This week’s Torah portion, Bo
(Ex. 10:1-13:16), recounts the last three plagues of Egypt, instructions for celebrating
the first Passover and the exodus out of Egypt.
The slaying of the firstborn of
Egypt is the catalyst that causes Pharaoh, finally, to let the Israelites out
of Egypt. The book of Exodus began with Pharaoh
ordering the death of the Israelite male children. Now, God carries out the death of the
Egyptian firstborn. It is the act that
finally gets Pharaoh to let the children of Israel out of Egypt.
As soon as they leave Egypt,
though, God commands that the firstborn male of Israel, both human and animal,
are to be consecrated to God. Many
ancient Near Eastern civilizations recognized a special relationship between
their god and the firstborn child, but the last of the plagues and the first
commandment the Israelites are given when they leave Egypt is too similar to be
coincidence. The Israelites must bear
the burden of the plague that broke the intransigence of the Pharaoh, and the hearts
of his people. The firstborn males of
Israel, ol this day, undergo the ceremony of pidyon ha-ben, redemption of the firstborn, to free them from
Temple service, though the Temple itself has not been an entity for almost two
thousand years. Erev Passover is still today a fast day for
firstborn sons, a sobering recollection that the firstborn sons of Egypt were
struck down by God’s hand. Egypt and
Pharaoh were our oppressors, but they were still children of the God that we
worship, and their deaths should not go unremembered.
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