Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Parshas Bo on JM in the AM (5786)

Good morning matis good shabus everybody tomorrow we have the privilege of reading para's bow para's bow is such an exciting para number one as tells us we have 20 mitzvah in this week's para nine positive and 11 restrictions and this is the para that as the Torah tells the PK right before Shvid. And it was on that very day, the 15th day of the first month, that of Nissan. Hashem is Hashem took the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, also. This is the para of Hashem fulfilling his word to Abraham. He said to Abraham that they're going to be strangers, enslaved, oppressed in a land which is not theirs. That happened afterwards. that happens and also the nation that persecutes them. Hashem says I will judge meaning I will punish that happens as well. Now I'd like to focus on an interesting aspect of mit which only happened once in Jewish history and that is the Torah tells us that there is a mitzvah to bring the carbon pes this mitzvah we know we had as long as We were privileged to have the first and second mikdash and when we have the third we will have the actual offering and eating of the carban pes the pascal lamb. However, in Mitim, it was not sufficient for them to simply slaughter Pesak on Era Pesak in the afternoon. But as the Torah tells us in chapter 12 verse mishes that the lamb sheep was to be for you lishes for safekeeping. It was to be designated on the 10th day of the month. And it was to be, as we know from our rabbis, tied to their bed posts for many different reasons, including the fact that the Egyptians would hear their god basically bleeding or crying throughout and being restricted. and they were powerless to help it. It also was powerless to help itself. This was all a part of the very important lesson to the Jewish people to uproot the belief in the Egyptian deity in the Egyptian religion and it was a form of punishment to the Egyptians. So now the Torah says it shall be for you for the Mishmeas for you to watch it till the 14th day and then it is to be slaughtered. Now the question is why? So Rashi brings on this spot the teachings of Rabi Masio bin Kurash and Bashi explains why is it that we have here the designating it of four days in advance a part which is not included concerning the pesak for all future generations. So masures answers in the following way that Hashem saw that this was the time for the Jewish people to be redeemed. However, the mitzvos, what they were lacking at that time were commandments, mitzvos with which they should busy themselves in order that they should be worthy of being redeemed. And to substantiate this we quoteim from chapter 16 which we recount as well on the night of the peser as part of the as the says a roam the area you at that time in Egypt were bare and naked meaning without mitzvah. And therefore, Rashi continues, Hashem gave the Jewish people two commandments, the blood of the Pesak and the blood of circumcision. Now, the rabbis tell us and we know that the Jewish people, the males had to circumcise themselves prior to their leaving of Egypt. The question is when was the circumcision done? And some say that because there was this 4day period prior to the actual slaughter, it was done on the 10th and therefore 3 days is when it's most painful afterwards and after that we were ready to leave Egypt relatively painfree. So now we have two mitzvos that of the blood of the carbon pesak which was placed on their door and on the lentil on the door frame and the that of that of brisma as the puk says that you were misposes bidono you were wallowing in your bloods these two bloods And therefore as a result of this, Hashem was able to take them out there having performed mitzvos. Now I'd like to ask a very basic question. We definitely find as the Rambal tells us at the end of the para very long and important Rambal. Raan says that why did God have to bring the miracles in Egypt? He says because unfortunately man's belief in God had become weakened significantly and therefore in order to demonstrate without any question that is the one who is Mashki supervises and is in control of what's happening here on this earth that he didn't leave anything to chance. What does it say in regarding the various makos? One, I am Hashem who's there in the midst of the land. Not just that I created the world and I let it be without any control. No, I am the one who is running the show. And as it says further, meaning that there's Hashem constantly renews nature and does with nature as he sees fit. And finally, that there's none like Hashem. So if it's clear that the Jewish people had strong amuna, strong faith in Hashem, why wasn't that sufficient for them to be able to leave mitzim? Why did they need mitzvos? And with that, I'd like to bring us to a very important point which we find in the on mitzvah number 16 whereby the Torah tells us that one of the laws regarding the pes was that we were not to break a bone. On the surface, the explains the reason for this mitzvah is that we should know that the Jewish people were taken not just from slavery to freedom, which would have been quote denu. However, we were taken from slavery, from abdus to aristocracy to royalty to malus. And it is not the nature of kings to break or princes to break the bones of a lamb chop in order to try to suck out all the marrow that's found therein. they have an unlimited supply and they need not uh suck the bone as only the poor people might do. So tonight we relive the fact that we are aristocracy. Therefore we have this law of not breaking a bone. But in that mitzvah continues the And he says to his son to whom the book is dedicated, why, you might ask, are there so many mitzvos to help us? And he answers by saying the very powerful line. You should know man is formed. Man is made into his character is determined by his actions not by his beliefs only. The beliefs are important but the idea is what he does after the actions. And therefore even if a person's thoughts are negative but he does positive actions the positive actions are going to create the positive individual. And if a person unfortunately the opposite does not have positive actions even if he might have positive thoughts but his actions are negative it's going to have that negative effect upon him as the Ramban tells us by the Hashem knew that Abrainu would certainly perform the why put him through it and the answer says the Ramban that it's not enough for Arab to have a letove. He wanted that the thoughts of man should be brought to action that there should be elapel from the potential it should be actualized. The idea behind this very important rashi that we need of the two mitzvos is to teach us the importance of mitzvos. We dare not allow our mitzvos to become simply actions that we do by wrote. I did it yesterday. I did it the day before. I did it last year. I did it the year before. but rather as the says in chapter 3 of Shah, you should know that man was given mitzvos and listen to what he says very clearly. histo performing of mitzvos, God has put man in an influential state over kos in mispar. What does that mean? It means that our actions have an effect upon literally that which transpires in this world. We might not see it. We might not understand it. But know that our performance of mitzvos, which are literally, which means that we're not doing the mitzvos because man thinks that they should be done. That man reasons that they should be done. We do it because the mitzvah of he sanctified us with his mitzvos. We are doing it because God says so. Whoa. This is that which has an effect upon our doing that which God said which is which is beyond the norm for man to do enables God to act with us. This rashi chapter 12 verse 6 teaches us not just then in order to leave mitzim but throughout the generations and right now today our performance of mitzvos is what is going to bring please God the gulah bimrau shabbat shalom to Oh,