Bo 5777

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Parshat Bo

7 Shevat 5777 3 February 2017

Service Times Shabbat Kabbalat Shabbat

16:40

(Candle Lighting)

16:40

Shacharit

09:00

Leining

10:00

Power Kiddush followed by Musaph

11:00

Mincha & Seudah

16:40

Shabbat Ends

17:50

Weekday

Page No.s Artscroll Gutnick Hertz

Leining

Haftarah

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Security team: Red

Thought For The Week

Shacharit

Ma’ariv

Sun

09:00

19:30

Mon

07:00

19:30

Tues

07:00

19:30

The Torah tells us on a couple of occasions

torn between two choices, then it is up to

Wed

07:00

19:30

that Pharoah was about to release the

us whether to rely on our Good Inclination

Thurs

07:00

19:30

Fri

07:00

16:50

Jews from Egypt, but Hashem ‘hardened

or our Evil Inclination.

Candle Lighting

16:50*

* Mincha & Kabbalat Shabbat

Chayim Arukim

to all those who have Yahrzeit this week as follows ‫שבת‬

4 February

Paul Berman Gerald Berman

Father Father

Kitty Joseph Yvonne Myers Eric Abrams Gilbert Cohen

Father Mother Mother Mother

Wed

Beryl Nevitt Alain de Botton

Mother Mother

Fri

Joy Polak Angella Carne

Brother Father

‫שבת‬

Gilda Leinhardt Hilary Krell Barry Stewart Jenni Mond

Father Father Father Mother

8 Shevat

Tues

7 February 11 Shevat

8 February 12 Shevat 10 February 14 Shevat 11 February 15 Shevat

The Choice Is Yours

Pharoah’s heart’, which led him to change his mind. This enabled Hashem to inflict

Since Pharoah saw Hashem clearly through

the full extent of His punishments on the

the miracles of the plagues, his urge to dis-

Egyptians that they deserved.

obey Hashem and keep the Jews in Egypt had nearly vanished. After all, who would

However, this is poses a challenge to us,

dare disobey Hashem if we knew without

since we believe that we are all given free

a doubt that He exists? Therefore, Hashem

will to act as we please, either for the good,

‘hardened his heart’ to restore his inner

or for the bad. Pharoah was on the verge

equilibrium, and allow him to actually have

of finally allowing the Jews to leave, only

a fair, equal choice of whether to do good

to then have this option seemingly taken

and release the Jews, or bad, and continue

away!

to defy Hashem’s will. As we know, once this balance was restored, he still chose

We learn from many of the Jewish philo-

an evil path, which led to his, and Egypt’s,

sophical thinkers that free will only exists

eventual demise.

Kiddushim

when two options - one good and one bad

4 February Rabbi Aharon & Elisheva Bloch

- present themselves equally. If a challenge

11 February Unsponsored

vidual level, then we have not really chosen

18 February Community Kiddush

is too easy or too hard for a person’s indithe path we take. But if we are mentally

Rabbi Nick Kett Shabbat Weather AM Cloudy 7o High 1o Overnight Low

Parsha

verview

First Aliyah - 11 verses Moses and Aaron deliver a warning to Pharoah that if he does not allow the Israelites to go then Egypt will be attacked by a plague of locusts. Pharoah stubbornly refuses to allow them to go.

Second Aliyah - 12 verses Swarms of locusts consume every blade of grass and crop in Egypt.

Pharoah begs for the plague to be removed, but after the locusts leave, he changes his mind yet again. As a result the penultimate plague - darkness - is brought to Egypt.

Third Aliyah - 9 verses Hashem tells Moses that there will be one more plague in Egypt, after which Pharoah will drive the Israelites out from his land. At that time, Hashem also instructs Moses to ask the Israelites to borrow jewels, silver and gold from their Egyptian neighbours.

Fourth Aliyah - 27 verses Moses warns Pharoah about the death of the firstborn. G-d gives the Israelites their first mitzvah; the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, and instructs them to bring the Pesach offering.

Fifth Aliyah - 8 verses Moses gathers the elders and conveys these instructions.

Sixth Aliyah - 23 verses At the stroke of midnight Hashem slays all the Egyptian firstborn.

Pharoah begs Moses to take the Israelites and leave. They leave at midday on the 15th Nissan. There are also some more rules about the Pesach sacrifice.

Seventh Aliyah - 16 verses Hashem gives several mitzvot: Pidyon Haben, eating matzah on Pesach, telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt at Pesach, redeeming firstborn donkeys, and putting tefillin on the head and the arm.

We are told that the dogs in Egypt were rewarded because they did not bark when the Jews were leaving Egypt.

S L E W

JE

M S I DA

U J F O

Delve into the deeper side of Judaism This week we will examine the order in which Hashem brought the Plagues

More Than Just A Number The order which Hashem employed in bringing the Plagues resembled the tactics of a king who wants to wage war to subdue an enemy country.

Pestilence: As the attacker nears the rival camp, he sends riders in front of him to annihilate the enemy’s animals. This was accomplished by the pestilence.

Blood: In subduing an enemy country, the invader’s first action is to cut off the country’s water supplies.

