Torah Thoughts on Parshas Bo by Rabbi Yirmiyahu (Jeremy) Weller
"הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָׁנָה" שמות י"ב :ב'
"This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year." Shemos 12:2
Due to the many years that Klal Yisrael had been in Egypt, the Jewish nation had become submerged in forty-nine levels of impurity, and lacked the merit to be redeemed. Hence we find the Divine attribute of justice having questioned the justification for our redemption: "Behold – both this people (the Egyptians), and this people (the Jews) alike, are idol worshipers!" (See Midrash Rabbah on Megillas Rus) Despite this argument, the Torah relates that in the merit of turning to Hashem and accepting the mitzvah of sanctifying the New Moon, as well as the Pesach-offering, the Nation of Israel became worthy of their liberation. So much so, that on that very night, the Divine presence, as it were, descended into their midst. A mere week later, Bnei Yisrael sang the Shiras HaYam, the Song by the Sea – together with Moshe Rabbeinu, an event in which the entire nation now rose to the level of prophecy, reciting the words with ruach hakodesh, Divine inspiration. (Mechilta Shemos 15:1)
This sequence of events clearly demonstrates that Am Yisrael possesses the ability to repent for its past sins, and furthermore, can drastically swing from its previous lowly standing to an exalted level in a relatively short amount of time.
Rav Shimshon Pincus posits that in contrast to the Jewish people, the nations of the world are not endowed with this unique ability. He explains this using the episode of the repentance of the people of the city of Nineveh, in the times of Yonah HaNavi. The fact that they changed their ways, and were thus saved from destruction, does not indicate that their repentance reached the level of the Jewish Nation. Using the words of the Navi, where Hashem proclaims: "And I – shall I not take pity upon Nineveh, the great city…?!" (Yonah 4:11), he suggests that they had changed their ways and were then worthy of mercy; however, their repentance was not at all considered to be in the same category of repentance of the Jewish people.
What then is the underlying guiding principle that differentiates the repentance of a Jew from that of a gentile? The nations of the world are likened to the sun, a source of energy that is invariable in nature (Gemara Succah 29b). Thus, as Rav Pincus explains, a non-Jew will remain unchanged; his essence will never undergo a profound transformation. In contrast, Klal Yisrael is compared to the moon, which is in itself, not a source of energy. Rather, its nature is described as that of a mirror. When the face of the moon is positioned directly toward the sun, it then becomes filled with light, and the shape appears to us in the form of a whole circle. When the moon even slightly pivots away from this position, it will already take on a different appearance.
"This month shall be for you” imparts to us a teaching that the Jewish people embody the moon's model. Consequently, when they dwelled for two-hundred and ten years in Egypt, the decline to the 49th level of impurity was a reflection of their surroundings in their very own appearance, similar to a mirror. However, through turning to Hashem, a seemingly small gesture, a new appearance was created – and in a moment, everything changed!
Rabbi Yirmiyahu (Jeremy) Weller (FYHS 1997) attended HTC's Emes Program, then learned at Yeshivas Mercaz HaTorah. He returned to HTC's Beis Midrash & earned a B.A. (Judaic Studies & Liberal Arts), then on to Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim. After learning in yeshivos & kollelim in the Yerushalayim area, he earned an M.A. in Clinical Social Work. Presently, he is on staff in counseling centers in Beit Shemesh and maintains a private practice in Yerushalayim and Ramat Beit Shemesh, where he lives with his family.
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