Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
The last three of the Ten Plagues are visited on Egypt: a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery; a thick, tangible darkness envelops the land; and all the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan.
G-d commands the first mitzvah to be given to the people of Israel: to establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon. The Israelites are also instructed to bring a “Passover offering” to G-d: a lamb to be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts of every Israelite home, so that G-d should pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah and bitter herbs.
The death of the firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh’s resistance and he literally drives the Children of Israel from his land. So hastily do they depart, there is no time for their dough to rise, and the only provisions they take along are unleavened bread (Matzah). Before they go, they ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and garments, draining Egypt of its wealth.
The Children of Israel are commanded to sanctify all firstborn and to observe the anniversary of the Exodus each year by removing all leaven from their possession for seven days, eating matzah, and telling the story of their redemption to their children. They are also commanded to wear tefillin on the arm and head as a reminder of the Exodus and their resultant commitment to G-d.
” Dvar Torah ”
This week’s Parsha, starts with stating the final 3 plagues that G-d brought upon the Egyptians before the Salvation of the Jewish nation. The last plague which was by far the most devastating one, was the killing of the Egyptians’ first born. The difference between the last plague and all other nine plagues is that, all other nine plagues destroyed the Egyptians’ livelihood and their economy, while the last plague destroyed their actual lives!
So, prior to the plague of the first born, Moshe told Pharaoh, “So says Hashem: ‘ At around midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt. Every first born in Egypt shall die,…”.
Once again, the Chachamim pick up a strange word used in Torah which needs explanation. They are bothered by Moshe’s use of the word, “around” midnight. Why did Moshe need to approximate? Of course G-d can be precise and execute his mission at exactly midnight, 12:00am. Why didn’t Moshe declare the exact time? Well, Rashi, the famous Torah commentator, explains that Moshe did not want to be precise in his declaration, lest the advisers of Pharaoh err in their calculation and attribute their mistake to G-d’s inaccuracy or Moshe’s inability to be exact. This was obviously before the days of clocks and certainly before the days of calculating the exact time with minutes and seconds. Telling time was usually an estimated calculation.
But you may ask yourself, what is the big deal if the Egyptians thought that Moshe wasn’t exactly accurate? What if they would have thought that the time was 12:05, for example? Hadn’t the Egyptians experienced a series of nine plagues before? Hadn’t Moshe been correct and accurate every single time about every single detail? Moshe had a flawless track record. Do you think a little inaccuracy in time would have damaged Moshe’s reputation?
Rabbi Yissachar Frand has an interesting insight to answer this question. He says that Moshe wasn’t concern about his own reputation at all, but rather, he was worried about the Honor of Hashem. If G-d said that he would be there at midnight and people were waiting and thinking that it was midnight already and G-d is not here yet, that would be a Chillul HaShem (a desecration of G-d’s Name), even though it only lasted perhaps for a minute. By now, the Egyptians knew that the G-d of Hebrews is the true G-d. They knew that He was perfect and they expected His agent, Moshe, to be perfect too. That’s why Moshe approximated the time, in order not to give them any reason for suspicion. He didn’t want the people to doubt his prediction even for a minute. Moshe knew that it’s not good enough for the people to think that he’s right most of the time; he had to be right ALL of the time, since he represents G-d. It’s like comparing it to the top A-grade student of the class getting a 90% in a test. While for others it’s consider a high score, for the top student, it’s might seem as a failure.
Yes my friends, G-d is perfect and so is expected from his agents too! G-d has chosen us to be his “Chosen People” and we act as Hashem’s representatives in the eyes of other nations. Anything we do publicly wrong is considered Chillul Hashem, a desecration of G-d’s name. The way we conduct our businesses, the way we treat other people, the way we dress, the way we eat, the way we drink and the way we socialize are all being carefully observed and judged by other people. Something which might be normal for other nations to do, might be a disgrace to be done by a Jew. For example, for the President of United States to be engaged in immoral activity might be acceptable by the nation, but if a Rabbi is involved in a sexual misconduct, it’s considered an outrage and is not accepted by the society. The Torah is telling us that we need to be at our best behavior at all times, because it’s not only our own reputation which is at stake, it’s Hashem’s honor which we are jeopardizing too ! For us Jews to be good people 90% of the time is not good enough; we have to be good at ALL times in ALL places!!
In science and mathematics, perfection and accuracy are the key elements to find the right solution; in Judaism however, perfection is the only solution to be a good Jew!!!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin