Kidneys and Teshuva, and the Power to Control Time.

Kidneys and Teshuva, and the power to control time.

Parshat Bo. (Bo= "Come")


Kidneys and Teshuva

What are kidneys? Kidneys filter out the bad from your blood, and leave the good.
I am on my journey of doing teshuva, and for several months right as I was really moving forward in this process, my back was hurting me so badly right in the spot of my right kidney. I think about how my kidney was making itself known to me just as I was at a pinnacle moment of filtering out the bad from the good in my spiritual life. Parshat Bo has a message for me as to how I can continue on this path of cleansing and filtering. In Bo, Hashem tells Moshe to "Come to Paroh." Just as Moshe had to face Paroh straight on, I too have to face straight on the things I want to filter out spiritually. But hashem does not tell Moshe to "go" to Paroh, but rather to "come." From this, I learn that not only do I have to face my challenges, but I have to know that I am not going alone. Rather, I am "coming" with hashem, who is with me all the while, just as he was with Moshe when Moshe had to face Paroh.


We have the power to control time

In Parshat Bo, we also learn about Rosh Chodesh. We are told that in this parsha, we shall consider it the first month, because it is the month we were taken out of Egypt. The Jewish monthly calendar is based on the lunar cycle. Just as the moon has no light of it's own, but is actually just a reflection of the sun's light, so too are we a reflection of Hashem's light in the world. Now-a-days, we have a set calendar telling us when the new months begin. Before, however, the new month had to be declared by witnesses who could see the sky and see that it was, indeed, a new moon. If the sky was cloudy on the day that should have been rosh chodesh, then the witnesses could not declare it rosh chodesh. In that case, they would wait until the next day when they could see the moon. Only then would they declare the new month. Then, the new month would begin a day later, but nevertheless, the day they declared it would actually be the first day of the new month. The entire calendar will follow accordingly. In this way, we see how our actions were really capable of declaring and controlling time.

We have the power to change the stars

In Parshat Bo, there is a point where Paroh says to Moshe, "fine, take your people out of Egypt, but know that evil will befall you in the desert." What does Paroh mean by "Evil will befall you in the desert?" One commentary says that Paroh's astrologers looked into the stars and saw that there was an evil omen upon the Hebrews, and that there would be bloodshed if they were to leave. Of course, we know that the Hebrews did not experience bloodshed when they went to the desert, and yet Paroh's star gazers were not wrong. Indeed, the stars did predict evil and blood, but when Hashem felt angry with us, he remembered that we trusted him, he remembered our actions, and he took the blood of circumcision to appease his anger. The bad omen was still there, but by our actions, we were actually able to change the way the omen was played out. We learn from this that we actually have the power, through our actions, to change the future, to really re-align the stars! This is one reason why we know we are not supposed to get our future told: because we have the ability to change a decree based on our actions.


We also know that Hasem promised that the Hebrews would only have to be in Egypt for 200 years, but we know that he wanted certain things from us before we would merit leaving. Of course, whether we deserved it or not, he would have to let us leave by 200 years. Now, we are hoping for the time of moshiach when there will be peace on this earth. We know that it has been promised that this time should come by the year 7,000 at the latest, but we also know that we have the power to change the stars, to change our decrees, based on our actions. Therefore, if our actions merit it, we can bring in moshiach sooner. We know that we have the power to control time, to realign the stars, to change our mazel. We see it happening in parshat Bo, and now, if only we can be like the moon and reflect Hashem's light in this world, we can change our mazel again and make peace on this earth, now!