Torah Thoughts BO

Let’s start from the end of last week’s parsha (portion), Va-Era, and allow me to read the ending of the last few paragraphs:

“My most sincere concern must be shared now; we are in the year 2014 and take a look around us, take a deep look into OUR modern world, dissect and really think about what’s going on in front of us: Starvation, Excessive pollution, murder, Slavery and trafficking, Misuse of substances (legal and Illegal), Global Warming (Hello? Houston, TX had 80*f in December??, Jerusalem is having SNOW now!!!!), sickness,………….. I can keep adding to the list, but I shall stop!

IS G-D TRYING TO RELAY A MESSAGE OR TELL US SOMETHING IMPORTANT? REMEMBER, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.

Let’s make our proactive, positive and faithful impact NOW, and not wait for the next sign of a modern plague, number 8…….. “

We’ve seen and experienced plagues 1 through 7 inclusively, now number 8, the swarm of Locusts all over the land of Egypt; Does that provoke Pharaoh to “let MY people go”?,  Number 9, Pure Darkness for 3 days over the land of Egypt; Does that agitate him to “Let MY people go?”, NO, it does NOT! Number 10, Death to the first born male of Egyptian families; and to the first-born of all livestock; this was to include Pharaoh’s own son! Midnight had stuck and passed, and Pharaoh awoke and summoned his servants, and ALL had been struck! 

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and obviously this Plague affected him personally.   He told them, “plan your exodus, take your wives, take your children, your children’s children, and your herds and flocks of animals, and your belongings, and I shall, “Let YOUR people go!” They packed, and grabbed their bread before it was “leavened”, or had time to rise, so they would not know that of famine and be able to travel and leave at that moment; A reverent remembrance to G-d.

Moses shared;   "Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of our G-D brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. G-D promised to your fathers to give you, a land of milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month, The month of Aviv.  On the 7^th day, we shall have a festival to G-D.  And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what G-D did for me when I came up from Egypt.  It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that G-D’s Torah may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand G-D has brought you out of Egypt, and that of slavery.  You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.  Promise your 1^st born male to G-d, and G-d shall help us! 

So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand of G-D brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that G-D killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to G-D all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.  It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by the strength of G-D brought us out of Egypt.

To this very day, we remember!  Each and every year, we commemorate in reverence to what G-d has done for us, what G-d has done for our people, our survival! Pesach (Passover). A tradition that has been carried on for the ages, and shall go on and on, as we survive, day in and day out.  It is our tribute and remembrance to times of slavery, to times of unjust persecution, to times of severe undue punishment. 

Every group of people today, be they Jewish, be they Christian, be they white or black, or even purple, be they Muslim, be they Greek Orthodox…..We all have experienced persecution some time in our histories! It might have been ages ago or maybe at the current time, but we as so called modern day people must stop and honestly think, “Am I or we repeating the past acts?  Am I treating my fellow human as I wish to be treated?”  The Golden Rule, “Do on to others as you would wish to have done onto you!”

IS G-D TRYING TO RELAY A MESSAGE OR TELL US SOMETHING IMPORTANT? REMEMBER, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.

Remember, Actions speak than words. We can always apologize over and over again, but if our actions don’t change, our words become meaningless.

Let’s make our proactive, positive and faithful impact NOW, and not wait for the next sign of a modern plague, before it is too late!

-Amen-