Shabbos Parashas Bo - 5779

Shabbos Parashas Bo - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

God said to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall

be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months

of the year. [Shemos 12:1-2]

These two pasukim raise plenty of questions. Why did the Torah have to specify

that it took place in Egypt, when it came in the middle of great events while

everyone was still in that country? Why does this seemingly completely different

subject pop up in the middle of the incredible story of the plagues? Why does the

Torah change its usual wording for a national commandment, which would have

been something to the effect of God saying to Moshe and Aharon, say to the people?

According to most commentators, the first of the 613 commandments given to the

nation of Israel is the observance of the new month. Our pasuk establishes the

calendar, but there is obviously more involved here. The wording seems to be a

statement of fact rather than the voice of command. Rashi reads it "this moon shall

be" rather than "this month", and says that our verse is not God commanding Moshe,

rather God showing Moshe a picture of what the new moon should look like in order

for the Jewish people to declare a new month.

Mechilta asks why "in the land of Egypt" and defines that as meaning outside of the

cities due to the severity of idolatry there, thus we can read it as meaning a clean place.

The Gemora in Rosh Hashana [22a] explains the "for you" as meaning that the future

declarations of new months is now in the hands of the beit din. The fact that God

spoke to both Moshe and Aharon shows that it takes two to declare a month, one

alone cannot do so.

Rav Moshe Feinstein asks why Nissan was chosen to be the first month, since neither

Creation nor the giving of the Torah occurred in that month. He notes that the exodus

from Egypt does occur then, thus the calendar must be based, not on what God has

done, but what the nation has done. God lives outside of time, but Israel must live

within it. As of this moment, the children of Israel have changed from a family into a

nation. This is the defining moment, a step in the true purpose of Creation. Thus it is

appropriate to measure time from this event.

The wording is to show that God was not commanding Moshe to command the people,

rather that Moshe and Aharon stood as representatives of the people, and God was

informing them of a fact of Creation. From this point, the Jews were to act upon this

knowledge. Why at this time? Because Moshe had just left Pharaoh for the last time.

At this point, the Jews were no longer going to be subservient to the Egyptian king,

but a nation that would observe the Pesach that God was just about to describe.

The remaining plagues were only to make complete the knowledge of God's mastery

over Egypt, primarily for Pharaoh. To confirm that the nation was born before they left

Egypt, the Torah tells us that this occurred in the land of Egypt.