Parshas Bo

Spreading the Knowledge of G-d

Spreading the knowledge of G-d to gentiles thirty-three centuries ago

Why didn't G-d take the Jews out of Egypt immediately, without the plagues? To punish the Egyptians? But why prolong the suffering of the Jews? Why not free the Jews and punish the Egyptians in one fell swoop after the Jews leave?

The first sentence of this week's parsha, Bo, informs us that "Hashem said to Moses, 'Come to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants stubborn so that I shall place these signs of Mine in his midst'."¹

Thus G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart, and extended the Jews' stay in Egypt for Pharaoh's sake, so that he would learn about G-d through seeing G-d's "signs." Similarly we find:

"For this time I shall send all My plagues against your heart, and upon your servants, and your people, so that you shall know that there is none like Me in all the world. For now I could have sent My hand and stricken you and your people with the pestilence and you would have been wiped out of the land. On account of this I have left you standing, in order to show you My power and so that My Name may be declared throughout the world."²

The purpose of the plagues was, therefore, to teach the Egyptian people about achdus Hashem (the unity of G-d) and to inspire them to declare this unity to every gentile in the world. In fact, in the midst of the plagues themselves, some Egyptians already came to fear the one G-d, and G-d protected those Egyptians from the plague of hail:

"Gather in your livestock and everything you have in the field ... Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of Hashem made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses...Everything that was in the field from man to beast, all the herbs in the field, the hail struck...."³

This process of bringing the Egyptians to an awareness of Hashem continued with the conclusion of the plague:

"The thunder will cease and the hail will be no longer, so that you shall know that the earth is Hashem's."⁴

Spreading the knowledge of G-d to gentiles today

The world was thus brought closer to a knowledge of the true G-d by powerful miracles. In so doing, Hashem gave the Jewish people the power to uplift gentiles without divine intervention. In fact, after being freed from Egypt, they came to Mount Sinai, where,

"Moses was commanded by the Almighty to compel all the inhabitants of the world to accept the laws given to Noah's descendants. If one does not accept these laws, he should be executed."⁵

Today, when various governing authorities do not allow Jews to carry out executions, Jews are granted a leniency in that they are allowed to ignore G-d's requirement that they execute gentiles who refuse to abandon false religions. According to Tosefot Yom Tov, this leniency only applies to the execution part of the commandment:

"If this applies to compulsion at the point of the sword, with threats of execution ... it surely applies regarding compulsion through persuasion, to lead their hearts to the will of their Creator."⁶

Gentiles should, of course, also be involved in this battle of persuasion, leading other gentiles and even nonobservant Jews to follows G-d's laws.⁷ How far should we go in this battle?

According to the Lubavitcher Rebbe,

"The Rambam uses the expression, 'lakuf, ('to forcefully influence') all inhabitants of the world to accept the Noachide commands . . . it must be done with persistence. If you have already tried several times, try again nevertheless. We frequently see that although people are sometimes spoken to five times, they do not change until they hear it a sixth time!"⁸

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¹Shemos 10:1
²Id., 9:14-16
³Id. 9:19-25
⁴Id. 9:29
⁵Mishneh Torah (of Maimonidies), Hilchot Melachim U'Milchamoteihem, 8:10
⁶Avot 3:14
⁷The Noachide Laws for Gentiles and the 613 commandments for Jews
⁸Public address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Purim, 5747