“If one wishes to contaminate himself, the way is opened for him.” – Ibn Ezra
This week’s installment of Torah recounts the last plagues God brings upon the Pharaoh, the establishment of the first Rosh Chodesh (new moon), and also Passover. In Judaism, God is not like the clockmaker who creates and then walks away, but is instead One who is always present, creates continuously, involved in every moment of existence whether we are aware of Him or not.
We are free to choose whether or not to be aware of Him. God created us with bechirah, free will. Theoretically, we have been given the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Often we struggle with opposing impulses, feel divided between what we want and what we know is best. The yetzer ha ra, the evil inclination, is an expert at rationalization.
Egypt, or Mitzraim, means “a narrow place,” a place of constriction. It is a state of mind in which we become prisoners of our own making, enslaved by fears that drive us to self-seeking behavior. Bear with me here, please, because as I was reading the parasha, I felt I was having a bit of an epiphany. My guess is I am probably not the first person to read Bo this way - but the commentary in my Chumash only hints at the following:
The Pharaoh appears to be a symbol for ego or selfishness - the “what’s in it for me?” part of us. What happens to Pharaoh in the story is like what happens to us when we allow ourselves to be governed by our worst character traits.
If Israel, the land of Canaan, is a metaphor for spiritual freedom, in which we have placed God above ourselves, let go of our fears and defenses, and are at peace with the flow of the universe - no longer struggling with conflicting desires, or against the opinions, attitudes, or behaviors of others which are beyond our control - we are living with shalom – wholeness and integration.
Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh to warn him that if he will not allow the Hebrews to go out to worship their God, God will send a plague of locusts. Pharaoh, in his arrogance, refuses, and brings destruction upon the land - the locusts destroy everything – the grass, the trees, the crops that the Hebrew slaves had been forced to cultivate. In the face of destruction, Pharaoh realizes - for a flash he knows - he screwed up. He asks for forgiveness. When God “hardens his heart,” what God is doing is lifting him up, but as soon as the Pharaoh’s energy is renewed, he returns to his self-serving ways.
Pharaoh again refuses to let the Hebrew slaves depart to worship. Next comes the plague of a darkness so complete that no one can see – only the Children of Israel still have light. Maybe they are the glimmers of the Holy Spark that shine the way toward freedom. Pharaoh relents, but tells Moses the people must leave their herds behind. Moses tells him the animals are needed for the sacrifice – it is no accident that these animals – lambs or goats - look like Egyptian gods, the sacrifice of which will demonstrate the subjugation of Egypt to Hashem, or the abandonment of constricted, narrow functioning, which gives way to a more relaxed, healed, open perspective.
Pharaoh appears to embody the fear of change, the need to control, or obsessive, addictive, self-defeating, and argumentative behavior. He’s the King of Narrowness, who can only masquerade as the one in charge, because he feels so small and powerless. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
God promises that with the final plague the Hebrews will be free. The people are to collect gold and silver, valuables to take with them on their journey. What are the treasures of a small life? Compassion, maybe. I don’t know. Next, God brings the plague that kills all of those poor baby Egyptians. If we read the story as if it is about the death of actual innocent infants, this is very disturbing – clearly not the behavior we expect from a kind and loving God. I think the Egyptian first-born are, instead, a metaphor for our first impulses toward sin. I think the Children of Israel are meant to represent the impulses of the yetzer tov. “But against the Children of Israel, no dog shall whet its tongue, against neither man nor beast, so that you shall know that Hashem will have differentiated between Egypt and Israel.” The spark of God within us wants to overcome our fear, pain, doubt, anger, anxiety, insecurity, defensiveness, jealousy, hostility, etc. God wants the best for us.
When we allow His light into our hearts, we can distinguish, we can separate, what is life-affirming from what is harmful, and we naturally gravitate toward more positive choices, more often, until embracing life becomes as simple as breathing.