Bo: Bechor

The culmination of the plagues is the killing of the firstborn. This is the plague that is celebrated above all others.  The passing over of Passover  celebrates the exemption from the catastrophic slaughter and  was bought by the participation in the prescribed ritual, including the public identification broadcast by the lamb blood painted in the doorposts and lintel. The parsha ends by repeatedly emphasizing the significance of sparing the Hebrew firstborn.  All the  eldest offspring of Israelite  human and beast now belong to Gd and must be offered, killed or redeemed. This edict is to placed on public display: on doorposts and worn in the head and arm as amulets. 

Moses and Aaron, under orders from Gd , had requested a holiday from the Pharaoh.  After the fourth plague (the swarm of animals) Pharaoh offered an opportunity for the Israelites to perform their ritual locally, in Egypt. 

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and sacrifice to your God within the land.”

But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do this, for what we sacrifice to the LORD our God is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us!       Exodus8;21,22

The Passover  ritual, the slaughter of תּוֹעֲבַ֥ת מִצְרַ֛יִם  , what is disgusting to Egypt, an act that seems to invite spontaneous violence, is, in fact, done in Egypt. Participation in this act and the public display of involvement is required for exemption from the plague.  Things change.

The first Rashi in the Torah mentions  this week's parsha;

בראשית. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק לֹֹֹֹֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לְהַתְחִיל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה אֶלָּא מֵהַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם,

בראשית IN THE BEGINNING — Rabbi Isaac said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” 

The implication is that everything that came up to this point is background. Rabbi Isaac suggests that the purpose of this preface is tied to the Promised Land, but that would justify only a short passage attributing creation  to the Gd of Israel.  There is so much more story between  The Beginning and now. 

Much of that story involves inheritance.  Legacy and birthright is the major theme of Genesis.  The firstborn is always supplanted. Isaac supersedes Ishmael. Jacob replaces Esau. Ruben is superseded by Joseph the provider, Judah the commander and Levi the hallowed.  The eldest is generally overthrown.  In this parsha, they are sentenced to death. Gd rescues those that remain and they become Gd's own, the privilege of heir birth is converted into a curse that must be expiated. 

Who are the firstborn in this context? The story up to this point assumes that the  bechor, the eldest,has a much favored status. Jacob risked his life to acquire it, Joseph is disturbed that Jacob misappropriates it to Ephraim, instead of the elder Menashe; Gd calls Israel: Bechor.  This designation, whether by birth or merit, conferred power to its holder. The bechor was the heir-apparent, the designated link in the tradition and the inheritance, the successor.  A plague of death to these people was a grass roots revolution, an insurrection on the family level. Perhaps, it was a step toward meritocracy. 

There is no clear description of  Egyptian society, but the interactions that are reported in the text make it clear that it was autocratic. The Pharaoh had the power, presumably martial, to levy taxes, apportion land and negotiate with outsiders (like Gd) for the Egyptian people.  He had advisors who are designated as servants: 

וַיֹּאמְרוּ֩ עַבְדֵ֨י פַרְעֹ֜ה אֵלָ֗יו עַד־מָתַי֙ יִהְיֶ֨ה זֶ֥ה לָ֙נוּ֙ לְמוֹקֵ֔שׁ שַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְיַֽעַבְד֖וּ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם הֲטֶ֣רֶם תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֥י אָבְדָ֖ה מִצְרָֽיִם׃ 

Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this one be a snare to us? Let the men go to worship the LORD their God! Are you not yet aware that Egypt is lost?”

This is clearly a hierarchy, but there was an opportunity  for others to express a distressed opinion; to request a change in (foreign) policy. Had the destruction wrought by the plagues prepared an atmosphere ripe for revolution? Did the death of the firstborn disturb the established  hierarchy enough to make anything possible?

Exemption from the plague required joining the Israelites in their ceremony - and publicly displaying the fact. Those who joined could continue the favored status of the bechor. Would they?