Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Thought of the week - Vaeirah and Bo






Vaeirah and Bo are not two portions that are read on the same Shabbat but there is an amazing comparison between them!

It says "Vaerah el Haavot" (lit. "I have revealed myself to the patriarchs.") The Hebrew word of Haavot can have several meanings. Besides for Patriarchs it can also be derived from the word Taavah (Lit. Desire.) Avot can thus mean the desires. This could be concluded with the world is a mundane and physical world full of all kinds of desires.

G-d told Moses that he came down to this mundane world, and he revealed (and is going to carry on revealing, ) his great powers in this world of desires. Therefore this portion has seven of the ten plagues, indicating to the seven days of the week in which nature conducts itself. We should also note that all these seven plagues were natural things. (Blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts, pestilence, boils, and hail.) In addition they all lasted for 7 days.

In Bo it says "Bo el Pharoh" (Come to Pharoh.) Bo is in the Hebrew numerical value of 3. G-d is saying to Moses, "Come, I have 3 more plagues worse than all the others, for these ones are above nature." (Locusts (created from earth), Darkness, and Death of the First-born.) The first two lasted for three days each as well.

It is brought in a few Kabbala books that the number seven represents nature, and the number eight represents above nature. Three however represents power, for it is said in Talmud that "The triangular type of bond shall never disconnect."

Hence this might bring us to a very interesting thought. At first G-d says that He reveals himself to us through his miracles and such. (His miracles could even be nature itself if we would think about it, such as a birth of a child etc.) After that G-d expects us to come to Him.
(Bo El Pharoh - Come to Pharoh, why couldn't G-d say "Go to Pharoh," but rather "Come"? It must mean that G-d isn't even referring to Pharoh at all, but rather to Himself, as if to say 'Pharoh considers himself as god but since I am the real G-d, I am the real (so to speak) "Pharoh" ') G-d therefore brings three more Plagues which turn out to be the most powerful ones for which is said about them, "For you shall know there is a mighty and powerful G-d."

Below is a well known prayer that we pray all the time, for the final redemption:
"Hashiveinu Eilecha Venashuva." (Bring us closer to you and we shall return.) This means reveal yourself to us, take us in and we will gladly come back to you!

However we must remember what G-d does for us each day. Every day we live is a great miracle. We see miracles every day. Remember the last time that you were running out of the house to meet a bunch of friends, and your mom calls you back because you forgot to wash up breakfast. Angrily you wash up because you are now gonna be late. Five minutes later, angrily walking along you see there was a huge crash, that happened five minutes ago. Who knows, maybe (Heaven Forbid!) you could have been there, but that small momental delay saved you! There are millions of miracles every day around us which we lack to acknowledge. We should thank and praise G-d so many times for all the kindness He does for us, and let us give Him back some. Remember you can change the world if you do only good!

Derived from some Kabbala books, Talmud, and from various teachings of The Rebbe M. M. Schneersohn.

© Thought of the week, Yermi Kurkus

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

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-anonymous

9:00 PM  

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