THICK DARKNESS DESCENDED UPON ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT FOR THREE DAYS. PEOPLE COULD NOT SEE ONE ANOTHER, AND FOR THREE DAYS NO ONE COULD GET UP FROM WHERE HE WAS; BUT ALL THE ISRAELITES ENJOYED LIGHT IN THEIR DWELLINGS.

(Shemot 10:22-23)

 

No one could get up from where he was - it is not the nature of darkness to so imprison someone that he cannot get up from where he is. Even the blind can walk around, feeling their way in the dark. From here we learn that they were terrified by strange visions until fear made it impossible for them to move from place to place, as happens to a person who is frightened by a catastrophe.

Three days - the plague continued to keep them immobilized for so long that they would have died from thirst and hunger if the Israelites did not come to help them, feeding them and giving them drink. Thus it seems reasonable that they did this, and Scripture alludes to it the later verses; when the Egyptians saw the Israelites repaying evil with good, they lost their hatred of them and began to honor and love them, and to believe that they had a divine quality. That is why they generously lent things to them and showed them favor. They also greatly honored Moses, which they had not done previously.

All the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings - the land of Goshen was mentioned in connection with the plagues of mixed beasts and hail, and here it says in their dwellings to tell us the secret of the matter - that there was no darkness in the land, but only in the eyes of the Egyptians. Therefore, the Israelites had light - even those who lived in close proximity to the Egyptians. That is the significance of [the expression] in their dwellings: the expression refers to the Egyptians - even in the Egyptian dwellings and their vicinity they [the Israelites] saw light, while there was darkness in the land of Goshen because many Egyptians lived in the land of Goshen amidst the Israelites, and they were also punished. There was no place where an Egyptian could escape this torment, so every Egyptian sat in darkness, while every Israelite served as his light.

(Rabbi Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio on Shemot 10:23)

 

 

In blessed memory of my mother - my teacher

Miriam Leiser z"l

Who passed away on the 21 of Tevet 5756

On the tenth anniversary of her death.

This month is for you - Their Hearts were Deaf

Pinchas Leiser

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai had five students, they were: Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkonos, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananyah, and Rabbi Yosi HaKohen, and Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel, and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh.

He listed their praises:... and R. Elazar ben Arakh - [is an] ever-flowing spring.   (Pirkei Avot 2:8)

The Talmud (Shabbat 147b - and in slightly different versions, Avot DeRabbi Natan, Kohellet Rabbah, and Yalkut Shimoni) tells a story about R. Elazar ben Arakh, one of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai's most important students - perhaps his favorite student:

R. Elazar ben Arakh happened to go there [to Diomesit-Pigita]; he was drawn to those places and forgot all he had learned. When he returned from there, he stood up to read from the Torah, and when he got to the verse hahodesh hazeh lakhem [this month is for you], he [instead] said haheresh hayah libam [their heart was deaf]. The Sages asked for mercy upon him, and his learning returned to him.

Other, more developed versions of this story exist, but from the story in the Talmud we can imagine the situation when after R. Elazar ben Arakh's great teacher R. Yohanan ben Zakai died, R. Elazar left the other scholars and found himself a pleasant place to stay, by the hot baths and vineyards. The price of his departure was that he forgot his learning. When he returned to the place where his fellow scholars dwelt, it seems to have been the Shabbat of our parasha, parashat Bo, or perhaps the Shabbat of Parshat HaHodesh. He was given the honor of reading the Torah, but failed to correctly recognize the words of the passage. One can imagine that even a child who knows how to read would not make so gross an error.

To the MaHaRShA this was not only a case of confusing letters with others similar to them (dalet with resh; kaf with bet) and vocalizing the words incorrectly, thus changing the meaning of the verse. He found a symbolic significance in R. Elazar ben Arakh's mistake, and he writes:

His mouth made this error appropriately, for his heart became as of stone and deaf to understanding, while earlier his heart had been like an ever-flowing spring in its connection to the Sages.

In Avot DeRabbi Natan, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai describes his student, R. Elazar ben Arakh in even richer terms than those known to us from the mishnah:

He called Elazar ben Arakh a "flowing stream" and an "ever-flowing spring," whose waters increase and escape outwards, to fulfill that which is said: Your spring will gush forth in streams in the public squares (Proverbs 5:16).

He is not only an "ever-flowing spring," which could be interpreted as indicating outstanding creativity or unusual intellectual abilities (as the RaMBaM explains in his Commentary on the Mishnah); it is stated that his "waters increase and escape outward" - he inspires his environment and uses his wisdom and talents to contribute to society.

The praises lavished upon R. Elazar ben Arakh by his teacher in Avot DeRabbi Natan jibe with the statement transmitted by Abba Shaul in Pirkei Avot: "If all the sages of Israel were on one side of the balance including R. Eliezer ben Horkonos, and R. Eliezer ben Arakh were on the other side, he would outweigh them all." If so, R. Elazar was the best student; he was also the only one who could console his teacher when he lost his son (Avot DeRabbi Natan, 14).

