MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

In this week’s parasha , Parashat Bo (Shemot 12:2), Hashem commands Moshe and Aharon, hachodesh ha’ze la’chem rosh chodashim – this new moon is to you, the head of the months. In this verse, Hashem reveals to b’nei yisrael the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh – the sanctification of the new month. Hashem also fixes Nissan – chodesh ha’geulah – as the first of the months. That Nissan is fixed as the first of the months is puzzling. After all, the first of Tishre is Rosh HaShana – the New Year. Is Tishre  not the first of the months? Why does the year have two beginnings? This “dual-beginning” phenomenon is not unique to the Jewish year. Indeed, a Jewish day also has a dual-beginning. The Jewish day begins at night. Shabbat and holidays begin at night. However, sunrise is also a meaningful halachic event. It also marks the beginning of a day. In the Beit HaMikdash, two korbanot were brought daily – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Korbanot were not offered at...

In the section from Parashat Bo that we will read on the first day of Pesach, the Torah recounts Moshe’s command to the elders of Israel regarding the night of the exodus. Moshe commands the details of the Pesach sacrifice and concludes by commanding the elders to guard this matter as a law for all generations. Moshe continues and says, "And it will be that when you come to the land that Hashem has given to you like He spoke. And you will guard this service. And it will be that when your children say to you, ‘What is this service of yours?’ And you will say, ‘It is a Pesach offering to Hashem that He passed over the houses of the Jewish People in Egypt when He smote Egypt and our houses he saved and the nation bowed and worshipped. And the children of Israel went and did like Hashem commanded Moshe and Aharon – thus did they do.'" In summary, after commanding the people to offer the Passover offering, Moshe tells the people that when they enter the land of Israel, thei...

Our parasha , Parashat Bo, is the third in a set of four parshiyot dealing with the experience of b’nei yisrael in Mitzrayim . Moshe and Aharon approach Paroh and declare that if he refuses to let the Jewish people go, the plague of locusts will be unleashed upon Egypt. Moshe elaborates and explains that all of Egypt will be consumed. Moshe and Aharon leave Paroh. Paroh’s servants complain to Paroh. “How long will you allow Moshe to be a trap for us? Let the men go so that they should serve their G-d. Do you not know that Egypt has been destroyed?” The Torah continues the narrative. “And Moshe and Aharon were returned to Paroh. Paroh says to them, ‘Go serve the L-rd your G-d. Who and who goes' (מי ומי ההולכים)? Moshe responds, ‘We will go with our young and with our old, we will go with our sons and with our daughters with our flocks and with our herds; כי חג לה' לנו - because it is a festival unto G-d for us.’” Our commentators ask a number of questions on the passa...

Our parasha , Parashat Tzav, continues from the description in last week’s parasha of the various offerings that were offered in the Tabernacle and in the Beit HaMikdash – the Temple in Yerushalayim. One unique phrase is repeated time and again – le’Hashem – to Hashem: a memorial offering to Hashem, that they will offer to Hashem, a pleasant odor to Hashem, to name a few. “To Hashem” is an ambiguous phrase. What does it mean? What does it add? Does “to Hashem” convey the possessive case – as in G-d’s memorial offering? Alternatively, does “to Hashem” indicate the intended recipient – a memorial offering to G-d? Perhaps, “to Hashem” means something else. What is the meaning of the phrase “to Hashem”'? One example of a similar usage of the phrase, “to Hashem” is from the Passover offering that was celebrated in Egypt and is mentioned in the Seder. In parashat Bo, the Torah says, “And thus you will eat it (the Pascal sacrifice): with your loins girded, your shoes on your f...

Parashat Bo presents the first mitzvot given to b’nei yisrael as a nation. To this point in our history, individuals had been given individual mitzvot . Adam was given the mitzvah of peru u’revu , to be fruitful and multiply. Avraham was given the mitzvah of berit milah , circumcision. Ya’akov was given the mitzvah of gid hanasheh , not to eat the thigh sinew. In Chapter 12 of this week’s parasha, Hashem commands Moshe and Aharon to speak to the children of Israel and command them regarding rosh chodesh – the Jewish calendar – and korban pesach – the Pesach sacrifice. According to Maimonides’ count, there are thirteen specific commandments related to the Pesach sacrifice, including, to slaughter the sacrifice properly, to eat the sacrifice, to eat the sacrifice only roasted, not to leave leftovers of the sacrifice and nine other related commandments. The mitzvot in this perek were the first mitzvot given to the nation of Israel. They were the first mitzvot that b’nei yisrael experi...