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DON’T CRY OVER SPILT BLOOD

Spilt blood; what image conjures up in our mind? Is it death and destruction or is it joy and vitality? In this week’s Parsha, Bo, we are taught that the Jewish perspective is the latter.

Pharaoh tells Moshe that it is not a good idea for the people to leave Egypt because his astrologers see the sign of blood on the path of the Jewish people. The implication is that there will be destruction. However, there was no destruction. Instead, that blood was the blood of our people’s performance of the mitzvah of Bris Milah in the desert just prior to our entry into the Land of Israel. It was a life giving blood not a destructive blood. What appeared to be our demise turned out to be the source of our life. We were only able to enter the Land of Israel once we were circumcised. Without the blood of our national Bris Milah we could not have entered our Land.

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THE BLUEPRINT

Every Shabbos generates its unique energy. That energy is reflected in the weekly Parsha. This week we read the Parsha of Bo, in which HaShem continues the process of the Exodus which began in last week’s Parsha. In an attempt to gain a taste of this Shabbos’s energy I would like to share a Zohar.

The Zohar asks why did HaShem use the word BO which means “to come to Pharoah” and not LECH which means “to go to Pharaoh”. The answer given is that BO is spelled beis alef, the beis is first letter of the Creation in the beginning of the Torah and the Alef is the first letter of the Aseres haDibros, Anochi. HaShem was telling Moshe that I am going to take My people from the beis of Breishis to the alef of the Anochi. They were going to come to Me from Breishis to Anochi.