2021/5781
Parsahat Bo contains the climax of Yitzi’at Mitzrayim. The previous Parashah and the beginning of this one contain the ten plagues, which all build up to the climactic moment where Pharaoh comes running to Moshe Rabbeinu in the middle of the night and begs him to remove Bnei Yisrael from Mitzrayim. But right before the tenth plague, just as the tension is rising to a boiling point, the action just stops cold, as we get the description of the Korban Pesach. Why is that?
The question is even bigger than it might seem. The Torah does not hurry though the description of the Korban Pesach to get back to the action. It devotes a great deal of time to it. First, it describes the actual process of the Korban, as told by God to Moshe. Then, it gives details of how the holiday will be celebrated in the future. Next, it describes what Moshe tells the Zekeinim to tell the nation about the Korban Pesach. Finally, it records Moshe Rabbeinu telling the Zekeinim to tell the nation how they will celebrate Pesach when they reach Eretz Yisrael. If the Torah was hurrying to the climax, why the long detour?
Perhaps the answer is that Makkat Bechorot is not a climax. Yes, it is a big event. Bnei Yisrael are finally leaving Mitzrayim after, according to Parashat Bo, 430 years. But a true climax requires tension, suspense, not knowing what will happen next. But that simply isn’t true here. We know exactly what will happen, because God said so, and whatever God promises will occur.
Nothing in this “climax” has any degree of suspense. We know that Bnei Yisrael will leave, because God said so back in Perek 3. We know that Pharaoh’s firstborn will die because God said so back in Perek 4. The beginning of Perek 11 tells the exact way that Makkat Bechorot will happen. We know everything about the “climax” before it even happens.
This helps explain why we need to learn so much about Chag HaPesach before the events of Pesach even happen. When you celebrate Pesach nowadays, the biggest part of the Seder is Maggid, where we tell the story of Yetzi’at Mitzrayim. Along with Matzah and the Korban Pesach, it is one of the central Mitzvot of Leil Pesach. It would be strange to learn about the Mitzvah of telling your children about leaving Egypt while still in Egypt. Yet that is exactly what happens. It says, “VeAmartem Zevach Pesach Hu LaHashem Asher Pasach Al Batei Bnei Yisrael BiMitzrayim BiNogpo Et Mitzrayim Ve’Et Bateinu HiTzil,” “And you should say, it is the Pesach feast to Hashem, who limped over the houses of Bnei Yisrael in Egypt while striking Egypt, and our houses He saved” (Shemot 12:27) This is recounted in Perek 12, before Makkat Bechorot even happens. Why is that?
For this plague, unlike all the others, we don’t just know what will happen, but we celebrate it before it happens, to show our confidence. We don’t just celebrate it, but we establish a permanent holiday before the holiday’s trigger even happens. We don’t just establish the holiday, but we spread it throughout the nation, a holiday on the anniversary of freedom while we are still enslaved. And we do that because we know that we will be freed. How? Because God said so. And when God says something, we know it with enough certainty to celebrate it before it happens.