In the light of the above, the story of how R. Elazar left his colleagues and traveled to Amaos-Poragita-Diomastit after his teacher's death is both especially paradoxical and especially tragic.

The short versions of the story that appear in Avot DeRabbi Natan and the Talmud give us no basis for surmising R. Elazar's motives for leaving the community. Kohellet Rabbah and Yalkut Shimoni assume that he "visited his wife" and that his wife had convinced him to stay in those places for an extended period of time. As we all know, this is not the only example of woman being represented as tempting man to sin, but it is not at all necessary to assume that his wife, of all people, was "guilty."

In Avot DeRabbi Natan, which seems to be the earliest source for this story, it appears in conjunction with the story of how R. Elazar consoled Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai.

Could it be that Rabban Yohanan's admiration for him caused R. Elazar to become somewhat prideful and egocentric? Could it be that his feelings of superiority led R. Elazar to close himself off from others, thinking that he had no need for study-partners, and that he had nothing to learn from others? Perhaps in contrast to R. Eliezer the Great who was shunned despite his desire to influence others, "whose colleagues separated themselves from him" (as R.Akiva puts it in Bava Metzia 59b), R. Elazar separated himself from his colleagues.

The Babylonian Talmud does not explain the point of R. Elazar's visits to those places, but rather concerns itself with the attractions of the "good life," even for the greatest sages. Hedonism has tremendous power and no person is immune to it.

It seems to me that we can expand the MaHaRShA's deep insight regarding the connection between R. Elazar's trip to Diomaskit and the error he made in reading the phrase ha-hodesh hazeh lakhem. Perhaps other, different reasons - his feelings of superiority and pride, or the difficulty of seeing his teacher in mourning, or the attractions of earthy pleasures, or perhaps other reasons unknown to us - led R. Elazar to feel that he had no place in the house of study, that he had nothing to contribute there, and had no motivation to try to contribute. And so, he "fled" social and educational involvement and became self-absorbed.

He failed to realize that by that decision he relinquished his own spiritual growth and even caused his own spiritual decay. It may be learned from this that no real spiritual growth is possible without societal involvement.

HaHodesh hazeh lakhem is the first commandment. Had it not been for the need to teach the important principle of the earth is the Lords and all that is in it, the Torah could have begun with that commandment. It is the commandment to "sanctify the new moon," i.e. the commandment which sets the times and seasons for us, the times and seasons which are important for communal and social life. This passage also marks the beginning of the redemption from Egypt, the liberation and rebirth. Apparently, there can be no redemption when the heart remains, as the MaHaRShA put it, "deaf to understanding."

This insight may have important applications for our times: we have opportunities for redemption, liberation, rebirth, and growth at the personal, social, and national levels. These opportunities depend upon our ability to open our hearts to the distress of the society around us, to involve ourselves in the creation of a more just society, a society that strives for peace. Hiding away in our "own four cubits" causes us to "make our hearts deaf" and prevents the possibility of growth, renewal, and redemption at all levels.

Similarly to R. Elazar ben Arakh, we need sages who are involved with society, who demonstrate concern, who will ask for mercy so that the opportunities for growth and restoration can be realized.

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist

 

 

This renewal of the moon shall be for you the beginning of renewal. That is to say, when you see the renewal of the moon's light, you will be aroused to take renewal upon yourself after its example. You are to set the timing of the months for yourselves by taking note of it. It does not say this is the first of months, but rather, this is the first of months for you.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on Shemot 12:2)

 

"Light and Darkness"

And so, the pure righteous ones do not complain about darkness, instead, they increase light. They do not complain about evil, but instead increase justice. They do not complain about heresy, but instead increase faith. They do not complain about ignorance, but instead increase wisdom.

(R. A. Y. Kook zt"l Arpelei Tohar 27-28)

 

Mixed Multitude: Two Views

Your people have acted basely (Shemot 32:7) - It does not say the people but rather, your people: a mixed multitude that you decided to take in and convert of your own initiative, without consulting Me, and you said it would be good to bring converts close to the Divine Presence. Now they have become debased and debase others.

(Rashi on Shemot 32: 7)

 

Lover, indeed, of peoples (Devarim 33:3). Including the nations of the world such as the mixed multitude and those of the nations who converted and came to accept the Torah together with Israel - These, too, are beloved of God, He accepted them and His presence rested upon them.

(RaShBaM Devarim 33:3)

 

[Now when Pharaoh let] the people [go...] (Shemot 13: 17): The numerical value of the people [et ha'am] is equivalent to that of also a mixed multitude [ve'gam erev rav] (12: 38).

