5-Bullet Friday: Parshas Bo

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5-Bullet Friday

This week is Parshas Bo! Check out this week's d'var torah here.

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Here is this week's 5-Bullet Friday, a quick summary of thoughts I’ve been pondering during the week:
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• Question I'm pondering (on the parsha): Principle and perception. Throughout the Torah and Gemara we find many examples of tzadikim who went out of their way to ensure that they were not allowing for something that could mislead others to think erroneously. For example, when Hashem was going to destroy Sodom, Avraham argued that if there was even one righteous person, then Hashem must save the whole city because otherwise people will think that Hashem does not rule with justice. Additionally we find this concept a few times in this week's parsha. For example, the passuk (Shemos 10:10) relates that Pharoah told Moshe that he foresees “ra'ah” will be with the B’nei Yisroel in the midbar. This event was the source of Moshe’s argument later in the Torah by the eigel ha'zahav. After that catastrophic event, when Hashem was going to wipe out klal yisroel, Moshe argued that Hashem could not do that because then perhaps the Mitzriyim will say that it was  “ra'ah” that did it. Also, there is a famous rashi and gemara berachos regarding Moshe switching the lashon when relating the message of makas bechoros to “ka’chatzos” (around midnight) instead of  "ba’chatzos” (at midnight) to ensure that the mitzriyim would not accuse him of being a liar if makas bechoros wouldn't occur precisely at midnight according to their clocks. Another example is the gemara in Shekalim which discuss that the kohanim could not have cuffs on their pants or have pockets lest they be accused of taking money from the beis hamikdash. It seems from all these examples that even in extreme circumstances we are so careful to make sure to maintain “v’hiyisem niki’im” and give off a proper appearance even when it means making an exception, so to speak, to dong the “right thing”. Considering all this, how could we understand the following Rashi: Rashi mentions that by makas bechoros every house had many people who died. Rashi goes so far to say that the mitzriyim started saying, “this is not like the other decrees/makkos of Moshe because here he said that only the bechorim would die and yet everyone seems to be dying!” Why in this circumstance did Hashem do the “correct” thing and kill the bechorim despite the fact that it looked like He was killing random mitzriyim? Why here was there no concern of v’hiyisem niki’im that Moshe would be called a liar? When do we use this principle of remaining “clean” from wrong perception and when should we put that aside?

• Concept I am considering: Extent of concern. The mishna in Demai (3:5) mentions that if one is staying at an inn, “he must tithe what he gives the hostess, and tithe what he receives from her” because she is suspected of exchanging it. It is unclear what the Tanna Kamma holds she does with the exchanged foods, whether it is taken to exchange for inferior foods or better quality. Either way, Tanna Kamma maintains that both foods that are given to her and received from her must be tithed.  R’ Yose, however, argues and says that we are not responsible for deceivers to protect them from eating tevel. The halacha ultimately does not follow R’ Yose, and indeed the rule that a “chaveir” (one who is careful about terumah and maaser) does not give out food that is tevel must be maintained. Sometimes we may feel like we could take “middah k’negged middah” into our own hands and treat others how we see that they treat others; however we must not allow such thoughts to turn into actions that are contrary to who we are and what we stand for. If we are a “chaveir”, we cannot be in a position to not take terumah and maaser even if it means not teaching the deceiver a lesson. 
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• Hashkafic idea I'm reflecting on: Everyone has a time and place. Literally. Actually. Every single place on Earth is a different place and has its own time. It might be true that when in close vicinity we always just round to a standard minute and second for simplicity’s sake with the use of time zones established around the world, but technically every space is a different time. When Hashem told Moshe that He was going to bring makas bechoros to Mitzrayim, He said that the makkah was going to come at chatos (midnight) exactly. However, when Moshe related the message from Hashem, he said that the makkah would come “ka’chatos ha’lailah” (around midnight). Perhaps Moshe mainly did this because of the inaccuracies of people’s clocks or other time-telling instruments back then. However, perhaps an additional element is the fact that indeed, everyone around mitzrayim would die at slightly different times - whenever chatzos was based on where they were were. Think about it: As important as it is to be part of a tzibbur, it is also important to appreciate one’s own individuality and work on becoming the person we as individuals are meant to become. No one will occupy the same time and place as us in this world and no one is here with exactly the same strengths and challenges.

• Middah on my mind: Stubbornness. Pharaoh was quite the stubborn person #nononoiwillnotletyougo. Even Pharaoh’s name alludes to this. The letters peh, reish, ayin, and hey when spelled backward spells out “Ha’oref” which essentially refers to a stiff neck. The middah of stubborness or stiff-necked could be an awful middah stemming from haughtiness; however, like many middos, it could be a good quality as well. (More about that when we write about B’nei Yisroel being am k’shei oref).   

• Part of Tefillah I'm concentrating on: Ve’emunah kol zos (in Maariv) and Ezras avoseinu (in Shacharis).  I once overheard two rabbeim of mine relating a story of someone who approached a gadol and mentioned that in the introductory line before meseches s’machos (one of the mesechta k’tanos often published in the back of gemara avodah zarrah), it quotes the passuk in Bo that “it was at precisely midnight that Hashem hit all the firstborns of Mitzrayim…” It then goes on to relate from R’ Yochanan who said that even though Hashem hit them with a deadly plague at midnight, they remained alive until the morning when they then actually died. The person mentioning this then asked the gadol if he had ever heard this before that the bechorim remained barely alive until the morning. The gadol responded, “Of course! We hint to it every day in davening!” In the paragraph of ve’emunah kol zos in maariv (said at night) we reflect: “Ha’makeh (the One Who hit) v’evraso kol bechorei mitzrayim…”; while in the paragraph of ezras avoseinu in shacharis (said in the morning) we mention: “Kol b’choreihem ha’ragta (You killed all their firstborns). The change of expression used to refer to makas bechoros alludes to the difference of what happened during the night of the makkah vs. what happened the following morning. I don’t know who the person was who asked nor remember which gadol it was, but the little remazim (hints and allusions) that chazal infused in our tefilos are surely incredible and profound!

What's on your mind? 

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

P.S:

• Completely random thought I'm thinking about: Doubt and decision. There is no doubt that doubt is one of the most distracting and harmful things that could stop us from achieving our best. This is certainly true in “religious terms” as we think about Amalek and others who tried over and over to place doubt into what we were doing and get us to wonder for ourselves if we are right. This is also a classic trick of the yetzer harah. However, even in life in the general sense, doubt is more often than not, quite unhealthy. Think about something you have been mulling over for hours, days, weeks, months, or perhaps even years. How much time was wasted allowing your mind to repeatedly question the same thing over and over again? Think about all the mental energy put into the wavering, the hemming and the hawing, and all the instances that you put in less than your 100% due to such uncertainties. Challenge: Think about something which you have spent so much time going back and forth on and just make a decision. The decision does not even have to be a “forever decision”. It could be formally deciding that you are hitting the snooze button for 2 weeks or 1 month or 1 year and then will revisit the decision point.  

Have comments or thoughts on this week's bullets? Have other random thoughts on your mind? Send an email to torahparallels@gmail.com. Thank you!