Bo: isolationism

This parsha records the separation of the two peoples: Isarel and Egypt.  After 430 years of living together, one way or another, Israel is urgently asked to leave immediately.  The poisonous nature of the relationship is recognized  After such a long engagement, sharing so much over such a long time, the separation was challenging. 

The parsha describes the three final plagues.  The locusts, like the frogs and the lice, are a reminder of demographic challenge posed by the subjugated people.  They are so numerous.  And they eat, they will eventually consume everything. 

The darkness reminds Egypt that they do not understand these enslaved people and their customs.  They are in the dark.  But these customs were probably contaminating the youth

The killing of the firstborn is the last straw.  These elite were, by virtue of their birth, the masters of the land.   They would have been the soldiers and officers.  The treasured  youth of Egypt was, sacrificed to their struggle. 

The ritual of the Peach lamb identifies allegiance.  You may have been born Egyptian, but if you are circumcised, sacrificed a lamb and spread its blood on the doorposts and lintel, you are with the Hebrews.  You may have been born a Hebrew, but if you fail to do this task, you have made your choice of identity: Egypt.

The prohibition against leaven means the elimination of the yeast of Egypt.  This is the living part of the bread, the DNA of subjugation.  The unleavened rejects the intoxication technology of Egypt.   In bread, the baking evaporates the alcohol, but the same yeast produces beer and wine. 

The firstborn are the heirs of the land.  But Israel is leaving the land of Egypt, there is nothing for them to inherit there.  Their inheritance is  a dream