By Avner Friedmann
The parsha of the week states,[1] “It was on this very day that HaShem took the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, according to their legions.”
The Holy Zohar asks:[2] HaShem mentions fifty times throughout Torah that He took us out of the land of Egypt. Moreover, He gave us many mitzvot commemorating this, such as the mitzvot of Shabbat, Mezuzah, Tefillin, Tzitzit etc. etc. Why is this event so praiseworthy in HaShem’s eyes that the Torah repeats it so often?
After all, wasn’t it HaShem who told Avraham that He would send his descendents into exile, and wasn’t it HaShem who also promised that He would take them out? As written,[3] “Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not theirs and they will serve them, and they will oppress them for four hundred years…afterwards they will leave with great wealth.”
The Zohar gives the following answer: HaShem made a condition that He would set the Children of Israel free from physical slavery. However, He never stipulated that he would also redeem them from spiritual slavery. During their sojourn in Egypt, Israel had sunk so spiritually low, that they had reached the forty-ninth gate of impurity and had almost reached the fiftieth gate, from which there is no return. Not only did HaShem take them out of physical slavery, He also took them out of all this impurity. Moreover, within forty-nine days of their exodus from Egypt, He helped them ascend to the forty-ninth level of holiness! Finally, fifty days after the exodus, He brought them to ultimate spirituality and holiness, by descending upon Mount Sinai in all His glory and giving them His Torah.
The Zohar explains that the Torah praises and mentions the exodus so many times, in order to reveal HaShem’s great love and kindness for Israel to the whole world. Furthermore, this is so important to Him that He commanded us to remember the exodus every single day, as scripture states,[4] “So that you remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life.”
HaShem said[5]: “I shall go through the land of Egypt on this night…I am HaShem”. This verse hints at the spiritual darkness and lowliness of the Jewish people in Egypt. Egyptian culture was so steeped in impurity and immorality that even the angels were afraid to go there. Therefore HaShem went Himself. He did not dispatch an angel or an emissary, but came to save His children Himself, as the Passover Haggadah states, “HaShem took us out of Egypt not through an angel and not through a fiery angel and not through an agent, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, did so Himself.”
In the Torah HaShem declared,[6] “Israel is my first born.” By taking Israel out at their lowly spiritual state, HaShem demonstrated His intrinsic love for them, the love of a father towards his child, which never falters regardless of the child’s waywardness. This may be compared to a prince who fell into a deep pit and was about to drown. There was no one else to save him, so the King himself, in his royal garments, jumped in to save his son.[7]
Actually, HaShem did much more for us when He took us out of Egypt. This is when He made us into a nation; His holy and chosen nation. And fifty days later He gave us our “Constitution” (the Torah) and charged us to be a light unto all the nations of the world. Moreover, he revealed that every Jew is “literally, part of G-d from above,” as it states,[8] “For HaShem’s portion is His people.”
From this we learn that HaShem’s love for us is not dependent on any rational reason, but is intrinsic, like the love of a parent for his child. The parent is there for the child no matter what the circumstances. Even if the child is rebellious and sins against him, heaven forbid, a parent never abandons his child, as it states,[9] “In all their troubles He is troubled etc.”[10] No matter how distant a Jew may be, he can always come home to HaShem and will always be accepted.
The Zohar states[11] that in Egypt we were redeemed from one nation, but that in the future and final redemption we will be redeemed from all the nations. In that time HaShem will be acknowledged and honored by all mankind. HaShem pledged that He would perform great wonders for the Jewish people, which all the world will see, as it states,[12] “As in the days when you left the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders.” In that time, “Hashem will be the King over the whole earth. On that day HaShem will be One and His name will be One.” [13] May we behold the true and complete redemption, through our righteous Moshiach, speedily in our times. Amen
[1] Shemot 12:51.
[2] Zohar Chadash, Yitro 39a, and Tikunei Zohar, Tikun 32, 76b.
[3] Bereshit 15:13.
[4] Devarim 16:3.
[5] Shemot 12:12.
[6] Shemot 4:22.
[7] Netivot Shalom, Parshat Bo p. 82-83, Parshat Yitro p. 159-160
[8] Devarim 32:9.
[9] Isaiah 63:9.
[10] Netivot Shalom Vayigash.
[11] Tazria 52a.
[12] Micha 7:15.
[13] Zechariah 14:9.
