Parasha Bo
Locusts, darkness, the death of the firstborn — and the night Israel left Egypt forever.
Overview
Parasha Bo contains the climax of the Exodus narrative: the final three plagues, the institution of the Passover sacrifice, and the departure from Egypt after 210 years of slavery. It is the birth of the Jewish people as a nation.
The Story
The eighth plague — locusts — devours everything the hail left. The ninth — three days of impenetrable darkness — paralyzes Egypt while Israel has light in their dwellings. Pharaoh still refuses. God announces the tenth and final plague: the death of every firstborn in Egypt. Israel is commanded to take a lamb, slaughter it at twilight, and place its blood on their doorposts. They are to eat it roasted, with matzah and bitter herbs, in haste — this is the Passover offering. At midnight, God strikes every Egyptian firstborn. Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and commands them to leave. Egypt urges Israel to go. They leave in haste, their dough unleavened. They despoil Egypt of silver and gold. Six hundred thousand men, plus women and children, depart.
Significance for Noahides
The Passover is the paradigmatic event of divine redemption. The blood on the doorposts — a public declaration of faith — protected those inside. The matzah of haste and the bitter herbs of slavery are eaten together: freedom is sweeter when one remembers the bitterness that preceded it. For Noahides, the Exodus demonstrates that God hears the cry of the oppressed and acts in history to deliver them.