Exodus 10:1–13:16 | Jeremiah 46:13–28 | John 6:16–29

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Bo
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Shabbat Bo

1. Before the final plague - the death of the firstborn - God commands Moses to tell the people to ask for objects of silver and gold from their Egyptian neighbors. Where was Moses when Israel was despoiling the Egyptians and what was he doing? What do we learn from Moses' actions?

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

Immediately before the last plague, God commands Moses to send the people of Israel - men and women alike - to ask their Egyptian neighbors for their possessions of gold and silver. The narrator tells us that God disposed the Egyptians favorably towards Israel and that they freely provided the Israelites with gold and silver (Exodus 11:3; cf. 12:36). The narrator then goes on to tell us that "the man Moses was highly esteemed in the land of Egypt and in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and the people" (Exodus 11:3). This additional paean of praise to Moses is odd because the text does not say that he participated in the despoiling of the Egyptians, only that he communicated God's command to the people. Why do the Egyptians regard Moses so highly (especially considering all the plagues which were befalling them)? 

Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael to Exodus 13:19 suggests an answer to this question. 

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him [because he had made the children of Israel swear an oath saying, ‘When God does indeed visit you, you will carry my bones with you from this place.'"] (Exodus 13:19; cf. Genesis 50:24-25). 

[This is said] to make known the wisdom and the piety of Moses. For all Israel was occupying itself with the plunder, while Moses was occupying himself with the meritorious deed of the bones of Joseph. About him, scripture says "One wise of heart takes on meritorious deeds" (Proverbs 10:8).    

The midrashist contrasts Moses' piety with the piety of all Israel. They were engaged in plundering the Egyptians before the Exodus at God's command. Moses, on the other hand, was occupying himself with caring for the dead and fulfilling an oath enjoined upon him and all Israel by Joseph. Certainly the command to plunder the Egyptians was a command of God. However, the midrashist places greater merit on Moses' wisdom and piety. 

Judaism places great emphasis on the care of the deceased and values burial in the land of Israel (see b. Ketubot 111a). This value is seen in a passage from the Talmud (b. Shabbat 127a) which is recited every morning following the blessings of the Torah: "These are the things whose reward a person enjoys in this world but whose principle endures in the world to come . . . escorting the dead." Moses' example of escorting the bones of Joseph while Israel was busy with Egyptian spoil reminds of the importance of care for others even when we are presented with the opportunity to fulfill commandments which might have more direct material benefit for us. Though the text of Exodus is not explicit, perhaps this is why "the man Moses was highly esteemed in the land of Egypt and in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and the people." Even the Egyptians could see that Moses embodied the highest of values to which we should all aspire.

2. What is the deeper meaning of the ten plagues? 

Joshua Brumbach

Last week's Torah portion, Va'era, introduced the first seven of the ten plagues. This week, Parashat Bo identifies the final three plagues and records the mitzvot ("commandments") concerning Passover.     

Each of these plagues are devastating enough on their own, but added up together you can see why the result was the dramatic climax of Israel's exodus from Egypt. Each plague is a demonstration of God's might and omnipotence. What most people miss in the story is that each plague carries its own unique message, as each plague was meant to bring a direct assault against a different Egyptian deity. "... and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, I am the Lord (Exodus 12:12b)."    

The Nile River in Egyptian mythology carries a sacred aura about it. It is the life source of the country. It alone represents life and sustenance in an otherwise dry and parched land. Blood is a symbol of death. Therefore the first plague represented a direct assault upon the Egyptian's sole source of life.   

The Egyptian deity, Heqet (or Isis), is often represented as a frog. She represents fertility and sustenance. As a result, the second plague of frogs was a direct assault against this specific deity, demonstrating that the God of Israel was more powerful than Heqet and that the Lord alone is the source of all life. 

The ninth plague, darkness, was a demonstration against Egypt's primary deity Amen-Re, who is often represented as the sun.  Three days of darkness so thick it could be felt (Exodus 10:21) established that the God of Israel was even greater than Egypt's primary deities.   

So, you get the idea . . . each plague directly correlated with a particular deity or central tenet of Egyptian mythology. But the final plague - the death of the firstborn - was the most catastrophic. Pharaoh would not have let us go on his own. Sadly, it took ten deadly and disastrous plagues to get Pharaoh to let the Jewish people leave Egypt. Although the result of these plagues would be our exodus from tyranny, slavery, and oppression, we do not rejoice over the suffering of the Egyptians or the havoc brought upon them.   

John 6:16-29 - The Reality of Yeshua in the Midst of Many Waters

Cecelia Raker

Yeshua's talmidim have just passed out a measly five barley loaves and fed five thousand people. They start across the Kinneret to their next destination, leaving Yeshua praying.  

The sea rose and got rough because a loud, huge wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Yeshua walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said I AM, do not be afraid. 

John 6:18-20 

Yeshua's answer to the disciples' fear is simply his existence. These are fishermen - navigating in this storm is not far outside their normal profession. But their anxiety has risen with the waves, until a miracle not unlike the one they participated in earlier that very day tips them into terror. This is not a catastrophe, it is a circumstance - not a big enough deal to prompt them to desperately seek revelation. We are not in Gethsemane, the destruction of the Temple, or at the Red Sea.  

Fear creeps up on us subtly, a rising flood of anxiety, distrust, stress, conflict. How often do we let doubt become normal within our day-to-day lives, accepting stormy circumstances without stopping to wait for the presence of God to put our hearts at rest? Are we frightened by this One who loves us enough to walk on water to rescue us? How truly do we allow His answer to our anxiety to sink in? For fear, Yeshua seems to imply, is simply mistrust of His reality. "I AM. It is I."  

The Lord's reasoning in this week's Torah portion for continuing the plagues in Egypt is to teach us the depth of this simple statement of being.  

And the Lord said unto Moses: ‘Come unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart . . . that I might show these My signs in the midst of them . . . that you may know that I am the Lord.    Exodus 10:1-2  

Throughout the dramatic narrative of the last weeks in Egypt, the Lord constantly accompanies His directives to Moses with reiterations of the Lord's identity. These recall the Name spoken to Moshe at the burning bush, and Yeshua echoes that Name: I AM THAT I AM. (Exodus 3:14). The Lord will not take us out into the desert, or even across a stormy sea, unless we get his true reality. 

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - BESHALLACH

Exodus 13:17–17:16
Judges 4:4–5:31
John 6:30–50