We've said it before and we'll say it again: You can tell a lot about a sedra from its title. So, what about the title of Bo?
"And HaShem said to Moshe: "Bo el Par'o [come to Pharoah]." Would it not have been more correct to say, "Lech [go] el Par'o"? Why use the softer, more congenial bo - come - when Moshe was confronting a brutal, unrepentant tyrant?
Chazal learn from this subtle change of verbiage that Moshe was told by HaShem to show honor to Par'o. Though the Egyptian had tormented our people, and though we would be making demands upon him and punishing Egypt for its behavior, there was still some respect due to Par'o. After all, Par'o had afforded the Jews care and comfort in years gone by, allowing them to live comfortably in Goshen. And Moshe, in particular, had enjoyed the hospitality of Par'o's palace for two decades.
"Hakarat Hatov" - recognizing and rewarding the good done for us - is a basic tenet of Jewish behavior.
But there is another reason why Moshe approached Par'o with a certain amount of gentility. For even when facing an adversary, we have to be careful not to act in a manner that sullies our souls, that disgraces the moral standing that identifies a Jew. The end, say Chazal, does not justify the means, and so we have to control our behavior even - perhaps, especially - in those situations where it would be so easy to lose control.
That is why, for example, HaShem told Moshe the Israelite women would "ask" their Egyptian neighbors for the gold, silver and clothes they would take out of Egypt, and they would be given those items. Now, the Jews could have taken those things by force - since by tradition, this happened during the plague of darkness, when the Jews could see but the Egyptians were blind - or at least demand them of their neighbors. But they did not succumb to the temptation to take revenge or act in a base manner; they did not abdicate the upper ethical hand that has been a hallmark of Judaism since Creation.
And so they "asked."
There is, of course, a time when brutal force is called for, when mercy is misplaced. This is reserved for our most vicious enemies, and the Torah commands us in this situation: "Ki tetze al oyvecha," when you go out against your foe. "Go out" from your usual behavior, stifle your mercy and do what must be done, so evil forces can be destroyed and the innocent protected.
But in general, and certainly when facing off against a fellow Jew, the order of the day must be Darchei Noam, responding in a manner that befits our holiness and having been created in the image of HaShem.
"And HaShem said to Moshe: "Bo el Par'o [come to Pharoah]." Would it not have been more correct to say, "Lech [go] el Par'o"? Why use the softer, more congenial bo - come - when Moshe was confronting a brutal, unrepentant tyrant?
Chazal learn from this subtle change of verbiage that Moshe was told by HaShem to show honor to Par'o. Though the Egyptian had tormented our people, and though we would be making demands upon him and punishing Egypt for its behavior, there was still some respect due to Par'o. After all, Par'o had afforded the Jews care and comfort in years gone by, allowing them to live comfortably in Goshen. And Moshe, in particular, had enjoyed the hospitality of Par'o's palace for two decades.
"Hakarat Hatov" - recognizing and rewarding the good done for us - is a basic tenet of Jewish behavior.
But there is another reason why Moshe approached Par'o with a certain amount of gentility. For even when facing an adversary, we have to be careful not to act in a manner that sullies our souls, that disgraces the moral standing that identifies a Jew. The end, say Chazal, does not justify the means, and so we have to control our behavior even - perhaps, especially - in those situations where it would be so easy to lose control.
That is why, for example, HaShem told Moshe the Israelite women would "ask" their Egyptian neighbors for the gold, silver and clothes they would take out of Egypt, and they would be given those items. Now, the Jews could have taken those things by force - since by tradition, this happened during the plague of darkness, when the Jews could see but the Egyptians were blind - or at least demand them of their neighbors. But they did not succumb to the temptation to take revenge or act in a base manner; they did not abdicate the upper ethical hand that has been a hallmark of Judaism since Creation.
And so they "asked."
There is, of course, a time when brutal force is called for, when mercy is misplaced. This is reserved for our most vicious enemies, and the Torah commands us in this situation: "Ki tetze al oyvecha," when you go out against your foe. "Go out" from your usual behavior, stifle your mercy and do what must be done, so evil forces can be destroyed and the innocent protected.
But in general, and certainly when facing off against a fellow Jew, the order of the day must be Darchei Noam, responding in a manner that befits our holiness and having been created in the image of HaShem.