A Thought on Parshas Bo
"...al tzli esh u'matzos al marrorim yochlu'hu..."
"...roasting the meat on fire with matzos on bitter herbs..." (12:8)
I realize that we just began the month of Shvat and that Pesach is a while away. Nonetheless, so much of our parsha is relevant to Pesach, and the comments of the Bechor Shor seem so insightful and original that I decided to share them. Besides, with me being in Israel and in Jerusalem, the concepts involved with Pesach are so close to home that sharing these words seems right.
In our verse, the Torah instructs us on how to prepare and to partake of the "Paschal lamb." We are quite familiar with the latter two thirds of the process, since we look forward to matzo and even to marror all year round. (In fact, the Bechor Shor on verse 42 suggests that this is one of the meanings of "layl shimurim" - Pesach is called a night of watching: he suggests that all year long the Jewish people are watching and waiting for Pesach to come so that we can celebrate our salvation and nationhood!).
What is another meaning of our above verse which depicts the eating of meat, matzo and bitter herbs? The Bechor Shor writes that the three items, eaten together, represent the three facets of significance to us. They are servitude, freedom and rescue, or salvation. The bitter herbs represents the slavery and our bitter servitude. The matzo, which were not given time to rise as we rushed out of slavery, symbolize our being freed from servitude. The Passover lamb recalls our salvation and rescue, when the plague struck our oppressors and we were spared. Thus, the compounding of these three foods during the observance of Pesach capture the three lessons of our emergence as a nation. We were bound together through slavery, through becoming free, and by way of the miracles which were manifest from Above.
As I began, I know that Pesach is a long way off, but why not focus on these lessons now, both in preparing for that yomtov and in contemplating our miraculous nationhood? We have a shared history of being persecuted because we are Jews, we have a shared history of becoming a free nation, free to serve HaShem as His people, and we have the shared history of knowing and feeling that HaShem deals with us in miraculous ways.
Warm greetings from the Holy City. Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...roasting the meat on fire with matzos on bitter herbs..." (12:8)
I realize that we just began the month of Shvat and that Pesach is a while away. Nonetheless, so much of our parsha is relevant to Pesach, and the comments of the Bechor Shor seem so insightful and original that I decided to share them. Besides, with me being in Israel and in Jerusalem, the concepts involved with Pesach are so close to home that sharing these words seems right.
In our verse, the Torah instructs us on how to prepare and to partake of the "Paschal lamb." We are quite familiar with the latter two thirds of the process, since we look forward to matzo and even to marror all year round. (In fact, the Bechor Shor on verse 42 suggests that this is one of the meanings of "layl shimurim" - Pesach is called a night of watching: he suggests that all year long the Jewish people are watching and waiting for Pesach to come so that we can celebrate our salvation and nationhood!).
What is another meaning of our above verse which depicts the eating of meat, matzo and bitter herbs? The Bechor Shor writes that the three items, eaten together, represent the three facets of significance to us. They are servitude, freedom and rescue, or salvation. The bitter herbs represents the slavery and our bitter servitude. The matzo, which were not given time to rise as we rushed out of slavery, symbolize our being freed from servitude. The Passover lamb recalls our salvation and rescue, when the plague struck our oppressors and we were spared. Thus, the compounding of these three foods during the observance of Pesach capture the three lessons of our emergence as a nation. We were bound together through slavery, through becoming free, and by way of the miracles which were manifest from Above.
As I began, I know that Pesach is a long way off, but why not focus on these lessons now, both in preparing for that yomtov and in contemplating our miraculous nationhood? We have a shared history of being persecuted because we are Jews, we have a shared history of becoming a free nation, free to serve HaShem as His people, and we have the shared history of knowing and feeling that HaShem deals with us in miraculous ways.
Warm greetings from the Holy City. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 1:26 AM
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