At the end of this week’s sedrah the Jewish father is talking to his children about Yetzias Mitzrayim, about why we keep the mitzvos of Pesach and the mitzvos in general, and he says as follows: םƒיָר¿ˆƒּמƒמ יƒ ̇‡≈ˆ¿ּב יƒל 'ה הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ ה∆ז רּבוֲﬠַּב – Because of what Hashem did for me when I went out of Mitzrayim” (Shemos 13:8)
Now, we wouldn’t have said it that way. We would have said, “What He did for us when we went out of Mitzrayim.” It seems more appropriate, more true. But the Torah instead puts these words in the mouth of the Jewish father: ‘It’s because of this that I fulfill the word of Hashem; because of what He did for me when I went out of Mitzrayim.”
Now, Yetzias Mitzrayim was a tremendous event, full of sensations. Even without all the nissim v’niflaos, it was an extraordinary occurrence in history; it was the birth of our nation. And then, above and beyond that, the miracles, the yad chazakah that was apparent, made it much more tremendous. There’s no question that Yetzias Mitzrayim was one of the most spectacular phenomena ever seen by men.
However, there were millions of Bnei Yisroel who experienced it; six hundred thousand men between twenty and sixty. And they all were married; and all had children too. So there were at least two million, probably many more; and they all experienced Yetzias Mitzrayim.
And so actually it wasn’t done for one person; it was done for millions. It was an experience of national proportions and therefore if you would divide the importance of this great spectacle by two million, even though it would still be an important share for each person but it’s only a share. Like a man who expends a hundred million dollars for a million people; each one gets only a hundred dollars.
The Wise Selfish Father
But here, the wise Jewish father says, ’ה הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ – “All these great events that Hakadosh Baruch Hu caused to take place, יƒל –He did them for me!”
Now we’re not thinking about any drashos now; we’re talking pshuto shel mikra, the plain meaning of the possuk. And the pshuto shel mikra is telling us that it was done for only him. You have to understand that fundamental Torah principle: Everything that took place was done for this one man.
It was done for the others too, but you don’t divide it. The Torah Jew appreciates the entire panorama of Yetzias Mitzrayim – all the upheavals, all the makkos, the great victory, the great mapalah, the downfall of the enemy – he appreciates everything as if it was done only for him. “Everything He did, He did it for me!”
Now that’s a grand concept and I know most people don’t begin to grasp that. You think it’s just drush, just some words meant to inspire. No, we don’t say drush here. It’s the plain truth, pshuto shel mikra. יƒל – it was done for me.
The Selfish Seder
That’s included in what we say, ̇∆‡ ֹ̇ו‡¿רƒל םָ„ָ‡ בָּיַח םƒיַר¿ˆƒּמƒמ ‡ָˆָי ‡ּהוּוּלƒ‡¿ּכ ֹמו¿ˆַﬠ – every person should regard himself as if he personally went out of Egypt (Pesachim 10:5). It’s not just something we say at the Seder on Pesach, something we try to imagine. No, it’s much more than that – it’s the plain truth. יƒל הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ – He did it for me.
The esser makkos? It was for me. Krias Yam Suf? He did it for me. We became a nation? That was for me. That’s how you should think. And that’s the truth! All of the tremendous benefits of Yetzias Mitzrayim, all of those spectacles that electrified the nation in Mitzrayim and al sfas hayam, were intended by Hakadosh Baruch Hu for each individual person to gain. It wasn’t a hundred dollars for each person – each one gets the full hundred million dollars.
That’s a new way to look at our history, at our lives. When Hashem wants to do a benefit and give a certain aliyah, a certain tikkun, a certain improvement, He intends it for every person individually, so that each one should gain the maximum. It’s done for the purpose that each person should feel that it was made for him alone; because it was worth it for each one alone. That’s how important every Yisroel is!
And so at the Yam Suf when לוּבƒ ̃ ןֹוˆָר¿ב ֹו ּ̇כו¿לַמּו ם∆יה≈לֲﬠ, when they said, “Hashem from now on You’re our King. We don’t need any kings anymore. You’ll be our King,” it means that each one gained his own King. Each one was so electrified that he called out, יƒל-≈‡ ה∆ז – This is my Hashem! (Shemos 15:2). ‡ּהו הָּ ַ̇‡ יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ יƒּכ¿לַמ – “You’re my Melech; my own personal King (Tehillim 44:5).
A Personal Benefit
And that’s how each Yisroel feels today. He’s obligated to feel that; ‡ּהוּוּלƒ‡¿ּכ ֹמו¿ˆַﬠ ̇∆‡ ֹ̇ו‡¿רƒל םָ„ָ‡ בָּיַח םƒיַר¿ˆƒּמƒמ ‡ָˆָי. I have to feel that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when He took us out of Mitzrayim with such a spectacular demonstration, it was for the purpose that each one of us individually should gain those benefits!
And what were the benefits He did for me? Many benefits! Everything we are today is because of Yetzias Mitzrayim. All of our gratitude, all of our responsibilities, are traced back to that great event. All of our greatness, ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒי יƒרֹכו¿ּב יƒנ¿ּב, the promise that we’ll be His forever, that we’ll serve Him forever, it all comes from then. And it wasn’t for everyone together – every yachid should say, “It was for me.”
