“RABBI’S
MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Bo
3 Shevat 5775/ January 23, 2015
At the beginning of
Parshas Bo, seven plagues have already ravaged Egypt
Moshe replied that not
only will every man, woman and child leave Egypt
What was the point of
contention between Moshe and Pharaoh as to who would be leaving? Also, why did
Pharaoh say that the men can go because it is what you are seeking, not
because they are what you are seeking?
I believe the
difference between Moshe’s viewpoint and Pharaoh’s viewpoint is the difference
between a housewife and a doctor:
A woman is rushing to
the store one Friday afternoon to purchase the last minute emergency groceries
before Shabbos. As she is leaving she calls out to her husband who is reading
the paper on the couch: “Moshe, please do the dishes, vacuum the living room,
and make sure the house is presentable before I come home. Shabbos is in two
hours.”
Moshe continues reading
the paper and promptly dozes off. When he wakes up he realizes that his wife will
be home in twenty minutes. In a panic he calls up his neighbor’s wife and
promises that he will fix her leaky sink and fix her fence on Sunday if she
comes over and straightens up the house right now. She laughs but agrees.
Moshe’s wife enters the
home to find the house spotless and ready for Shabbos. When she finds out the
next day how it happened she rolls her eyes and mutters “typical”. But she
isn’t upset. After all he made sure the house was ready for Shabbos, and she
didn’t really care who did it.
A second scenario:
Chaim goes to the doctor for a physical. The doctor examines him thoroughly and
then sits down to discuss the results. He looks sternly at his patient. “Chaim,
we need an hour of exercise every day! Do you understand? This is your health
on the line and it’s not a joke. I don’t want to start telling you the
complications you can start to face if it’s not done. When you come back in six
months I want to see an improvement.”
Chaim comes home and
calls over Samantha, his housekeeper. “Samantha, my doctor just informed me
that there’s got to be an hour of exercise done each day. Please do it and let
me know when it’s done so I can tell the doctor.”
In this situation Chaim
obviously completely misunderstood what the doctor was telling him. The doctor
of course wanted Chaim to do the exercise, not just to make sure it was done.
Pharaoh was the supreme
ruler of a polytheistic society. The ancient Egyptians, as well as the ancient
Greeks and Romans, believed that there were many gods, each of whom was
temperamental and finicky. The humans had to ensure that the gods were pacified
and happy, otherwise they may use their powers against the humans.
Therefore, Pharaoh told
Moshe that to serve G-d he only needed the men. The men could go into the
desert and perform all the requisite rituals and incantations to keep the gods
happy. Why would the women and children need to join? Thus Pharaoh insisted
that it - i.e. the pacification of the gods - was what Moshe sought, and
that only necessitated the men’s departure.
Moshe replied that Pharaoh
woefully misunderstood the Jewish viewpoint of Serving G-d. It is not something
that needs to get done, but something we need to do. Each
and every Jew needs to pray, learn Torah, and perform mitzvos constantly in
order to solidify and maintain his/her connection with G-d. Even our animals
and possessions are utilized in serving Hashem. Nothing could be left behind
when we departed Egypt
Shabbat Shalom &
Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani
Staum