Parashat Bo (Exodus 10:1–13:16)
"This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you." - Exodus 12:2
The Torah portion Bo describes the last three strikes against the empire of Egypt. They were the Plagues of Locust, Darkness and the most disastrous, the Death of the First-Born. These strikes were a culmination of an entire year of catastrophic events, each lasting a week, followed by a period of respite, after which pharaoh changed his mind and broke his promise to let Israel go. One of the main reasons for the plagues is connected to the Ten Utterances by which God, as author of Creation brought the universe into being. However, God reversed the order of things so that the Ten Plagues, as witnessed by the Children of Israel and the Egyptian populace were, as Rabbi Richman recently commented, "The unraveling of Creation." And, the final strike brought the king and his people to their knees. The pharaoh was finally convinced of God's omniscience.
As an interesting side bar, the reader will note that, in his bitterness, it appears pharaoh wanted the last word, hoping to intimidate Moses:
"The Lord certainly will be with you when I let you go and your little ones! Watch out, for evil is ahead of you! Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired." - Exodus 10:10-11
The pharaoh warns Moses will face Ra’ah (evil) during their journey. According to Rashi, the Egyptians linked the planet Mars to Ra’ah. The late David Medved, a NASA physicist, stated in his book, Hidden Light, that modern astronomy confirms that Mars was closest to the earth and at its brightest the year of the Exodus (1312BCE), the same week as the Sin of the Golden Calf.
Just before the Death of the First-Born, HaShem instructs Israel to observe the mitzvah, Rosh Chodesh, the emerging of the new moon every month. It was an opportunity for the Israelites to reboot and reorder their lives, according to God's calendar. Appropriately, this mitzvah precedes one of the most important dates on the Jewish Calendar—the celebration of Pesach. Rosh Chodesh represents a new beginning and symbolic of a pivotal moment in the history of the nation of Israel. It heralded the transition from servitude to spiritual rebirth. The new moon itself is a time of darkness followed by gradual illumination, paralleling the people’s journey from the darkness of soul-crushing slavery to the blessed light of freedom.
The observance of the New Moon serves as the foundation for the Jewish calendar, that is so central to Jewish life. By instituting Rosh Chodesh at the start of the month of Nissan, the Jewish people would from that day forward live their lives in accordance with the rhythm of God's commandments, marking time through His divine decrees.
By setting the Jewish year with Rosh Chodesh, God established a relationship that is not only spiritual but also anchored in time, like Passover. The Israelites were not just leaving Egypt; they were kickstarting a transformation that began with the Exodus and continues throughout the history of the Jewish People marching through time with the One True God. The Sages (in the Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 11a) highlight the idea that Nissan is the "first month" of the year, and Passover, the festival of redemption, is the central event marking that beginning. The very act of sanctifying the moon on Rosh Chodesh shows that Passover, and the freedom it represents, is linked to the Jewish people’s ability to continually start anew.
Rosh Chodesh, by its very nature, reminds the Jewish people of God’s ongoing role in their lives. Just as the moon’s cycle is ordained by God and follows a divine pattern, so too is the life of the Jewish people marked by God’s providence. HaShem taught this principle to the patriarch Avraham in Genesis 15:5-6:
"[Then in the vision, God] took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them”—continuing, “So shall your offspring be.” He counted it to him as righteousness."
When Avraham expressed his inability to count the stars, HaShem assured him that his descendants would not be subject to the influences of astrological signs or the constellations. Indeed, while the stars and heavenly bodies do have a role in the natural world, they do not determine the fate or destiny of the Jewish people.
The connection between Rosh Chodesh and Passover resonates with spiritual meaning, renewal and transformation—the perfect prelude to the redemption of the Jewish people. With the culmination of the Ten Strikes, God forcefully demonstrated that He alone is the very Source of everything, including time. By invoking His calendar, the Creator reminded Israel that their time is holy, and a necessary component of His promises—as noted by verse Exodus 12:41 where we learn that the Exodus from Egypt officially began, “At the end of four hundred and thirty years.”
It was exactly four-hundred thirty years prior to the Exodus that God told Avraham that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land. The patriarch boldly asked, “How will I know?” (Gen.15:7) and God’s response was to instruct Avraham to prepare five kosher animals and make an olah, a burt offering. This was the Covenant Between the Pieces (Brit Bein HaBetarim) in which Avraham fell into a dark, disturbing vision of the future that, that would begin with the birth of his son:
"And [God] said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth." - Genesis 15:13-14
That four-hundred years was the duration required to mold Avraham’s descendants into God’s Chosen Nation. That promise reaches across the centuries, still impacting our world today. It is proof that the land of Israel is the God-given possession of the Jewish People. The epic Exodus experience indelibly marks them as the heirs of everything promised to Avraham.
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