T orah P ortion
The Beginning of the Jewish People
BY RABBI BARRY DOV LERNER
Parshat Bo
OUR WEEKLY TORAH
portion, Bo (Exodus 10:1–13:16),
is packed with drama, bursting
with the roots for Jewish obser-
vance. It begins with the familiar
conclusion of the Ten Plagues,
even if we know the end of the
Passover plot.

However, one “quiet” verse,
which is almost overlooked in
importance, interrupts the story;
the words are not dramatic, nor
does it fill us with spiritual awe.

But it may well be the most
important verse in this sedra.

But first, let’s look at the
“big picture” of the Exodus
from slavery. We begin with yet
another round of negotiation
between Moses and Pharaoh
and the next plague of locusts.

The Egyptian courtiers now
urge Pharaoh to permit Israel
to go to worship their God. He
refuses, and the locust swarms
all agriculture that survived the
hailstorm. Once again, Pharaoh
relents, and, when the locusts
leave, he reneges yet again.

Moses is then instructed by
God to bring unannounced the
ninth plague of total darkness,
causing Egyptians to stay at
home — “national lockdown.”
Pharaoh summons Moses to
admit defeat and the darkness
is lifted. But once the plague
Frimark Continued from Page 7
bat mitzvahs; and he helped
run Ohev’s preschool.

According to the rabbi, the
cantor handled between 60 and
70 b’nai mitzvah students per
year. He was also “one of their
best memories of preschool at
Ohev Shalom,” Perlstein said.

“People had a world of respect
for him as the cantor,” the rabbi
added. “Nobody ever came to
me and said, ‘I’m having a hard
time with the cantor.’”
20 JANUARY 6, 2022
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
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is removed, it is the same old
story: Pharaoh refuses to let
them go.

Meanwhile, the Israelites
are instructed how to prepare
to leave. Firstly, they are to
request objects of silver and
gold from their Egyptian
neighbors. Secondly, they are
to dedicate and then roast a
lamb to eat with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs, while
painting their house doorframe
with the lamb’s blood.

The portion continues with
instructions for the future
celebration of the seder and
Passover, the basis for three
of the four famous Mah
Nishtanah. Moses warns Pharaoh that
the firstborn of Egypt, from
the highest to the lowest,
peasant to Pharaoh, human
and animal, will die about
midnight. Now, “everyone gets
the message” in the contest
between Pharaoh and Israel’s
God “let my people go.”
Our sedra concludes with the
importance of memorializing
our redemption from Egyptian
bondage with pidyon haben
for redeeming the human and
animal firstborn of Israel, the
feast of unleavened bread Hag
HaMatzot, and concluding with
tefillin containing memories of
the Exodus.

W h ich, t hen, is t he
“sleeper verse?”
“This month shall mark
for you the beginning of the
months; it shall be the first of
the months of the year for you.”
(Ex. 12:1-2)
According to many tradi-
tional commentaries, this verse is
the first commandment given to
the Children of Israel just before
their exodus from bondage and
before the “Aseret Hadibrot”
(Ten Commandments). It was,
as Professor Gerson Cohen
taught: (z”l, my teacher and past
chancellor of JTSA): The most
significant legacy of this Torah
portion is the proclamation of
the foundation of the Hebrew
calendar.” Why? The present Jewish
calendar is lunisolar, the
months being reckoned
according to the moon and the
years according to the sun. A
month is the time between one
conjunction of the moon with
the sun and the next. As Cohen
wrote: “What is important
is that this calendar which
became the foundation of the
Jewish calendar that is still
followed and observed, gave
the children of Israel an auton-
omous way of keeping time.”
In the words of Samson
Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888),
the founder of contemporary
modern Orthodoxy: “The Jewish
calendar is the Jewish catechism,
for it is the most concise
summary of what we remember
and what we stand for.”
In short, the newly freed
are now in charge of their own
time and the labor of their
hands. They will observe both
our agricultural celebrations
and also our historical events.

As they assume control
for their own lives living in
freedom, they accept respon-
sibility for their own decisions
and their opinions. The
calendar required human
understanding of sun, moon
and stars but not as divinities.

Literally, we — not God —
determine when Shabbat, the
festivals and holy days occur.

Let me conclude with a
wonderful rabbinic Aggadah
about Rabbi Eliezer ben
Hyrcanus, who disagreed vigor-
ously with Rabbi Joshua and all
his colleagues in the Academy.

Eliezer calls up one miracle
after another, to prove him
correct. Finally, Eliezer calls
upon God for support, and a
“Bat Kol,” spoke to the Academy:
“Why are you disagreeing with
Rabbi Eliezer? You know the
law is always in accord with
him!” Rabbi Yehoshua then
stood up and defied the Bat
Kol on his feet and said: It is
written: “It is not in heaven”
(Deuteronomy 30:12).

When the Talmud asks,
“What do these words mean,
“It is not in heaven?” Rabbi
Yirmeya says: “Since Sinai, we
don’t obey a Divine Voice, as
the Torah teaches: ‘majority
rules.’” Because a majority of
rabbis disagreed with Rabbi
Eliezer and the heavenly voice,
Jewish law follows the rabbis —
for millennia to come.

Our Torah begins in Genesis
with the creation as a universal
history. The origin of the
Jewish people is in the Book
of Exodus. Genesis relates the
mythology of our ancestors
journeying to Egypt to survive,
but there we were enslaved by
a Pharaoh who recognized no
authority greater than himself.

Passover and the telling of
the Exodus surround this one
verse, on either side.

Nisan becomes the first
month in the new Jewish
calendar in our sedra, and
Passover celebrates the begin-
ning of the Jewish people. l
Frimark was a well-liked
figure in both a leadership
and performance role. Yet,
according to Perlstein, he never
sought the spotlight.

During Shabbat services, he
sang and played the guitar and
piano. But he always motioned
for the congregation to start
singing, too.

“It was never his goal to be
the star,” Perlstein said. “He
was more the leader of the
congregation singing.”
Upon retiring in 2011,
Frimark unretired.

Temple Judea in Doylestown
lost its rabbi and needed a spiri-
tual leader, so Frimark took
over. He served in that role for
three or four years before the
synagogue hired a new rabbi.

“People will tell you he kept
that synagogue alive,” Perlstein
said. At home, the cantor and
band leader became the father
and husband.

Bara Frimark said he tucked
her in each night and the two
would talk about their days. As
an adult, whenever she had a
question about money or taxes,
she called her former accoun-
tant of a pop.

In August, he helped her
refinance her house.

“I was definitely a daddy’s
girl,” Bara Frimark said. “He
was my go-to person whenever
I needed help with anything.”
Arlene Frimark described
her husband as a man who
she just felt comfortable being
around. The couple loved to
travel to places like Lancaster,
Nashville and New Orleans,
among other locations.

Frimark also always helped
his wife around the house,
folding laundry and emptying
the dishwasher. He did, however,
have one character flaw after all.

Frimark didn’t cook, though
he did make eggs.

Before his death, Frimark
was homebound from the
middle of October through
Dec. 24.

“I’ll just miss him being
there,” Arlene Frimark said. l
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner is the
president of Traditional Kosher
Supervision, Inc. The Board of
Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
reflect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. jsaffren@jewishexponent.com;
215-832-0740 JEWISHEXPONENT.COM