite every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and upon all the gods of Egypt will I wreak judgments I, the Lord.

13And the blood will be for you for a sign upon the houses where you will be, and I will see the blood and skip over you, and there will be no plague to destroy [you] when I smite the [people of the] land of Egypt.

14And this day shall be for you as a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a festival for the Lord; throughout your generations, you shall celebrate it as an everlasting statute.

Then – the ultimate grief will come to the Ego – to Pharaoh.  He will lose his first born. And. This is a significant date. Every year – we will do this.  Here is the prescription for Passover.

15For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes, but on the preceding day you shall clear away all leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

16And on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; no work may be performed on them, but what is eaten by any soul that alone may be performed for you.

17And you shall watch over the unleavened cakes, for on this very day I have taken your legions out of the land of Egypt, and you shall observe this day throughout your generations, [as] an everlasting statute.

18In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, you shall eat unleavened cakes, until the twenty first day of the month in the evening.

19For seven days, leavening shall not be found in your houses, for whoever eats leavening that soul shall be cut off from the community of Israel, both among the strangers and the native born of the land.

20You shall not eat any leavening; throughout all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened cakes.”

So this is crucial for us. We need to grieve. And remember that grief. Because we forget.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 3 Shevat, 5783.

Wow. This morning before reading todays portion, I was reflecting on the storm. The storm that life brings us. We often talk about the “calm before the storm.” And I remember writing in my journal back in March of 2022 about how I felt like I was in the calm before the storm.

I now feel like I’m in the storm before the calm.

And this is what Moses and Aaron were navigating. They were coming to the worst of it. The storm before being freed and liberated.

Think of what was required. In the midst of a storm – things getting worse and worse in Egypt, God was asking the Jews to sacrifice. Because he was going to protect them.

This was going to be one of the darkest nights to come. People were going to literally die.

But the storm was coming to an end, and a new journey was going to begin.

We do hear “things are always darkest before the dawn.” That’s where it feels like we are headed this month. The month of Shevat, which, as we’ve discussed is split in two.

The first part of this month (which we are currently in) is harsh. Until Tu B’Shevat which is beginning the evening after the 14th day. Which is when we celebrate the “new year for trees.” New roots are planted. Things are pruned, and new life begins.z

So if things are difficult right now; trust it’s for a reason. It’s not happening to us. It’s happening for us. Freedom is on the cusp.

What do you think?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Shevat 3, 5782

We are in the middle of the tenth (and final) plague. This is the big one. We have established the scene in Egypt; Pharaoh has hardened his heart. He was given a lot of opportunity to change and didn’t. Moses had a lot of respect in the eyes of Pharaoh’s servants and in the eyes of the people. Yet, that wasn’t going to be enough for the Egyptians. There is suffering coming.

Todays portion starts with Moses talking to Pharaoh. Remember; God was speaking to Moses while he was standing with Pharaoh. The last dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh was Pharaoh telling Moses to go away from him, and to be careful not to look at Pharaohs face again because of Moses sees Pharaoh, that would be the day Moses dies. Moses responded “well said! I will never see your face again!” God spoke to Moses before he left, and now we get the final response:

Moses said to Pharaoh; “this is what God said; ‘At the dividing point of the night, I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first born of the slave woman who is behind the millstones. And the firstborn animals too. There will be a crest cry throughout the entire land of Egypt, like which there never has been before, and like which there will never be again. Not one dog will bark ferociously at any man or animal of all the children of Israel, so that you will know that God will have distinguish between the Egyptians and Israel. All of these servants of yours will come down to me and throw themselves down in front of me, saying, “Go away! You and all your followers!” Afterwards, I will leave your land together with all the people.”

Then dropped his mic and left Pharoah (in an angry state).

Dang. That’s some way to make an exit.

God tells Moses that Pharaoh isn’t going to listen; and tells Moses the reason why; “so that God’s miracles in the land of Egypt will be increased!”

There is a crucial lesson to be learned here. Rabbi Phineas Zalman Horowitz writes that even though God told Moses and Aaron this was all going to fail, Moses and Aaron still carried out their assignment. The lesson for us is this; “you (we) should fulfil the commandments (mitzvahs) even when you do not recognize their tangible effects.”

