Answers to Parashat Bo Questions

by Rabbi Joel M. Finkelstein

Possible Answer: Initially, G-d may have intended not to use this trick.  In ch. 3, v. 10, He tells Moshe that He will send Moshe to Pharaoh to take the Israelites out of Egypt. No subterfuge is mentioned. Only after Moshe questions his ability to carry out the task does G-d suggest taking the tack of demanding a mere six or seven day (3 to go & 3 to
return & perhaps a day or two to worship) reprieve. I say G-d "may" not have intended to use this approach. It is also possible that He did originally intend to use this approach but only happened to mention it at a later point in His discussion with Moshe. At first He simply states Moshe's objective: to take the people out . Then G-d spells out the scheme for doing so.   

Moshe himself takes a similar two-tiered approach in dealing with Pharaoh. His first words to Pharaoh are, (5,1) Send my people and they will celebrate (a festival) to Me in the desert. He didn't specify that it would be a three day trip. It doesn't necessarily imply a limited stay. Only after Pharaoh questions Moshe's authority does Moshe try the 3 day tour tactic. According to this approach, G-d and Moshe would have preferred not to use this subterfuge , but due to Moshe's lack of confidence and Pharaoh's obstinacy, the more underhanded way had to be used. (Note here the unflattering parallel between Moshe and Pharaoh's refusal.)  Pharaoh right away was able to see that this request was nothing but a sign of laziness and a way of diverting the slaves' hearts from their work and giving them false hopes of salvation (5,4). He realizes that it is not an innocent plea. He reacts strongly, tightening the screws on the Jews with more work, before their newfound rebelliousness gets out of hand.

In Moshe's second conversation with G-d (6,1, 11, 27), He makes no mention of the 3 day trip. G-d predicts that Pharaoh will one day send the slaves out and even "chase" them out (6,1). Chasing is more total than sending. One can send someone on a three day mission. One does not usually chase someone out and expect them to return. In the discussion of the original matza (unleavened bread), the Torah states that the Israelites were "chased out" (12, 39). "Chasing out" is something never explicitly done by Pharaoh, except to kick Moshe and Aharon out of the palace before the 8th plague. This of course is an allusion to the eventual chasing out which he never explicitly does. G-d claims, in introducing the tenth plague to Moshe, that now Pharaoh will "utterly chase you out of here". However, Pharaoh in the narrative is always described as sending the Israelites, not chasing them out. It is his job to send, not to chase out. In the end (12, 31), Pharaoh says, "Get up and get out from my people, you and Sons of Israel, and go worship the Lord as you demanded". This could be considered a total chasing out, almost a writ of divorce, yet the phrase, "Pharaoh chased them out" still does not appear. Furthermore, Pharaoh, even at this moment of panic, is careful to remind them of the purpose of their excursion: to worship the L-rd.

It is important also to note that the notion of the 3 day request is not brought up again by Moshe after their very first encounter.  In each of the 6 plagues in which there is a warning (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8), Moshe consistently uses almost exactly the same formula, "send My people and they will worship Me". Moshe only reiterates the 3 day notion in response to one of Pharaoh's offers to worship G-d in Egypt (8, 23).  We know that Pharaoh was wary of the Israelites' motives not only at the beginning when he called them lazy (5, 8), but also in his grudging approval of their requests in plagues 4, 8 and 9 (8, 21; 10, 11, 24). In each case, Pharaoh attempts to keep the slaves close by or to hold their property or families as hostage. He is well aware of the consequences of letting a slave population go on vacation; They may never come back.  

The final source that is revelatory regarding Pharaoh's appreciation of the finality of the exodus, is found in his reaction to the fact that they indeed did not return. This too is ambiguous. The Spanish 12th cent. commentator, Ibn Ezra points to verse 5 in ch. 14, which says that Pharaoh only decided to chase them when he heard "that they had run away", ie. that they didn't intend to return. Ibn Ezra claims that this proves that until then he assumed they would return.  

However, there is another verse, pointing in a different direction. Ch. 14, v. 3 reads that Pharaoh figured the people were lost, thus providing him a great opportunity to recapture them. I take that to mean that although he knew they never intended to return, he suddenly came up with a new idea as to how to capture them. Ibn Ezra, however, maintains that the fact that they were lost convinced him that they must be trying to escape and not to return home on the path on which they went. In Ibn Ezra's view, until that point, Pharaoh was still expecting them home. A proof to my approach is that Pharaoh and his servants are quoted (14, 5) as saying "What have we done to send out Israel from working for us?!"  They seem well aware that until now they had implicitly or explicitly released them from bondage completely. 

Did the Egyptian people understand the finality of the exodus? They are very vigorous in sending out the Israelites (12, 33) yet one imagines that they wouldn't have "lent" the Israelites gold and silver if they thought they'd never return. RASHBAM (RASHI's grandson, Fr. 12th cent.) suggests that they didn't "borrow" the items as much as they simply asked for gifts (12, 35). 

If Pharaoh didn't realize what Moshe really had in mind, then it is disturbing that G-d would have Moshe deceive Pharaoh to that extent. If Pharaoh understood the deeper implications from the beginning, then the deceit was only transparent. Still, why any deceit at all? We suggested that it was a reflection of Moshe's inability to confront Pharaoh more directly. Spanish 1492 exile, Isaac Abarbanel writes that G-d wished to expose Pharaoh's obstinacy that  he wouldn't even grant such a simple request. One could suggest along these lines that had Israel's request been for total freedom, Pharaoh's refusal would have been excused. Who would expect a man to willingly let his work force go for good? It is only for not allowing them the right to worship that he is so severely punished.

2. There are three sets of laws in this portion: ch. 12, v. 1-28, 43-51; ch. 13, v. 1-17. They all teach about Pesah. What's the difference? What function do they play in the story at the point at which they are introduced? (Hint: Do they talk about things to do in Israel or in Egypt, this year or next? In what way are the laws part of the story? Are the commandments appropriate for a slave people in Egypt of for a free people in Israel? Do the laws speak of realities and social institutions found in Egypt or Israel?)

Possible answer: The first set of Paschal laws speak of the first Passover as well as a future passover which will be the same as this Passover (12, 14, 24). In reality, the future Passovers will be different; blood will be sprinkled on the altar, not the doorposts, but Moshe tries to paint a picture of a momentous event which will be mimicked forever. It would diminish the impact of his point if he began to delineate all of the nuances of future holidays. 

The second set of Paschal laws refers to a celebration in the context of new society in which there are citizens and strangers, but now they are not the strangers, but the residents. It's a new society, so different from the Egyptian one. In it equality is granted for all circumcised residents, strangers included. These laws are told to them, so to speak, on the way, as they're still in Egypt, but dreaming of the new life ahead. This duality is achieved by placing it after a description of the exodus, as if to say they left already, and it's also placed before a description of the exodus, as if to say that they didn't yet leave. 

The third set of laws are clearly post-exodus laws. For this reason, they speak of going to Canaan and remembering the Exodus in a variety of ways. Now that they have left, it is meaningful to speak of remembering. The danger of forgetting begins the minute the event is over. The point here is that the legal passages are a part of the narrative, and reflect what's occurring in the story. Each person, depending on his or her given situation at the moment needs to emphasize a different aspect of the holiday. Passover is different each year as the setting is different.