At the beginning of this week’s Parasha, everyone seems to
know and acknowledge that Egypt is “lost,” everyone except for Pharaoh himself,
that is. As the plague of locusts is about to descend, even his advisors have
the chutzpah to confront Pharaoh and ask why he continues to refuse to the let
the Israelites go. By the end of the Parasha, as the great cry is heard
throughout Egypt over the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh finally relents. As
God had predicted, Pharaoh “drives” the Israelites out of Egypt.
Woven through the narrative of the last three plagues are
instructions for the Pesach sacrifice and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These
instructions are aimed at two audiences. First, they are meant for the
Israelites in the story, the Pesach sacrifice being the source of the blood
which, smeared on the doorposts, will protect them from the “Destroyer.” But
these ritual instructions regarding the sacrifice of a lamb for each household
and the seven day commandment to eat only unleavened bread are meant equally
for the generations after the Exodus. The text makes explicit that these
rituals are to become eternal reminders, passed down from parent to child. “And
you are to tell you child on that day, saying: it is because of what God did
for me, when I went out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:8)
Woven through this narrative that is at the heart of our
identity as Jews, we have here the first formally revealed laws in the Torah.
And through the revelation of these laws, we are brought into the center of the
story – it becomes ours.
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