page_title: Bo (parsha)
section_title: In the liturgy
hierarchical_section_title: Bo (parsha) / In the liturgy
context_page_description: Bo is the fifteenth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the Book of Exodus. The parashah constitutes Exodus 10:1–13:16. The parashah tells of the last three plagues on Egypt and the first Passover.
  The parashah is made up of 6,149 Hebrew letters, 1,655 Hebrew words, 106 verses, and 207 lines in a Torah Scroll. Jews read it the fifteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or early February. As the parashah describes the first Passover, Jews also read part of the parashah, Exodus 12:21–51, as the initial Torah reading for the first day of Passover, and another part, Exodus 13:1–16, as the initial Torah reading for the first intermediate day of Passover. Jews also read another part of the parashah, Exodus 12:1–20, which describes the laws of Passover, as the maftir Torah reading for the Special Sabbath Shabbat HaChodesh, which falls on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the month in which Jews celebrate Passover.
context_section_description: Reading the Passover Haggadah, in the magid section of the Seder, many Jews remove drops of wine from their cups for each of the ten plagues in Exodus 7:14–12:29 to show their joy is lessened due to the suffering of the Egyptians.
  Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:12 to elucidate the report in Deuteronomy 26:8 that "the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand." The Haggadah cites Exodus 12:12 for the proposition that God took the Israelites out of Egypt not through an angel, not through a seraph, not through an agent, but on God's own.
  Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:26 to provide the question of the wicked son and quotes Exodus 13:8 to answer him. And shortly thereafter, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 13:14 to answer the simple child and quotes Exodus 13:8 again to answer the child who does not know how to ask.
  Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:27 to answer the question: For what purpose did the Israelites eat the Passover offering at the time of the Temple in Jerusalem? The Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:27 for the proposition that the Israelites did so because God passed over the Israelites' houses in Egypt.
  In the concluding nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words "it is the Passover sacrifice" from Exodus 12:27 eight times as the refrain of a poem by Eleazar Kallir. Also in the nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words "it was the middle of the night" from Exodus 12:29 eight times as the refrain of a poem by Yannai.
  Rabinnic tradition interpreted Psalm 113 as the Psalm that the Israelites recited in Egypt on the night that God smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt in Exodus 12:29, and thus Jews recite Psalm 113 as the first Psalm of Hallel on Festivals and during the Passover Seder.
  Also in the nirtzah section, in a reference to the Israelites' despoiling of the Egyptians in Exodus 12:36, the Haggadah recounts how the Egyptians could not find their wealth when they arose at night.
  In the magid section, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:39–40 to answer the question: For what purpose do Jews eat unleavened bread (מַצָּה, matzah)? The Haggadah quotes Exodus 12:39–40 for the proposition that Jews do so because there was not sufficient time for the Israelites' dough to become leavened before God redeemed them.
  In the magid section, the Haggadah responds to a question that "one could think" that Exodus 13:5–6 raises — that the obligation to tell the Exodus story begins on the first of the month — and clarifies that the obligation begins when Jews have their maztah and maror in front of them.
  Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes Exodus 13:8 — emphasizing the word "for me" (li) — for the proposition that in every generation, Jews have a duty to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt.
  Many Jews recite Exodus 13:1–10 and 13:11–16 two of the four texts contained in the tefillin, either immediately after putting on the tefillin or before removing them, as Jews interpret Exodus 13:9 to make reference to tefillin when it says, "and it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes," and Exodus 13:16 to make reference to tefillin when it says, "and it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes."
  Much of the language of the leshem yihud prayer before putting on tefillin is drawn from Ramban's commentary on Exodus 13:11.
caption: A page from the 14th century Kaufmann Haggadah
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