Now, that needs more explanation – we’ll come to that soon, about the responsibilities that come as a result of this principle – but we do see at least one thing here. We see how important the yachid is, how paramount the individual is, in the eyes of Hashem!
A Personal World
Now, what you’re hearing now, this Torah attitude of יƒל הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ – it was done for me, is much more important than how I’m saying it. Because it’s not only Yetzias Mitzrayim – it’s a sweeping and far-reaching Torah principle that threads itself through many things, through all the days of our lives with tremendous ramifications. Because just like the creation of our people at Yetzias Mitzrayim was made for the individual, so too all of creation is for the individual; the entire universe is made for you!
Now you might say, “For me?! All of creation? How could you say that? After all, the world is made for millions and millions of people. Who am I? I’m just one out of who knows how many?” So pay attention and you’ll soon see it’s not so.
The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (4:5) asks a question. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu created trees, He didn’t create one tree and from that one tree all the trees developed. No. ı∆רָ‡ָה ‡≈ׁ ̆¿„ַּ ̇, trees began growing all over the world; with that one command, millions of trees. Suddenly, there were forests all over the world.
When Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to make animals, he didn’t make one pair that they should increase and multiply. No. He didn’t wait. He was in a hurry – there was a big globe to populate – and so He said, “The world should be covered with animals,” and immediately the entire world was full of animals.
The True Theory
Now that might be surprising to you but it’s the only explanation. I must tell you that the scientists, they’re looking for other ways of explaining what happened and how it happened but they’ve failed miserably in their investigations and their imaginary theories. The only explanation is that plants and animals were created by a command of Hashem in abundance all at once; there’s no way of understanding it otherwise.
And the truth is that it’s already verily demonstrated that it’s the only answer to all of their questions only they’re afraid to admit it openly; but underneath, in their conscience, they recognize how false are all their theories. They know that there’s only one explanation: יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ ‡ָרָּב ̇יƒׁ ̆‡≈ר¿ּב – He made everything and He made it at once. He gave the command, ‘Yehi rabbits’ and there were a million rabbits hopping. He said ‘Yehi monkeys’ and there were millions of monkeys climbing millions of trees.
And so the question arises then: Why did Hashem make only one man, one man and one woman? Is it because He didn’t want so many men? He wanted man to remain only a lonesome few? Of course not. He wanted very many! ı∆רָ‡ָה ̇∆‡ּו‡¿ּלƒמּו – ‘Fill up the world,’ He said (Bereishis 1:28). He wanted millions and billions of Adams. So why didn’t He make a million men to start with, like he made a million rabbits and a million monkeys? Wouldn’t it have been much faster to fill up the world if He had started off with a million men; a million families?
Daas Torah
The answer is that there is something more important than many men! And that is the daas that man can acquire from being created alone. What daas? That every person should know that he’s the only person that matters. „יƒחָי םָ„ָ‡ ‡ָר¿בƒנ¿ךָיכƒפ¿ל – Why did Hashem make man alone? „ָח∆‡¿ו „ָח∆‡ לָּכּרו¿מ‡ֹּי∆ׁ ̆ י≈„¿ּכ – so that every individual should say, ‡ָר¿בƒנ יƒילƒב¿ׁ ̆ƒּב םָלֹעוָה – because of me the world was created.
For that daas, so that you should understand that principle, it was worth it to make man alone. Because a nugget of daas that a person can acquire is more valuable than getting a head start on a world filled with people. It was worth it for Hashem to not make millions of men at once just so that every one of us should be able to say, ‘The world was created for me.’
Hashem made Adam alone, so that you should be able to wake up in the morning and when you see the sun shining in through the window you could say, “Dus iz meine zun. It’s my sun.” You never heard that before? It’s a Slabodka Torah; they said that in Slabodka. The Alter said that. Don’t say Hashem made the sun for millions of other people for all generations. No, He made the sun for you. Not that you have a millionth fraction - no, it’s your world.
It’s All For You
Adam, after all, didn’t know who’s going to come after him. He’s one man standing alone in the world! He sees the sun – the sun is for me. The moon? It’s for me. The stars are for me. I’m one man in the world all by myself and all these wondrous things, these miracles of creation wherever I look, are only for me! I’m the only one here!” That’s the way Adam looked at the world – it was the only way to look at the world.
And that’s what Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended. That was the purpose, so that attitude should continue forever; so that man should continue to think that way forever and ever! And even now that the world is populated by billions, each person should hark back to that first day when one man standing alone in the world was taught by His Creator that everything was for him.
Now, I know that we don’t understand it. You’ll hem and haw; even if you won’t have the chutzpah to say it – it’s a Mishnah after all – but you’re thinking, ‘Well, still, there are so many people today. I can’t say I am the only one’. You must say it! ¿ךָיכƒפ¿ל רַמֹלו בָּיַח „ָח∆‡ לָּכ – Everyone is obligated to say ‘the world is made for me’.
You must say it and believe it! It’s a yesod haTorah; one of the fundamentals of the Torah. Never make a mistake about it – you yourself are the purpose of creation. You’re not one in a million. You’re the only one. The world is yours, only yours.