(Ba'al Ha'Turim on Shemot 13: 17)

 

The Commandment of Eternal Commemoration Differs from the Joy Related to the Personal Experience of Liberation

Throughout your generations, as a law for the ages you are to celebrate it - In Parashat Emor it is written A law for the ages, into your generations. [Translator's note: The author of Meshekh Hokhma is alluding to two questions. Why is the order of generations and ages reversed? Why is the phrase you are to celebrate it repeated at the end of the passage from Shemot?] It is clear that when there is a joy so great as that of leaving Egypt and tribulation, when marked slaves became a nation distinguished by its kings and priests - it is inherently proper to celebrate that day. This is obvious regarding the experiencing generation; it is not so obvious for later generations which did not witness that great event, which did not participate in their travail. It is, however, a Torah law like any other, Throughout your generations, a law for the ages. But for that generation leaving Egypt, it is not a law and decree –it is a natural reaction.

(Meshekh Hokhma, Shemot 12:14)

 

Between Holiness and National Historical Ties

The sanctified sites are not founded in religion; rather, they derive from the nation and its roots. Mount Moriah, for example, was the place of man's creation, there Abraham sacrificed Isaac; later it was chosen by the word of a prophet. Religion writes only of the place which God will choose. Mount Sinai is the place of religion. Once the Divine Presence departed, the sheep and cattle could ascend it! God forbid that sentiments mislead us to lend any image to religion. [The significance of] Jerusalem, all the Land of Israel, and Mount Moriah is all built upon their relation to our fathers, fathers who are the roots of the nation; the nation must be one with its roots. All sentiments should be directed toward the unification of the nation.

(Meshekh Hokhma, Shemot 12:21,22)

 

And it shall be a sign on your hand - the Weaker Hand: Physical Strength and Intelligence

And it shall be a sign on your hand - Our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "The weak hand - to teach that tefillin are to be placed on the left hand" (Menahot 37)... therefore the passage specifies the weak hand, to teach that man not overcome with strength, but that the Lord wages war, for man's hand is too weak to accomplish things great or small if not for God's hand holding his hand... Therefore God commanded to place the tefillin, on which the name of God is inscribed, upon the weak hand to teach that God's strong right hand is that which gives power to this weak hand, as is written For with a powerful hand did God deliver us from Egypt - this is God's powerful right hand, which corresponds to man's left hand, and with it God delivered us, and since we face God, His right hand is juxtaposed to our weak hand, to teach that no deed depends upon man's activity, but rather upon the help of The Holy One, Blessed be He.

(Kli Yakar, Shemot 13:16)

 

The blood on the lintel: On the inside? On the outside? What for?

And they should put it on the doorposts and on the lintel: on the inside. But perhaps it really means on the outside? The verse comes to teach us: and the blood shall be as a sign for you - a sign for you, and not for others.

(Mekhilta Bo Masehet DePaskha 6)

 

Many have said that blood was placed on the lintel and the two doorposts in order to show that they could publicly slaughter something abhorrent to the Egyptians, since the Egyptians already feared them, and they [the Israelites] were not afraid that they [the Egyptians] would stone them [in retaliation for the abhorrent slaughter]. But if that were the case, it [the blood] would have been placed [outside] on the gate of the courtyard. In fact, the blood was only daubed in secret, while the courtyard gates were shut, and they did the slaughtering in the afternoon so that no-one would see, since it was close to nightfall; and no-one left his house until morning. When they did leave, each person closed his courtyard gate, because the Egyptians thought they would return. The only reason for placing the blood on the lintel was that it served as a ransom for everyone who ate in the house and a as a sign to be seen by the destroying angel, as though it were a label.

(Ibn Ezra on Shemot 12:7)

 

Thus it was in order to efface the last traces of these incorrect opinions that we have been ordered by the Law to offer in sacrifices only these three species of quadrupeds: You shall bring your offering of oxen and of small cattle (Vayikra 1:2). In this way an action considered by them (the idolaters) as an extreme act of disobedience was the one through which one came close to God and sought forgiveness for one's sins. Thus wrong opinions, which are diseases of the human soul, are cured by their contrary found at the other extreme.

With a view to the same purpose we have been commanded to slaughter the paschal lamb and to sprinkle with its blood in Egypt the gates from outside, so that we should manifest our rejection of these opinions, proclaim what is contrary to them, and bring forth the belief that the act, which they deemed to be a cause of destruction, saves from destruction: And the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite (Shemot 12:25). This is in recompense of their manifestation of obedience and their having put an end to the absurd things done by the idolaters. This is the reason for the choice of only these three species for sacrifice, over and beyond he fact that these were also domestic species that are numerous, not as is the case in the cults of the idolaters who sacrifice lions, bears, and other wild animals, as is mentioned in the book of Tumtum.

(RaMBaM, Guide for the Perplexed III:46, pp. 581-2 in Pine's translation)

 

 

 

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