Family? Again??? - Parshat Bo

Most commandments are given to us to perform on an individual basis. Whether the duties are holiday-related, tort-related, statute-related or other, the basic commandment is for the individual to perform alone. We take notice then on those few times when it is not an individual commanded but a formal or informal group that is required to perform the mitzvah.

Such a situation we find in this week's parsha, Parshat Bo. The Karban Pesach (Paschal lamb) was required to be eaten together within the framework of the family.1 This is one of the few commandments that are family-based.2 Though the Shabbat meal is generally eaten with the family, it is not considered by Chazal to be one of the rules of the Shabbat meal. This Paschal lamb, however, is required to be consumed by a family. And, if your family can't finish a whole lamb by itself, you invite another family to join you.

Why is this match made with this mitzvah?

The answer is twofold.

Eating is generally considered an action that is imperative for us to perform in order to live. Yet eating is not just an activity performed for sustenance, as it is written, "not by bread alone shall Man live".3 Maybe because of this, we find the unusual law of Zimun (a special addition to the grace after meals if 3 or more people eat together). Eating is also a communal activity. And the basic unit of community is Family.

In addition, the Torah is showing us the importance of family unity. During the very first time that we gather as a nation and do something together, it is on the basis of family. The lamb is taken in accordance with the number of people in the family. It is eaten together as family. It is eaten in the home - not in a restaurant or rented hall. We could have been implored to meet with our best friends, coworkers, neighbors or even strangers. It could have been a shul Kiddush. Yet the Torah wants the concept and experience of family to be highlighted as the basis for the exodus.

In our day still, the family and home are to be a safe haven and a springboard into an active and successful adulthood. Is it always perfect? How many times have I heard in my clinic about people who feel estranged from their family? Though they may feel they are better off this way there is usually, also, a sense of alone-ness. No matter what else is going on around us, the family is to be the base - the family will and should always be there. That is what the Torah wants us to realize.

This is what Home is. This is what Family is. And that knowledge and experience must precede the Exodus.

 

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

For More Information On Logotherapy And How You Can Create A Fuller, More Meaningful Life, Or To Book An Online Session,

  1. Call Me At +972-54-589-3399, or in Israel 054-5893399
  2. Contact Me Thru my email at [email protected]