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G. Orah Adarah Paris

Parashat Bo: When Everyone Clicks

Out of the many ways Gd could have plagued the Egyptians, why did he pick these particular plagues? The eighth plague to the Egyptians (and the first one in Parashat Bo) was locusts. Perhaps locusts with their single-minded purpose mirror something about the Israelites’ relationships. They remind us of the special bond the Israelites naturally had with each other, reflecting strength from their unity. This was a bond even without a written Torah to give them a clear conception of faith and guidance. 

You may not think of locusts as something to emulate, but everything in creation has a purpose. Rabbi Mordechai Leiner wrote in his Mei Shiloach on this parasha about how locusts are unified with no hate amongst themselves. As he points out, it is stated in Mishlei (30:27): “The locusts have no king, yet they all march in formation.”  What it means is that their singularity of purpose eliminates the need for a king, which, for humans, arises from a lack of unity. We can show our individual identity when we are aware of our values. 

With no hatred among locusts, there is no need for a leader. This stands in contrast to the Pharaoh who was increasingly leading his people to their destruction. Gd recognized that the Egyptians’ hatred for each other and internal conflict would be best contrasted through the locust plague. 

Rabbi Leiner also asks: when Moshe and Aharon went to Pharaoh and conveyed Gd’s message: “If you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts” (Shemot, 10:3–4), how did Moshe know he was supposed to warn Pharaoh about the locust plague? Gd didn’t explicitly mention locusts to him. Rather, Moshe apparently inferred this from Gd’s instruction to tell Pharaoh, “in order to place My signs b’kirbo (בקרבו) and so that you may tell your sons” (Shemot, 10:1-2) That Hebrew word means “in his midst” or maybe “within him”, but that root, קרב, can also be used in association with war or battle, for example: “As the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into kerev (קרב)-ha-milchama” – “the thick of the battle” (I Kings 20:39). According to Rabbi Leiner, this word is the hint to Moses that this plague would be about internal conflicts and it would be locusts as a counterpoint. As described in the book of Yeshaya: “I will set Egyptian against Egyptian, and they will fight among themselves” (19:2). 

While the Egyptians had internal strife, perhaps the Israelites in captivity were a different story. In Vayikra Rabbah 32, we learn this midrash: “Rav Huna said in the name of bar Kappara: Due to four matters, Israel was redeemed from Egypt: Because they did not change their name, their language, they did not speak slander, and there was not one among them who was found to be steeped in licentiousness.” Maintaining their unique identity through names and language in the midst of a foreign culture for centuries, and their values through refraining from lashon ha-ra (even though the temptation in such oppressive conditions must have been great) are ways of maintaining Israelite unity. Of course, that doesn’t tell us for certain about whether there were internal disputes on other matters. We just don’t know a lot more about their lifestyle, but maybe that is enough to give us an idea.

Now, let’s be clear, I don’t think the intention is that we should be so unified that people don’t express different opinions and can’t think for themselves. Judaism obviously encourages debate for the sake of Heaven and formulating original ideas. In fact! its by having unity which means compassion which each other and ourselves do we understanding what we need the most at the deepest level and find the most practical original ideas. The Israelites living among the Egyptians were certainly reminded every day of how their value systems were different, but maybe they had to be exposed to such a different culture in order to strengthen their own identities, understand what makes them who they are, and what Israelite values stand in contrast to. 

The Zohar on this week’s parasha (42b) discusses our conception of Gd. It explains that Gd is not to be understood by Hebrew letters, nor by the sefirot, but only through our acknowledging “His dominion over some specific attribute or over creation.”  Therefore to experience Gd, is to allow Gd alone to be sovereign over what we most desire to see in the world, based on what is right and so simply must be. This stands in contrast to Pharaoh who believed he as king (and as an Egyptian god) had dominion over things in his world. As the prophet Samuel tried to convince the Israelites many years later, they do not need a human king because they have Gd (I Samuel 8). Unity in that belief in Gd is the fundamental belief that has kept our people going throughout the centuries (as expressed, for example in the Sh’ma)

May we always remain united in our experiencing Gd in this world, ready to jump to His service like the locust, to make the world a better place.

For pleasant meditations on experiencing Gd, please check out my book:

 Better Than You Wished For

About the Author
For specific questions, contact me: oragadarah_gmail.com A teacher of Torah, hypnotherapist, and artist. She has over 15 years experience organizing a variety of Jewish classes, and previously served as a synagogue board member and a Scout leader. She has studied psychology, physics, and Judaic studies. She aims to be elegantly interdisciplinary in all her work, to reflect the richness, beauty, and depth of life and Judaism. A unique style of accessible Zohar with science into something uplifting. Her topics are identity, relationships and creativity/creations. She is also finishing up her first novel, Girl Between Realms, a story of Jewish mysticism and Torah through the lens of one young woman’s journey. She recently published Better Than You Wished: Poetic meditations from Torah, Science and Life, link here: https://shorturl.at/ClD5Q . She is based in Paris, (like her last name), where she promoted the first community-wide series of Jewish events on sustainability.
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