This week’s Parsha is Bo, spelled “Bet” “Alef”. The numerical value of Bet is 2 and the numerical value of Alef is 1. 2+1=3. This is an easy trick to remember that there are 3 plagues in this Parsha. But that is not the message of the Parsha that I want to convey.
The last of the 10 Plagues was the death of the firstborn. When Hashem informed Moshe about it, Hashem said it would take place at midnight. When Moshe relayed the warning to Paroh about the plague, Moshe said it would take place around midnight. Rashi explains that Moshe intentionally did not say “at midnight”. He did this knowing that the Egyptians’ clocks (or sundials) might not be exactly in sync with Moshe’s clock (or sundial). If according to Egyptian time, the plague began a minute before or a minute after midnight, the Egyptians would’ve mocked Moshe and denied that the plague was from Hashem. Truly remarkable!
Egypt was practically pulverized by nine previous plagues, and they would quibble over the precise, down to the minute timing of the last plague???!!! The fact of the matter is yes, they would have. If a
person is looking to “catch someone” making a mistake or is accustomed to finding fault with others, logic will not stand in his way.
This reminds me of the joke about a man driving home from work when he gets a call from his wife.
“Be careful on the road, honey. I heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on the highway.”
“It’s not just one car,” he responds, “it’s hundreds of them!”
Some people tend to find fault with others regularly. If one is so inclined, he should go to the opposite extreme and find the good in others. This includes finding the good in our family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. All self-improvement takes time but the reward of improved interpersonal connections are well worth the effort.
Shabbat Shalom!