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Spirituality

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TORAH PORTION

Defying Egypt
And Its Sun God

Parshat Bo: Exodus 10:1-13:16;
Jeremiah 46:13-28.

tion for Egypt that we slaughter in a
way which would be an abomination
to Egypt before their eyes and not have
his week's biblical reading
describes the workings of the them stone us?"
Nevertheless, right before the
Hebrew calendar beginning
with the celebration of the New Moon. Exodus, the Almighty commands each
Hebrew household to take a lamb (or
It then tells us about the many laws
ram) on the 10th of Nissan
of the festival of Passover,
and then four days later
our festival of freedom. But
slaughter the symbol of the
there is one "mystery" festi-
Egyptian god before the
val that requires definition
eyes of their masters.
and explanation: "This day
A midrash teaches that,
shall be for you a memo-
on that same day, they had
rial ..." (12:14). Which day
themselves circumcised
is the Scripture speaking
— a symbol of blood com-
about?
mitment — before placing
The classical commenta-
the blood of the ram on the
tor Rashi suggests that it
doorposts of their homes,
refers to the first day of
flaunting their sacrilegious
Passover — the 15th of
act before the Egyptians.
Nissan. But Passover lasts
for seven days. Why, then, single out the They then roasted the lamb, causing
first day? Here is another interpretation. maximum fragrance to waft into the
streets outside.
On the 10th of Nissan, the Jews in
I believe that God's message with
Egypt were commanded to take a lamb
this commandment was that the
and keep it until the 14th of the month
Hebrews had to earn their right
when they slaughtered it and placed its
blood on their doorposts. The lamb was to freedom — pay their exit tax
by slaughtering the symbol of the
then roasted and we were commanded
Egyptian god, patron of consummate
to eat the whole of this sacrifice.
evil who presided over hedonistic and
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra maintains
totalitarian pharaohs. Slaughtering
that the festival referred to in this
the ram must have been a capital
week's parshah is the day designated
offense in Egypt; and by carrying out
for the "slaughter of the paschal lamb
the Divine command in such a public
by the entire congregation of Israel
manner, the Hebrews were placing
after the sun begins to set." Why were
their lives on the line for the God of
the instructions for this sacrifice so
freedom and morality.
detailed and why did it warrant a spe-
This, then, is the memorial — the
cial day on the eve of Passover to serve
unique festival of the 14th day of
as an eternal memorial?
The astrological symbol of the month Nissan — which certainly deserves
to be an eternal statute as a reminder
of Nissan is Aries the ram — linguisti-
cally linked to Ra, the sun god of Egypt. of mesirut nefesh, our commitment to
pay the ultimate price, for the sake of
Aries was particularly invoked during
freedom and redemption. It is also a
Nissan, the first month of spring, when
reminder that without this total dedi-
the days are getting longer and the sun
cation, liberty and deliverance will
stronger. Ramses, or son of Ra, the sun
remain illusory and unrealized goals.
god, was a popular Egyptian name and
Thus from a biblical perspective,
the very term "pharaoh" may very well
there
are two distinct and disparate
mean the "House of Ra."
festivals:
first, the one-day Festival
If indeed the ram (or lamb) sym-
of
the
Passover
Sacrifice on the 14th
bolized the sun god of Egypt, we can
of
Nissan,
followed
by the seven-day
readily understand why the Hebrews
Festival
of
Passover,
from the 15th to
had to leave Egypt for three days
El
the
22nd
of
Nissan.
in order to carry out their sacrifice
as Moses explained to Pharaoh: "It
would not be proper for us to do so (in Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah
Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat.
Egypt) since it would be an abomina-

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January 21 . 2010