Parshas Bo: The Great Escape

In this week’s Torah portion, Bo: Shemot (Exodus) 10:1 - 13:16, all of a sudden Pharaoh releases the Hebrews from their servitude in Egypt. He orders their immediate and hasty exit. They have until dawn to gather their flocks of animals, a few personal belongings, the Egyptian gold and silver that would later be used to adorn God’s sanctuary - and off they go - an estimated 6 million men, women and children plus a mixed multitude of opportunists seeking freedom.

The Jews are Saved from Impending Collapse and Extinction

Why so quickly and why then? Our tradition teaches that after 430 years in Egypt some Hebrews retain faithfulness to the God of Abraham. Many others are thoroughly immersed in idol worshipping pagan culture. They are enslaved not only by a harsh taskmaster but also to Egyptian habits and attitudes, exchanging freedom, liberty and dignity for food security, shelter and humiliating powerlessness. It is explained that these Jews are out of time….one more day and they will be entirely subsumed and gone forever. 

Overnight, the Hebrews are spared endless servitude and imminent extinction as a people, and they are given the gifts and responsibilities of freedom and spiritual integrity. HaShem encourages this life changing shift by revealing His supernatural powers in the series of plagues that beset Egyptian communities, culminating in the devastating slaying of all their first born sons and male animals.

Before the final plague ensues, Moses and Aaron receive a series of directives from HaShem that they impart to the Hebrew people. These orders include instituting a  lunar calendar to celebrate monthly spiritual renewal; instructions about how to safeguard each Jewish household from the Angel of Death due to arrive this night; establishing an annual Passover festival and its special dietary restrictions to commemorate this miracle of God's providence; dedicating future first born Jewish sons in service to God as an act of gratitude for our salvation on the fateful night; and required daily prayer and ritual lest we forget that our existence depends upon God and the miracles He performs.

In our Haftarah portion, Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 46:13–28, the prophet tells of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who will conquer Egypt and devastate her culture. The King will serve as an agent of God to eradicate an Egyptian society still in the throes of idol worship and child sacrifice. Jeremiah tells the Jews that at a point in the future they will also be persecuted and exiled for engaging in this lifestyle, though ultimately they will repent and be redeemed.

Today Jews Need Saved from Self Perpetuating Extinction

In Egypt, Jews are enslaved in both body and soul. Though the Exodus releases the Hebrews from chains, it does not save them from idolatry, as witnessed in the Golden Calf incident and chronic lapses of immorality while wandering in the desert and after entering Israel.

Still today, a majority of us are in bondage to a particularly insidious agnosticism that denies the Creator and justifies baby killing in the womb.

In some religious Jewish communities, this manifests as an outdated belief that torturing a baby to death in the womb saves a mother's life, even though medical experts frequently tell us that abortion is NEVER necessary to save a mother's life.

We see it also in moderately conservative Jewish communities who view killing innocent unborn babies as a reasonable solution for conceptions due to rape and incest or unsettling prenatal test results and challenging social and financial situations.

Lastly, radicalized Jewish communities insist that abortion homicide is a Jewish value and a religious rite/right, that abortion is NEVER wrong, even birth day abortion and gendercide abortion. 

Parshas Bo shows us that strong leadership can restore freedom overnight. Today's Jews, though facing tyranny around the globe, face a far more dangerous, insidious foe - ourselves. We need a strong Jewish leader who will lead us out of the self defeating extermination campaign of our unborn children. We need a leader who will reclaim a Jewish culture of life and ensure a Jewish future under God's grace. As attacks on Yiddishkeit increase here and abroad, we look forward to such a Jewish leader who will lead us out of our spiritual bondage to a death culture and into a spiritual culture of life,

Everything Happens all of a Sudden No Matter How Long it Takes!

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Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. Cecily envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.

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