Bo. An unexpected calling

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart”

Shemot 10.1.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙

Parashat Bo is painful. We have reached the stages of the last contractions of Egypt before the exodus of its slaves, as painful as birthpangs. As pharaoh keeps forgetting, each time the pain abates, his good decisions to let them free, he keeps receiving plagues.

So it goes sometimes in our inner lives. According to the chassidim, Egypt, mitzrayim, is not a country. It is a state of mind.A state of mind in which the Ego rules. Trying to control people and circumstances; When our ego rules, we are in a state of constriction, suffering. This is the metaphorical meaning of the hebrew word for egypt, Mitzrayim, from the hebrew word meitzar, constriction.

We we are contracted, we hurt, everyone hurts around us, and yet somehow, because we are so afraid to let go, we keep holding on.We surrender only when life hurts too much; but then too often, like pharaoh, as soon as it stops hurting, we forget all the good resolutions.And here comes another round of plagues.

This is a story about us.I have shared many times this teaching, but this is what resonates today, and what I want to share it again:

The opening formulation of the parasha: “bo el pharaoh”,  בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה come to pharaoh, is strange;Grammatically, it should have said “lekh”, go to pharaoh.

Why using the term “come”?

We ask someone to come only if we are already there, and we want them to come and join us.

About this, the Zohar says  (Bo.1)

וַיֹּאמֶר יְיָ אֶל מֹשֶׁה בֹּא אֶל פַּרְעֹה כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ וְגוֹ.' רִבִּי יְהוּדָה פָּתַח וְאָמַר, אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם יוֹדְעֵי תְרוּעָה יְיָ' בְּאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ יְהַלֵּכוּן. כַּמָּה אִצְטְרִיכוּ בְּנֵי נָשָׁא, לְמֵהַךְ בְּאָרְחֵי דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, וּלְמִטַר פִּקּוּדֵי אוֹרַיְיתָא,.

"And Hashem said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart...'" (Shemot 10:1). Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion, saying: "Happy are the people that know the joyful note; they shall walk, Hashem, in the light of Your countenance" (Tehilim 89:16). 

What does this image of walking happily in the divine light has to do with Pharaoh’s darkness and Egypt’s birthpangs?

For the zohar, it means that although God could, and will do it by Itself,  God wanted Pharaoh to let Bnei Israel go.

Life wants to move through us, even through our dark sides.If god has hardened pharaoh’s heart, it might be to help it better break open. 

Life has these strange ways to try to help us grow up and enlighten ourselves.

Sometimes it takes many blows for our armor to start crumbling down. Many plagues in the inner land of heart constrictions.

Perhaps this is what Ram Dass called “fierce grace”.

 And it all happens Life wants to enlighten our very dark sides.

And this might be why the verse says Bo. As if God was standing next to Pharaoh and calling Moshe from here, “come”, meet “us” here, because I am standing right here.

How would it be like  to let God call us this shabbat from within that very constricted place in our heart, and let ourselves hear this simple word “come”?