Yetzias Mitzrayim takes place in two major events. One occurs on the 15th day of Nissan when Am Yisrael actually leaves the premises of Mitzrayim free from bondage. The second event happened seven days later at Yam Suf. Where after being chased by the Egyptians, Am Yisrael miraculously crosses Yam Suf to the other side. When the Egyptians follow suit they were drowned in the sea together with their horses and chariots. This second event which extended Pesach into a seven day Yom Tov did not seem necessary since after the Egyptians received Makkas Bechoros they were happy for the Yidden to leave and to get rid of them for good. Yet Hashem felt that yet another segment of geulah was still lacking and He hardened Pharaoh's heart to pursue them which led to their demise. What is this missing link that made redemption from Mitzrayim incomplete?
The parsha begins with the words ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם The Chazal say that when the Torah uses the lashon of ויהי it symbolizes a foreboding event in contrast to the lashon of והיה which heralds simcha. What could be so terrible when the Yidden left Mitzrayim after 210 years of bondage? Secondly, the Medrash asks how could the Torah write בשלח פרעה that is was Pharaoh who sent Am Yisreal out of Mitzrayim when the passuk says אל הוציאם ממצרים that it was Hashem who took them out of Egypt? The Medrash answers that the word בשלח does not mean to send but rather to accompany. This conveys that even though Hashem was the force that redeemed them from Mitzrayim nevertheless Pharaoh escorted them out and even asked them to pray for him.
The sefarim tell us that Pharaoh's chaperoning of Yisrael at their departure was a bad omen. It meant that the geulah was not complete. As the saying goes You can take the Yidden out of galus but to take the galus out of Yidden is a much greater challenge. When the physical body leaves he domain of his master he then is physically free. In contrast when the spiritual dimensions of a person such as his mind and heart are tainted with foreign impure ideas and lifestyles, it is more difficult to rid and purify oneself from them. Kerias Yam Suf was needed to oust the Mitzri dwelling inside the Yid.
We find the same concept with the plague of Tzaraas. Chazal say Yalkut Shimoni Vayikra 11 תיראו, אמר להם משה לישראל אל תתיראו, אלו לעובדי אלילים, אבל אתם לאכול ðגעים ðכיון ששמעו ישראל פרשת ו,ðאמר רבים מכאובים לרשע והבוטח בה' חסד יסובבðולשתות ולשמוח ש Yisrael should not worry because Tzaraas is for the idolaters however you should eat drink and be merry. This message is difficult to understand. Chazal tells us that negaaim come upon those Yidden who speak Lashon Harah? The answer given is that Chazal are addressing the goy who lives inside of us. He causes us to speak Lashon Harah. A Yid's mouth is holy and must be controlled by each person. Yidden are called the מדבר"" level of creation. The Tzaraas is there to extricate the goy and his culture out of our being.
The Piesetzna Rebbe ztl wrote when he reached forty years old What new avodah can I take upon myself to achieve. To learn more Torah? I do not have any extra time. To work on my middos? I work on them every day. More chesed? I am thoroughly involved with many projects. What I can be mekabeil is to be megayair and become a Yid. What the Rebbe meant was that every fiber of a Yid must be a Yid. Just as one davens and is Shomer Shabbos like a Yid, so too he must act, drink, eat, celebrate, dress, talk, listen, be kind, compassionate, selfless, and think like a Yid as well.
In אז ישיר Am Yisrael sang כי גאה גאה that You Hashem are elevated. This double word could be referring to the duel elevation that Hashem was given at the miracle of Yam Suf. Until now Hashem was exalted because He freed us from bondage of Mitzrayim by taking the Yid out of Mitzrayim. At Yam Suf a new elevation is given to Hashem by Am Yisrael where the Mitzri was removed from every Yid who now praises and sings to Hashem without any remnant of a decadent immoral society.
The Sifsei Tzaddik writes that when Hashem brought the east wind to blow on the waters and thereby create a dry land pathway inside, He simultaneously blew the element of water away from the nefesh of each and every Yid. We can explain this to mean that the element of water symbolizes the drive and taavos for physical pleasures which we are influenced from the goyim who are called .מים רבים As the Megaleh Amukos writes the acronym of the word רבים (many) refers to the Four Exiles רומי בבל יון מדי. The miracle of Kerias Yam Suf was to eradicate any impressions of goyim's lifestyles that dwelled in our existence that influenced us rooted in the galus.
