Communal Maturity
A Message for Parashat Bo 2017
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The detailed laws that Am Yisrael was
commanded on the night before their exodus from Egypt reveal a recurring theme
of the “house” and “household.” They were instructed with regards to the korban
Pesah, “let every man take a lamb for a father’s house, a lamb for a
household” (12:3), and further informed that if the household was too
small to consume a full lamb, “it must take together with its neighbor who is
close to its house” (4). The blood of the lamb was to be placed on “the
doorposts and lintel of the house” (7), serving as “a sign for you upon
the house in which you are” (13), in order that “He shall not allow the
Destroyer to come into your houses to scourge” (23). Each man was
commanded to not leave the entrance “of his house” until morning (22),
and to teach his children in the future: “A Passover sacrifice to God, who
passed over the houses of Bnei Yisrael in Egypt when he scourged
Egypt, and our households He rescued” (27).
The significance of the “house” and
“household” to the story of yessiat Misrayim became clear when the
nation was twice commanded to remember the exodus from the “house of slaves”
(13:3, 14).[1]
They were perhaps being taught in that instance that their freedom from a
“house of slavery” was appropriately designated by the establishment of
independent “houses” and “households.”
The Torah surprisingly shifts from its
emphasis on the “house,” however, when commanding future observance of the laws
of Pesah. Whereas the nation was initially commanded, “The very first day you
shall expunge leaven (se’or) from your houses,” and,
“Seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses” (12:19), the
command upon entrance into Israel was different: “And no leavening of yours
shall be seen in all your territory” (13:7). Whereas the theme of
“house” and “household” dominated the description of Pesah in Egypt, its
repeated command for future observance bore no mention of it whatsoever.
This conspicuous change in theme was repeated
in the context of another dominant feature of the commands – the distinguishing
“sign” (ot) of Am Yisrael. In Egypt, the blood on the houses
stood as their “sign”: “And the blood will be a sign for you upon the
houses in which you are” (12:13). The future “sign,” however, bore no
connection to houses or households and instead lived on through the tefillin:
“And it shall be a sign for you on your hand and a remembrance between
your eyes…” (13:10, 16).
The establishment of Am Yisrael as a
free and independent nation began with complete separation. This was initially
performed by God through the plagues,[2]
and then symbolized by the nation’s various observances in their “houses” and
“households” which separated them from the “house of Pharaoh.” The future
vision for the nation, however, was considerably different. The distinguishing
“sign” was no longer displayed on their houses, but instead concealed on their
arms. The spatial isolation necessary for Am Yisrael’s establishment in
Egypt was replaced by self-realization and demonstration.[3]
We often misunderstand our communities’ source
of strength. We believe that it is the separate “houses” and “households” that
empower the members, and we therefore fear involvement with others. The Torah’s
deliberate shift in description from the initial creation of Am Yisrael
to its eternal existence teaches otherwise. Freed from the “house of slavery,”
the nation was further freed to endeavor from their “houses” and appropriately
engage with others. Though a sense and practice of separateness was eternally
enduring, it no longer existed as a spatial segregation but as an existential
realization and performance.
[1] A depiction of the
bondage as a “house entrapment” is particularly striking considering the
etymology of the name “Pharaoh,” from the Egyptian words “great house.”
[2] Recall last week’s devar
Torah, “Separation.”
[3] Most appropriate in this
context is R. Eliezer’s well-known interpretation, “It shall be for you a
sign – for you a sign and not for others a sign” (Menahot 37b).