Congregation B'nai Israel

Bo

 

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.

12:1

 

 

This parsha…is the first to contain a comprehensive list of religious ordinances; of positive and negative injunctions…Indeed Rashi’s first words in his commentary on the Torah are in the form of a question as to why Scripture did not begin with the first precept given in Exodus 12:1…What was the Torah’s purpose in framing so many precepts?  Why is the Jewish way of life, distinguished for these numerous commands, negative and positive, that govern its every facet?

Nechama Leibovitz (20^th Century)

 

 

Our first appearance in world history…as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation took place at this season.  It is accordingly fitting that we should commemorate this event by performing such acts as would re-enact within us that spiritual achievement, thus perpetuating its impact on us for all time.  Do not think…to find a flaw…and ask, “Why did god have to command us to do all this in order to commemorate this miracle.  Surely one commemorative act would have been sufficient to ensure that the event would be recalled by us and not be forgotten?...Know that man is influenced by his actions and his intellectual and emotional life is conditioned by the things he does, good or bad…Whoever has a mezuzah on his doorpost and Tzitzit on his garment and tefilin on his forehead may be assured that he shall not sin.  Since the foregoing constitutes precepts of continuous application, their influence is likewise continuous.  Consider well therefore your occupations and pursuits; for you will be influenced by them and not vice versa…

Sefer Hachinuch (13^th Century)

 

 

A man should cultivate good deeds in order to improve his character and eschew evil deeds for undesirable traits to disappear.  Know that good and bad qualities can only be cultivated by repetitive acts.  If those actions are good and we acquire a praiseworthy trait, if bad an undesirable one.

Rambam (12^th Century)

 

 

Unlike most ancient calendars, which were based on natural phenomena, the Hebrew calendar chose a historical event – the Exodus from Egypt – to mark the beginning of the year…This…charts a new and original understanding of time, measured from a point that characterizes and emphasizes the identity of the people of Israel as a free nation.  A slave does not control his time, and therefore the commandment to establish a calendar constituted a kind of declaration of independence for the people who had just won their freedom.

Aaron Demsky (Contemporary)

 

 

(There is a serious) gap created between those Jews who observe the Mitzvot and those who do not, a gap which is not only ideological, but is – even against their will – existential.  Two Jews cannot dine at the same table if one – and only one of them observes the laws of Kashrut; and families which observe the mitzvot cannot intermarry with families which do not…the kitchen and the table, sex and marital life and work, constitute the realities of human life:  thus we see that we cannot live our lives in common…(I said to an IDF general commanding my son) Do you know that (on Pesach) I could not even drink a cup of water in your home, because of the chametz in your dishes?  You are the commander of my sons and grandsons in the army, and I could not drink a cup of water in your home….For you Pesach is a symbol of the history of the Jewish people.  But for my wife and myself, Pesach is not a symbol, but a reality…For you, Pesach is a sentimental matter…whereas for us, Pesach is an existential issue…the most profound problem which confronts the Jewish people and Judaism today.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz (20^th Century)