This is the inner meaning of “Leaving מִצְר יִם-Mitzrayim:” to leave all מ ְצָּרִ ים-limitations and boundaries, as explained above.
This is why, in the Exile in Mitzrayim, Pharoh said, “I do not know הֲוָּיָּ ה-Havayah,” (Shemos 5:2) meaning the name of Havayah, that Hashem was, is, and will be without any changes, this name he doesn’t know. Rather, he only knows the Name Elokim, which causes Hashem to hide and conceal Himself so that the world should have its own seemingly independent existence.
The four-letter name of Hashem - Yud, Hei, Vav, Hei, - is referred to in Chassidus as the name הֲוָּיָּהַׁ-Havayah, which contains the same letters as the four-letter name but in a different order, since due to its great holiness, it is forbidden to be pronounced in the order that it is written in. This name, Havayah, represents Hashem as He is to Himself, beyond being the source of creation for worlds or any relation to the worlds whatsoever. The name Elokim represents how Hashem conceals Himself in the process of creation. Pharoh said that he only knows about Hashem, as He is within the creation of the world, but refused to accept that there is any Being who is completely beyond worlds. This limited understanding is the spiritual idea of Exile (aside from the physical Exile the Jewish People endured). Leaving that perspective, one of only seeing Elokim and not Havayah, is spiritual liberation.
This is why he said, “I don’t know Havayah,” since the idea of Exile is that the knowledge of Havayah is hidden.
This is why we end Krias Shema by saying, “I am Havayah, your G-d who took you out of Mitzrayim,” meaning that it is specifically the level of “I am Havayah” that takes us out of Exile.
Summary of Chapter 1
The word “וּסְפַרְ תֶּם-and you shall count” the Omer, is an expression of “סַפִּּירוּת-radiance,” meaning we need to shine Hashem’s Light into us to enable our self-refinement. Pesach is a time of running away from spiritual limitations in our yearning for Hashem. Shavuos is the time of the Giving of the Torah, when we bring Hashem’s revelation back down into our world. Between these two times, we need to count the Omer to refine the animal soul, just like the Jewish People, who ran away from Mitzrayim with a strong animal soul intact, needed to refine their animal soul before receiving the Torah. On Shavuos, Hashem’s Essential Will was revealed to us when He descended on Mount Sinai to teach us the Torah.
We have to remember the idea of Leaving Mitzrayim every day. This happens when we say Shema properly, which ends with saying, “I am Hashem who took you out of Mitzrayim.”
We have a spiritual Leaving Mitzrayim by awakening a love for Hashem during prayer. This happens when think about the fact that all of the angels bow to Hashem and are totally overawed by Hashem’s exaltedness. They realize that all of the life of the world is only from Hashem’s Malchus, a mere “Radiance of His Name,” that is far removed from Hashem’s Essence, unlike the soul, which is directly invested in the body. They further understand that all the myriad spiritual levels are like nothing compared to Hashem, since even Hashem’s Light is infinite, which is totally incomparable to the highest number. This is unlike the relativity between a small number and a large number, which can be very distant, but are related inasmuch as they are both numbers.
By coming to this understanding, and awakening a love for Hashem, a Jew experiences a spiritual “Leaving Mitzrayim.”
This is why Exile is associated with “not knowing Havaya,” since spiritual exile means not perceiving the real truth of Hashem, and redemption means to come to a yearning for the Essence of Hashem, who is beyond all worlds and limitations.