This last part of the geulah had a unique event which did not happen before which facilitated the exit of the Mitzri from our inner midsts. The passuk says וירא ישראל את מצרים מת על שפת הים Am Yisrael saw Mitzrayim dead on the sea shore. Why is Mitzrayim and מת found in the singular form? In the Siddur of R Yaakov Emdin he answers that here the Torah is referring to the residing angel over Mitzrayim which was now deposed from his position of leadership which is deemed as his death. That is why the angel is described as dying on the sea shore for after losing its power it could not cross the sea in order to save his people. That is also why the Torah doesn't use the term "drown" but rather 'died" on the shore before crossing over .ע"כ With the demise of Mitzrayim's angel leader, the Mitzri and the desire for its culture died in every Yid as well.
Now we can also give another explanation to the double lashon of כי גאה גאה . At Kerias Yam Suf, Hashem was exalted by defeating two enemies of Yisrael. One was the Mitzriyim who drowned in the sea, and the other was the demise of Mitzrayim's angel. This double exaltation is hinted in the next words סוס ורוכבו רמה בים a horse and its rider were thrown into the sea. The horse that drives the rider symbolizes the nation, and the rider symbolizes the angel in charge. Hashem was triumphant over both of them (see עץ הדעת טוב).
Now we can understand why at Kerias Yam Suf the Yidden were given the title of ידידים as we say in Birkas Yotzer Shacharis וידידים העברת. The Torah writes two times at Kerias Yam Suf the salvation of Hashem using the description of the יד (hand). One ויושע ה' ביום ההוא את ישראל מיד מצרים וירא ישראל אתת מצרים מת על שפת הים. Immediately afterwards the second passuk says וירא ישראל את היד הגדלה אשר עשה ה' במצרים. The first יד refers to the salvation of killing the רוכב angel of Mitzrayim by the shore. The second describes the יד הגדולה of killing the pursuers ,סוס in the manner of מדה כנגד מדה (Netziv).
Or we can interpret אשר עשה אלקים במצרים is referring to the Ten Makkos in Mitzrayim as Rav Zusya explains. As long as the Head Angel was in charge, he blocked Yisrael from seeing with clarity the greatness of Hashem. However at Kerias Yam Suf when he died, they clearly saw retroactively Hashem's יד הגדולה. Since the Torah expressed the word יד twice in its two level description of Hashem defeating Mitzrayim on behalf of Yisrael, we were called ידידים. The last two letters ים refers to ים סוף the location where they witnessed and realized this double salvation.
All of the above, answers the question of the Medrash that asks שמו"ר כג ב why at Kerias Yam Suf the passuk says ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו when we find that even before Yetzias Mitzrayim the passuk says ויאמן העם (Shmos 4,31)? The answer is that there are different levels of emunah. As long as the Mitzri or someone else's culture exists in me, my emunah is incomplete. At Kerias Yam Suf we were spiritually and totally liberated because the Angel of Mitzrayim lost all power and influence over his people. This allowed for the complete emunah in Moshe and Hashem to be set into place.
After Kerias Yam Suf Yisrael came to Marah where the waters were found bitter. Hashem made a miracle and the waters became sweetened. There Hashem gave us the promise that he will be our doctor and healer.כל המחלה אשר שמתי במצרים לא אשים עליך All sicknesses I gave to Mitzrayim I will not place on you אני ה' רופאך . The Zohar writes that the difference between Hashem who heals the sick directly and a Hashem's sheliach doctor who heals, is that if Hashem heals it will be complete and never return again. If the doctor heals it can go away but one can never guarantee that it will never come back. That is the kavannah behind the beracha of רפאנו ה' ונרפא Hashem should heal us and we will be healed – meaning forever.
Anytime the Torah mentions the word רפואה when referring to Hashem as the doctor, the doit in the letter פ is ommitted. However, the one time it mentions that a doctor will cure ורפא ירפא, both letter פ possess a dagaish dot inside the letter. This means that when Hashem heals it is a complete ונרפא and nothing is left of the disease. However when a doctor is the sheliach, many a time something very small as a dot can be left over and then chas veshalom one needs rachamei shamayim that it should not come back.
After Kerias Yam Suf Hashem tells Yisrael that I will heal you with the words אני ה' רופאיך without the dagesh in the פ. He promises to cure us from all the sicknesses of Mitzrayim which includes even the sickness of Mitzrayim's influence that is left over inside of the Yid. At Kerias Yam Suf this decaying foreign influence was extricated. Our task is to ensure that our inners remain pure and clean from the influence of מים רבים the other Four Galiyos.
Rav Brazil,
Gut Shabbos
