Parshat Bo | From the Midrashim

Parshat Bo | From the Midrashim

In the lecture we examine the Midrashim to see what the sages of Torah Judaism say about Parshat Bo, which is Genesis 10-13. Bo (בֹּא — in Hebrew, the command form of “go,” or “come,” and the first significant word in the parashah, in Exodus 10:1) is the fifteenth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 10:1–13:16. The parashah is made up of 6,149 Hebrew letters, 1,655 Hebrew words, and 106 verses, and can occupy about 207 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).[1]

Jews read it the fifteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or early February.[2] As the parashah describes the first Passover, Jews also read part of the parashah, Exodus 12:21–51, as the initial Torah reading for the first day of Passover, and another part, Exodus 13:1–16, as the initial Torah reading for the first intermediate day (Chol HaMoed) of Passover. Jews also read another part of the parashah, Exodus 12:1–20, which describes the laws of Passover, as the maftir Torah reading for the Special Sabbath Shabbat HaChodesh, which falls on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the month in which Jews celebrate Passover.