Torah Portion - Bo
Written by d fine
The opening pasuk of our sedra seems a bit strange at first glance. It reads ‘and HaShem said to Moshe ‘come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants in order to place my signs/wonders in his midst.’’ HaShem is giving Moshe a reason to come to Pharaoh and warn him about the next plague. Yet HaShem tells Moshe that Pharaoh’s heart has been hardened; isn’t this a reason not to warn Pharaoh - for he won’t listen anyway? The Sforno answers that this was precisely what HaShem was telling Moshe here. HaShem was forewarning Moshe that Pharaoh will not listen to his warning - but even so there is a point to warning him. How so? For at least others might heed the warning and repent. Moreover, the warning would make Bnei Yisrael recognise HaShem’s Might (that the plagues were exactly in-keeping with their warnings) and Mercy (in providing a warning to the Egyptians first).

Torah Portion - Bo
Written by d fine
The sedra opens with the ‘amira’ form of speech; which denotes a softer, calmer message. Why? The Ohr HaChaim gives two answers here. Firstly, he writes that this is to reflect the fact that Moshe was being sent to warn Pharaoh before the plague. Alternatively, he answers that even the middas ha’rachamim agreed that Pharaoh should be punished. The concept is that sometimes it is the biggest act of cruelty to show mercy to someone who does not deserve such treatment. In Pharaoh’s case, showing mercy to Pharaoh would have meant that the Jews would have continued to be slaves under him. The same goes for other people; sometimes showing undue mercy to people can be cruel to others who are/will suffer at the hands of this individual.

Torah Portion - Bo
Written by Daniel Sandground
Parashas Bo How many plagues appear in this weeks sedra Bo/בא? … It’s in the name… Just like we did with last week’s sedra, Vaeira, the gematria of Bo should tell us… so ב = 2 and א = 1… therefore we have the last three plagues which are Locust, Darkness and The Death of the Firstborn. This weeks sedra therefore starts with Hashem telling Moshe to go to Pharaoh and pre-warn him about the next plague to come his way, locust. In his commands to Moshe, Hashem introduces a new factor in His reasoning for unleashing the plagues on Egypt stating that through His signs we shall… ‘know that I am Hashem’ and more interestingly ‘so that you may relate in the ears of your
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Torah Portion - Bo
Written by d fine
The Netziv (Shemos 6:6) asks THE question: how could a nation which had been in slavery for close to two-hundred years, having been firmly enveloped in a slave mentality, receive the Torah a mere fifty days after having left slavery behind? How could they have shaken off that slave mentality and rise to such spiritual heights in such a small amount of time? Imagine if nowadays a group of people was freed from slavery after 190 years; they would be sent to counselling and psychiatric care for months on end before they could be sent back into normal society; needless to say
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