Parshat Bo: Giggling with God

This week’s parsha has the final three of the ten plagues that broke Pharaoh’s back and allowed the Israelites to finally leave Egypt after 210 years of slavery. At the outset of the parsha we are introduced to a new idea heretofore not mentioned by Moshe in his many warnings to Pharaoh during the previous plagues. Moshe is told by God a different wrinkle that the plagues will accomplish:

(The plagues are) in order that I may place these signs of Mine in his (Pharaoh’s) midst and in order that you tell to your children and grandchildren how I made a mockery of the Egyptians.

It wasn’t enough that God redeemed the Israelites from Egypt. The manner by which it was done – in a fashion that ridiculed the Egyptians – was an essential and integral part of what was to be related to future generations. We are told that we need to make sure that when telling of the Exodus story, we are to include the fact that Egypt is a joke and that God is The Joker.

This is a bit foreign in our day-and-age where it is politically incorrect in some circles to mock anything no matter how absurd it might be. We are to be open-minded to all and not judge that any particular system or idea is better than another. We are to seriously consider questions that recently arose at Congressional Hearings such as, “Can a man get pregnant?” So while today we live in a world where it is highly unfashionable to criticize another belief or idea, the Torah is suggesting that it is ok and even preferred at times.

Apparently part and parcel of the Redemption was to expose the cracks in the foundation of Egyptian society and beliefs. That a system of slavery that the Egyptians wrought against the Jewish people is one that was not sustainable in the long run. The whole economy of Egypt, based on the artificial reality of free labour the Jewish slaves provided, came crashing down and was decimated. The 10 plagues didn’t just get the Israelites free but they also turned the country into shambles and ridiculed their way of life. Whatever gods and powers Egyptians believed in were shown to be impotent in the face of the One True God and his messenger, Moshe.

Whenever a system is based on false and morally bankrupt practices and principles, it is only a matter of time before that structure turns to sand and dissolves. Any society whose beliefs are not based in Truth and Good – values which are eternal because they are reflections of a True and Just God – is bound to fail. God is Eternal and hence anything emanating from Him is likewise eternal and will last; the biggest proof of this being the eternity and success of the Jewish people. Conversely, anything which is contrary to God and the principles which He espouses will wither and die.

Jewish tradition says that God’s seal is Truth – Emet in Hebrew. The Talmud points out that each Hebrew letter of the word, emet אמת has a double or full base, testifying to its solid nature. On the other hand, the word for lies, sheker שקר has a point at the base of each of its letters (the letter, shin ש when written in Torah script comes to a point) implying that it is shaky and cannot stand on its own. Truth is solid, eternal and will withstand challenges. Lies and corruption are wobbly and do not.

Many of us witnessed this Egyptian-like dissolution in our own lifetime with the demise of the USSR that imploded without a shot being fired. So much time, effort, finances, wars and worry animated Western society for decades in its struggle with Communism and the threat that it supposedly posed. And then, almost overnight, it all disappeared.

The same can be said of the paper-tiger of Iran. So much bluster we heard from them. So many billions of dollars that could have been used to build their nation were instead funneled into the “Axis of Resistance” of Hezbollah, Hamas and their own nuclear ambitions. Decades and decades of it. And in a brief amount of time it all came crashing down. The pathetic Iranian armed forces could do nothing to stop the free reign of Israeli and US fighter jets roaming their skies unimpeded and decimating their defenses while Israeli moles and pre-planted explosives were blowing up their leaders, scientists and fighters in their beds and in their supermarkets. It was all so humiliating. And all so comical in its ease. 

Equally comical and pointed out by many has been the divergent reactions from the useful idiots on the left who came out in droves to support the Palestinians but who sit on their hands at home when it comes to aiding terrorized Persians who risk their lives to protest against the horrible regime that destroys their life, their economy and their nation. The hypocrisy of Columbian students, massive protesters in European cities, Greta et al is beyond a joke.  

We need to take this to heart when we feel threatened by the forces of evil that prevail throughout the world. One could only imagine the fear and anxiety the Israelites must have felt when they witnessed Egypt being destroyed in front of their eyes while they sat untouched in the midst of such a whirlwind. Their residence of Goshen was a tiny island of refuge and quiet as Egypt melted away at their doorstep. We have to always remember that ultimately Sheker/Lies have no teeth. Truth lives. Lies die.

I will never forget the “blessing” that former prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin zt”l gave the Iranians and Iraqis during their war in the 80’s – “And may both sides win.” An apt and appropriate mocking quip at the time and for ours as well. When we witness our enemies who seek our demise in turn self-destruct, God Himself – arranging the whole affair – has a good giggle. And we laugh along with Him.

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
-Coldplay