20 Jan BO: LEARNING ENTHUSIASM…FROM THE ANIMALS

Parashat Bo tells
of the final three
plagues that Hashem
brought upon Egypt,
culminating with the
final plague, the plague of the firstborn,
which led Pharaoh to permit Beneh Yisrael
to leave Egypt.
Already before the eighth plague, the
plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s servants
urged him to yield, to allow Beneh
Yisrael to leave and thereby avoid further
devastation in the country. Pharaoh
summoned Moshe and expressed his
willingness to let the people leave. But
when Moshe insisted that the entire nation
leave, Pharaoh angrily sent him away,
insisting that only the adult males would
be permitted to go.
Later, after the plague of darkness,
Pharaoh summoned Moshe and said he
would allow all Beneh Yisrael to leave
– but demanded that the animals remain
in Egypt. Moshe replied, “Even you will
place in our hands sacrifices and offerings
for us to prepare for Hashem our G-d, and
also our own cattle with come with us, not
a single hoof will remain, for we will take

from it to serve Hashem our G-d” (10:25-
26). In response to Pharaoh’s demand
that Beneh Yisrael leave behind their
cattle, Moshe declared that “not a single
hoof” would stay behind, and, moreover,
Pharaoh would even give Beneh Yisrael
his own animals for them to offer as
sacrifices for Hashem.
The Malbim (Rav Meir Leibush, 1809-
1879) makes an insightful observation
regarding the words chosen by Moshe in
this response to Pharaoh. Moshe said about
Beneh Yisrael’s cattle, “Yelech Imenu”
– that the animals “will go with us.” The
implication is that the animals would not
need to be taken but would rather join the
people on their own. The Malbim explains
this nuance by noting the story told in
the Book of Melachim I (chapter 18) of
the prophet Eliyahu. Eliyahu challenged
the prophets of the pagan god Ba’al to a
“contest” on Mount Carmel, whereby they
would each offer a bull as a sacrifice – the
prophets would sacrifice to Ba’al, and
Eliyahu, of course, to G-d. The sacrifice
that would receive a response would
prove which of them is correct. G-d
responded to Eliyahu’s sacrifice with a
fire that descended from the heavens, thus

demonstrating the truth of Hashem
and the fallacy of idol-worship.
The Midrash teaches that at the
beginning of this process, the
prophets of Ba’al chose one of the
two bulls as their sacrifice, but the
bull did not want to go with them.
It refused to be used as a sacrifice
for idolatry. Eliyahu approached
the animal and explained that
it would be helping to create a
Kiddush Hashem as this sacrifice
would receive no response,
whereas Eliyahu’s sacrifice would
be responded to with a heavenly fire. The
bull then agreed, assured that its role was
indeed valuable and significant. The other
bull, by contrast, needed no convincing,
and went happily and enthusiastically to
be sacrificed by Eliyahu for the purpose of
bringing honor and glory to Hashem.
Similarly, the Malbim explains, Moshe
told Pharaoh that Beneh Yisrael’s animals
would go on their own out of Egypt, eager
to be offered as sacrifices to Hashem. They
would not need to be taken – they would
just go, driven by the desire to serve G-d.
The Malbim writes that this is indicated by

the text for us to learn from the animals’
example. Religious observance often
demands sacrifices, requiring us to refrain
from things which we want to do, and to
give of our time, money and energy, for
the sake of serving the Almighty. Moshe’s
description of Beneh Yisrael’s cattle is
meant to teach us to make these sacrifices
enthusiastically, recognizing the great
value of serving Hashem. There is no
greater privilege than living as Hashem’s
servants, bringing Hashem honor and
glory, and it is with this mindset, with this
spirit and enthusiasm, that we are to make
the sacrifices – however difficult – that
Torah life often requires.