19/20 Jan: Shabbat Bo comes in 4:12 pm, goes out 5:20pm
“And that you may tell in the hearing of your children and your childrens’ children how I toyed with Egypt, and My signs that I placed among them, and you will know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 10:2); “And you shall tell your child on that day, saying ‘For this the Lord did for me when I went out of Egypt'” (13:8).
In his commentary, “Panim Yafot” on verse 10:2, R. Pinchas b. Zvi Hirsch Halevi Horowitz (1730-1805) makes a surprising statement: “According to the simple meaning, the primary purpose of the miracles was for the telling from generation to generation because all of the miracles were for the telling.
And this is what is meant by ‘In every generation one is bound to regard themselves as though they personally had gone forth from Egypt’ (Mishna Pesachim 10:5)”. In other words, hardening Pharaoh’s heart and the plagues were not intended primarily for the immediate purpose of just freeing the Israelites (the Exodus), but rather they were intended to serve the future objective that Israel recall them. G-d knew how this would influence us forever.
Written by
Rabbi Paul Arberman.