Thus, Hashem converted the water of the Egyptians into an undrinkable liquid.

Boils: Coming even closer to the enemy’s camp, the conqueror seeks to destroy the opposing army; thus, Hashem inflicted their bodies with boils.

Frogs: Thereafter, the attacker frightens the enemy by means of drummers, trumpet-blowers, and the clatter of horses and wagons. Similarly, Hashem brought the frogs whose croaking terrorised the Egyptians.

Lice: Next, the invader brings archers who shoot a host of bows and arrows against the enemy; in a similar way, Hashem brought lice which attacked the Egyptians like arrows.

Wild Beasts: The attacker then calls foreign allies to join him. Thus Hashem summoned all kinds of destructive beasts from the wilderness to gather against the Egyptians.

Hailstones: He hurls missiles to demolish the city walls.

Locusts: Subsequently, he assembles his army to

The Plagues emerged from all the elements to manifest that He is the Master over them all conquer the city; thus the locusts finished off whatever was left by the hail.

Darkness: Once he has taken possession of the city, he takes the enemies captive and imprisons them.

Slaying of the First-born: Finally, he executes the leaders and generals of the enemy camp.

Hashem brought Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians to punish Pharoah who denied the existence of the Creator of the universe which had been brought into existence by Ten Pronouncements. The People of Israel, moreover, merited that their enemies should be afflicted with Ten Plagues because their forefather Abraham had successfully withstood Ten Trials. The Plagues emerged from all the various elements, some from the water, some from the earth, and some from the sky, to manifest that Hashem is the Master over them all.

The Ten Plagues mirror the Ten Statements through which Hashem created the world. For example, the first Statement, “In the Beginning” mirrors the death of the firstborn. “Let there be light” mirrors the plague of darkness. Sustenance, the final Statement, reflects the first plague of blood, since blood sustains the human body.

Based on ‘The Midrash Says’

by Rabbi M. Weissman

If you would like to share your words of wisdom, please submit your article of no more than 500 words to nick@hale-community.org.uk

Parsha Stats Bo is is the 15th of 54 sedras 3rd of 11 in Shemot Written on 205.67 lines in a Torah (ranks 24th) 106 verses - ranks 29th (7th in Shemot) 1655 words - ranks 21st (5th in Shemot) 6149 letters - ranks 20th (6th in Shemot)

HALE & DISTRICT WALKERS Our newly formed group has been out and about!

We aim to meet up most weekday mornings (weather permitting) at 11.00am outside Booths, to walk for about an hour, usually in the Bollin.

Hope you can join us.

Contact Gillian Cohen on 07785 270 044 DATE FOR YOUR DIARY! Walk with a Talk with Tony Woolf Wednesday 15th February - 10.30-12.30

Tip #15 It Must Be Love

TEFILLAH TIPS

Last week, we talked about how we can utilise our understanding of Hashem’s control and guidance over everything we have in life as a motivator for our prayers. This week, perhaps we can use love to achieve a similar aim.

Think about everything in your life that you are grateful for, including your family, your home, having enough food to

eat, and everything else you can think of that is good in your life.

Consider the fact that Hashem is taking good care of you, even when you are not thinking about Him. Be grateful to the One who is the true source of your blessings, and pour your love into your prayers.

Did You Know Parshat Bo ends the mitzvah drought of the last 18 sidrot.

There are 20 mitzvot in this week’s parsha. 9 positive, and 11 prohibitions.

The plague of darkness was not just an absence of light. There was an unnatural, tangible darkness, which paralysed the Egyptians. The Jews were still able to see during this plague.

Our Rabbis teach us that fourfifths of the Jewish People did not leave Egypt with the rest.

Various reasons are given for this, such as a lack of faith that Hashem would actually redeem them. These Jews died and were buried during the plague of darkness, so that the Egyptians would not know.

Just For Fun

Question: How do we know that Moses wore a wig?

Answer: Because sometimes he was seen with Aaron, and sometimes he wasn’t!

2

L

KING AHEAD COMMUNAL

In The Spotlight

H.Y.P.E

Dov Maisel

This week we are honoured to host Dov Maisel, a paramedic and Senior Vice President of International Operations at Hatzalah United, who will be speaking to the community during the Power Kiddush.

The model of operations that he oversees enables the reaching of victims of trauma who need immediate medical attention, quickly and efficiently.

Dov, who made Aliyah from the USA, has also invented a unique manuall ventilator with his friend and colleague, Akiva Pollack. The device has been used to treat thousands of people at the scene of numerous natural disasters, such as the Nepal earthquake in 2015. It is now used worldwide in various armies, hospitals, businesses and first-aid groups.

Mazaltov to DEADLINE FOR PESACH GESHER 9th March 2017 editors@hale-community.org.uk If you would like to sponsor an edition of ‘Something For Everyone’, in honour of a simcha or for a yahrzeit, or for any reason, please contact the Shule office on 0161 980 8846 or admin@hale-community.org.uk

Angela Chalkin on the birth of a grandson, a son to Amanda & Kobi.

Rita Leigh on the occasion of Anton’s barmitzvah.

Emma & Ryan Levene and Niki & Clive Leveson on the birth of a daughter and granddaughter.