B"H
Thursday, Shevat 8, 5781 / January 21, 2021
In this week’s Parsha, Bo, which will be reading this Shabbat, we find the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
The Torah tells us that 600,000 men from age 20 and up left Egypt at the time of the Exodus. In addition, there were women and children. Thus, a few million people left Egypt at the time of the Exodus.
The Parsha begins with the last three plagues which G-d brought upon the Egyptians; the plague of locust, darkness and the death of the first-born.
The Torah describes the plague of darkness as follows, “There was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. One did not see his own brother… But to all children of Israel there was light in their dwelling places.”
Q. Why the expression, “one did not see his own brother,” to describe the plague ofdarkness?
A.We are all children of G-d, thus we are all brothers and sisters. This is why many times the Torah uses the term “your brother,” when dealing with mitzvot between one person and another.
The stories in the Torah are lessons for all generations. With the words, “One did not see his own brother,” the Torah teaches us a very important lesson. When one doesn't see the needs of his brother, his family member, the needs of another human being, that too is an affliction of the plague of darkness.
Hillel the Elder says, “The mitzvah of, ‘Love your fellow as yourself,’ is the basis for the entire Torah.”
A Jew emigrated to the U.S. from a small town in Poland and became very wealthy. In the beginning he would still send some money to his family back home in Poland, but in time he became so involved in his business dealings that he completely forgot about his poor family in Poland.
Years later his brother also immigrated to the U.S. He went to see his brother for help, but the rich man denied that he had a brother. The newcomer was sure it was his brother. No matter how much he tried, the rich man said that he had no brother and told him to leave.
Finally, he decided to try one more time. When the rich man opened the door his brother said to him, “I came to inform you that you better write a will as soon as possible!”
“How dare you say that?” exclaimed the rich man. “I just had my yearly checkup and the doctor told me I am in excellent health!”
“I may not be a doctor,” said the brother, “But back home in our little village when one couldn’t recognize his own brother, we knew that he was extremely sick and his days were numbered...”
The Torah says, “To all children of Israel there was light in their dwelling places.” Indeed, we have to make sure that we see and feel for those in need and do our utmost to help them.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY