To Each Their Own – Parashat Bo

Parashat Bo – 5784

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites

In this week’s Torah portion, we read about the first significant event in the history of the Jewish people – the Exodus from Egypt. The Torah describes this event with grandeur, as expected:

The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the young children… and the habitation of the children of Israel, who dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in that very day, it came to pass, that all the legions of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 12, 37-41)

At first glance, these verses explicitly mention the duration of time the children of Israel spent in Egypt: four hundred and thirty years. However, our Sages and Torah commentators calculated this and proved that this is incorrect! According to their calculations, the children of Israel were in Egypt for only two hundred and ten years. The number “four hundred and thirty years” includes the time from the days of our forefather Abraham, who had also lived for a time in Egypt. However, in reality, from Jacob’s descent to Egypt until the Exodus, no more than two hundred and ten years passed.

The proof that the children of Israel were in Egypt for only two hundred and ten years, not four hundred and thirty, is explained extensively by Rashi. The calculation is based on the lifespans of Moses, our teacher, and his ancestors, briefly summarized as follows: Kohath descended to Egypt with Jacob, as explained in the Book of Genesis. Amram, his son, lived in Egypt, and Moses, the son of Amram, led the children of Israel out of Egypt when he was eighty years old. Even if we consider the combined lifespans of these three individuals, we would reach only 350 years. However, this is a misleading calculation since a person is not born in the year his father dies, but rather many years before. Consequently, we are forced to conclude that the children of Israel were in Egypt for fewer years, and according to the tradition of our Sages, the actual duration was two hundred and ten years.

One of the great Jewish scholars of Eastern Europe in the early 20th century was Rabbi Yosef Rosen, who lived in Daugavpils (formerly Dvinsk) in Latvia. Legends about his genius circulated during his lifetime, and his unique books are still studied today. Rabbi Rosen made a surprising suggestion that both numbers, four hundred and thirty and two hundred and ten, can be reconciled.

According to Rabbi Rosen, if each generation is considered separately without subtracting the years when a father and son lived simultaneously, we arrive at the precise number of 430 years! The detailed calculation is somewhat intricate, so we will provide only an example of the process: if Amram lived for 137 years, and Moses lived for 80 years until the Exodus, we count these years as 217 years, even though practically, Moses lived alongside his father for many years. Through this original calculation of the generations from the descent to Egypt until the Exodus, we reach the exact number of 430 years.

But why calculate the years this way? Is it not true that a person is not born in the year his father dies? If Moses was born when his father, for example, was twenty years old, then practically, the time that passed from the birth of Amram’s son until the Exodus was only 100 years. What is the logic in counting the years of each generation separately when, in fact, they lived during some of the same period?

If we delve into this proposal, we discover a unique perspective on history. One can view history as a sequence of years and events. In this view, humans are not at the center, but time and chronology are. This perspective is how we see history. However, there is another perspective, where the story is the story of people. Each person lives in a specific timeframe and experiences unique and personal events, challenges, insights, difficulties, and successes throughout their lifetime. It is not correct to count the years of several individuals together because each one of them is a complete, unique world deserving to be counted on its own.

According to this perspective, a father and son living side by side are worthy of being counted as two separate periods – the father’s life on its own and the son’s life on its own. Since every person lives in a unique world, counting their years separately honors the singularity of their experiences.

We must remember and not forget that each person’s life is irreplaceable. What we do not accomplish – no one else will achieve in our place. The challenges we overcome are those that no one else could. The failures are ours, and so are the successes. If we embrace life in this way, understanding the power of our uniqueness, it will give us strength and motivation to succeed in every challenge!