It could be we do the mitzvahs because “God’s miracles in the land (of the United States) will be increased.” We may not know what Hashem is about to do; but we do it because we believe- not blindly; but logically because His faithfulness has been proven time and time again; both in the Torah and in our own lives.

The portion concludes with the first actual commands of the Jewish people from Hashem.

1. This month shall be the head of the months for you. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.

The idea is Passover really is the start of the Jewish journey. Leaving the exile and slavery and into liberation and freedom is the start. Which is interesting; because it FEELS like it’s the end; the climax. Liberation is just the beginning.

I reflect on American history. Do we see the freeing of slaves in our country as the end of a chapter? Or is it the beginning of a chapter? From my vantage – what I learned in school is the emancipation proclamation was the end of a bad period of our history. But what if that isn’t reality? What if that was the beginning of the story? How much different would our vantage be?

And yet as Jews that is what we are called to see. The departure from Egypt is the start. There was a lot in front of us at this moment in time. Shaking off the culture of Egypt, the mind of a slave that had been shaped for 400 years; all of that was still in front of the Jews. If this is the first commandment in the Torah? It’s got to be important right?

Ok. Here are more commandments;

2. On the tenth of the month take a lamb for each extended family, one for each household.
3. If the household is too small to eat an entire lamb, they should share with a neighbor. People should be counted according to their ability to eat.
4. The lamb should be perfect, male, and within its first year
5. You can use either sheep or goats
6. Hold the lamb for inspection until the 14th day of the month (four days). Then everyone in the community of Israel shall have it slaughtered in the afternoon.
7. Take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they will eat it
8. On that night, they shall eat their meat. Eat it roasted over fire, together with unleavened bread and butter herbs
9. Do not eat it undercooked, or boiled in water. Only roasted over the fire in one piece – head, legs, and innards.
10. You shall not leave over any of it until morning
11. Anything left should be burned in fire
12. This is how to eat it; your waist belted (ready to travel), shoes on your feet, staff in your hand. Eat it quickly. This is a Passover to commemorate how God passed over the Jewish houses in Egypt.
13. Hashem will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and He will smite every first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beasts, and upon all the gods of Egypt He will perform acts of judgement. He will do this personally.
14. The blood will be a sign on houses where you are. I will see the blood and skip over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike in Egypt.

Let’s stop for a minute. Why did God need the Jews to put blood on their doors? He knew which houses the Jews lived in. The idea (from Rabbi Isaac Abravanel) is that it wasn’t just about the Jews; it was the Jews who had absolute trust in God. It does make me wonder what happened to the Jews who did not put blood on their doors?

Ok. Back to the commands:

15. This day (Passover) will be a memorial and you shall celebrate it as a festival for God. For all generations shall you celebrate it as an eternal statute.

Stop again. Christian friends. When you read this; and you say you follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, how do you reconcile this with the holidays celebrated by the church? What does “for all generations” mean if not a command to celebrate this today? Why don’t Christians celebrate Passover? Is it because the church (founded by Constantine) was grounded in Anti-semitism? I don’t have an answer here; but I’d love to know your thoughts. I will share one pastor I spoke with 20 years ago admitted Christians should be celebrating these holidays but if he told his church this, they would all leave and he wouldn’t have a church. That was a fascinating conversation that really challenged me.

In fact, most Christians acknowledge that the Passover was a holiday that was actually celebrated by Jesus. And yet most Christians I know don’t really know about or celebrate this holiday other than an inroad to Easter. I find that really interesting.

Back to the commands:

16. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the preceding day you shall eliminate all leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leaden from the first day until the seventh day will have his soul cut off from Israel.
17. On the first day, there shall be a sacred holiday, and on the seventh day, you shall have a sacred holiday. But the only work that you may do is that which is needed to provide food for Jewish people or their cattle.
18. You shall guard the unleavened bread, for on this very day I have taken your legions out of the land of Egypt. You shall observe this day throughout your generations as an eternal statute.

Eternal statute? Does this mean even after we die, or when Mashiach comes we will be celebrating Passover? I think it does!

19. In the first month; on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month in the evening.
20. For seven days, leaven shall not be found in your houses. If any person eats a leavening substance, his soul will be cut off from the community of Israel. This applies to both the convert and the native born in the land.
21. You shall not eat any leavening substance. Throughout all the places where you live, you shall eat unleavened bread.

So we get 21 commandments related to just this one event; the Passover.

Wow. A lot here. What do you think?