Torah Talk for Parashat Bo
February 1, 2017 by
This week’s parasha tells the story of the last three plagues, the preparations that the Bnei Yisrael needed to make in order to leave Mitzrayim, and the actual exodus itself.
The first mitzvah mentioned in Sefer Shmot, and in fact, the first mitzvah given to the nation, appears in this parasha [12:2]: “This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” The p’shat, the plain meaning of the text, is clear that Hashem was saying that that month, Nissan, was to be considered from that point on to be the first month of the year. However, the rabbis derived from this verse the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, of celebrating the first day of each Jewish month. The latitude of interpretational opportunities affords the rabbis the possibility of deriving the mitzvah of celebrating Rosh Chodesh from this verse.
In addition, there are others verses in the Torah which validate the concept of celebration of the “new moon.” Read more >
