Bo
Parsha Bo - Delivered 6 Shevat 5783/January 28, 2023 at Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, California
This week’s parsha describes the last 3 plagues and the passing over of the houses of the Israelites and the initial moments of the people fleeing egypt, as well as the laws for the observance of Pesach, for generations to come. Throughout, Parshat Bo has a striking emphasis on teaching our children.
Time and again in our parsha, HaShem instructs Moshe to instruct Bnei Yisrael about the teaching of children. Our sages tell us that, while the mitzvah to teach Torah to a child belongs to their parents, it is a communal obligation to provide for and support children’s Jewish education. There are three different forms of education in our parsha, and they can each inform how we approach this communal obligation.
The first is modeling Jewishness and responding to children’s questions. Twice, HaShem instructs Moshe in how the people should respond to their children’s questions about rituals they see their parents do.
וְהָיָ֕ה כִּֽי־יֹאמְר֥וּ אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּנֵיכֶ֑ם מָ֛ה הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לָכֶֽם
“And it will be that your children will say to you, מָ֛ה הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לָכֶֽם ‘What is this avodah, service/worship, for you?” You shall say “It is a pesach זבח, feast offering, to HaShem, who passed over the Houses of Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim, Egypt, when HaShem smote the Egyptians, but HaShem saved our households.
וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ בִנְךָ֛ מָחָ֖ר לֵאמֹ֣ר מַה־זֹּ֑את וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֔יו בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֗ד הוֹצִיאָ֧נוּ הי מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים׃ And when, in time to come, a child of yours asks you, saying, מַה־זֹּ֑את ‘What is this[refering to redeeming the firstborn son and firstborn livestock]?’ you shall reply, ‘It was with a mighty hand that הי brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage.
HaShem instructs the people on what they should say when their children observe their Avodah and ask “Ima, Papa, what is this you’re doing? What’s this all about?”
In order to wonder this, our children must first see our example of avodah.
The second form of teaching is just what we might, most traditionally, think of as “teaching”. This is sitting down to instruct your child about something you think is important for them to know. This is formal education, school.
הִגַּדְתָּ֣ לְבִנְךָ֔ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּעֲב֣וּר זֶ֗ה עָשָׂ֤ה הי לִ֔י בְּצֵאתִ֖י מִמִּצְרָֽיִם
“And you shall explain to your child on that day [the 7 days of eating unleavened bread], ‘It is because of what הי did for me when I went free from Egypt.’”
And finally, the third form in our parsha, is storytelling.
Introducing the plague of the locusts, ארבה, HaShem tells Moshe that HaShem will harden the hearts of Pharoh and his servants, so HaShem can make these signs…
וּלְמַ֡עַן תְּסַפֵּר֩ בְּאׇזְנֵ֨י בִנְךָ֜ וּבֶן־בִּנְךָ֗ אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁ֤ר הִתְעַלַּ֙לְתִּי֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם וְאֶת־אֹתֹתַ֖י אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֣מְתִּי בָ֑ם וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּי־אֲנִ֥י הי
and that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them—in order that you may know that I am הי.
We teach our children by telling our life stories.
All these, though, refer to teaching one’s own children. What is it to you, if you don’t have young children?
The mitzvah of educating our children belongs to parents. However, it is also a communal obligation.
Maimonides, in the Mishnah Torah, says:
Teachers of small children should be appointed in each and every land, in each and every region, and in each and every village. If a village does not have children who study Torah, its populace is placed under a ban of ostracism until they employ teachers for the children. If they do not employ teachers, the village [deserves to be] destroyed, since the world exists only by virtue of the breath coming from the mouths of children who study Torah.
He also writes:
This obligation [to teach your child Torah] does not refer only to one’s child and grandchild, but it is a duty resting upon every Jewish scholar to teach all those who seek to be their student, even though they are not that scholar’s own children, for it says, “And you shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deut 6:7). On traditional authority, the term “your children” in this verse has been interpreted to mean that your pupils are likewise called children.
How many of us might be a Jewish scholar in one realm or another? We have so many learned and skilled people in our congregation.
The Rema (Choshen Mishpat 163:3) rules:
In a place in which the residents of a city establish among them a teacher, and the fathers of [all] the children cannot afford tuition, and the community will have to pay, the tax is levied based on financial means. A tax, not a voluntary donation.
Before I was a parent, I didn’t think that youth education at Netivot was my concern or someplace I was welcome. Not conversations around it, nor in helping fund our youth education program. However, I’ve come to realize that I was wrong. The education of our youth is an obligation on all of us as a community.
How can you ensure the Jewish future by providing for the Jewish education of children?
From the three forms of education G!d instructs us in this parsha, I see three paths.
First, we can model Jewish behavior and respond to children’s questions about it. What can you do to welcome and involve our children in Jewish life? Maybe that is reaching out and inviting a family with kids for a shabbos meal. Maybe you can take your tween with you to a shiva minyan, or involve your elementary schooler in tzedakah decisions. Perhaps you can come to the preschool or TAG or Amitim to model and share about wrapping tefillin, or tying tzitzit, or give a tour of the Aron, or how we keep kosher in the shul kitchen.
Second, we ensure there are teachers of Torah for our children. Honestly, this one goes to folks who don’t have children (who are still children) because those of us with young children know our resources are already tapped to the max in financially supporting youth Jewish education.
Pay to provide Jewish teachers for children. Give to the youth education fund or Chai Five campaign or the preschool fund at Netivot. To the Day School your grandkids go to or the Hebrew school you went to as a child. To Edah or Midrasha or OHDS or Contra Costa Jewish Day School. To Urban Adamah or Camp Ki Tov. To the Jewish Federation scholarship funds.
The fact of the matter is, if we want the next generation to be Jewishly knowledgeable, their education must be a communal obligation. The numbers simply don’t add up any other way. Families are drowning trying to afford tuition, whether preschool, day school, hebrew school, bnai mitzvah tutors, and Jewish summer camp. And at the same time, teachers don’t make a living wage, or barely scrape by. The only way the economics of the care and education of young children works is if it is a communal education. This is true in secular education, which is why we have tax-funded public schools. And it’s true in Jewish education too, but we must accept the tax on ourselves.
Third, we tell our stories to our children. You have stories to share. They don’t have to be grand. Kids love to hear mundane stories. My kid’s favorite story is hearing about me playing on the playground as a kid. “First, I climbed up the slide, then I went whoooosh down the slide, then up and whoosh down, and then I ran to the swings” (with hand gestures.
Tell your stories to your grandkids and family friends, of course. But also, call the preschool, and volunteer to tell a story about a childhood passover seder and the search for afikomen, or read an old favorite Jewish kids book at story time. Teach out to the hebrew school or bnai mitzvah program and offer to tell stories about experiencing anti-semitism to kids who are grappling with the Jew-hate they see and experience, or tell them about learning Torah for your bnai mitzvah. Tell our teens about wrestling with G!d and spirituality and what you believe in, or growing up queer and Jewish, or disabled and Jewish. Tell our children the story of what Adonai did for you when you when out of Egypt.
Over and over, our parsha commands us to teach our children, and later teachers tell us this obligation is upon the community. That means each and every one of us.
Let’s each one of us do our part to ensure that the world continues to exist by virtue of the breath coming from the mouths of children who study Torah. Shabbat Shalom