The Parshiyos of Shemos till Yisro go through the exile of Klal Yisrael in Mitzrayim, their redemption till they crossed over the Yam Suf and then received the Torah at Har Sinai.
If the Torah spends so many words over this period, it isn’t just to tell us history, but for us to learn the many important messages from this period.
Yermiyahu Hanavi said (32, 17-20), “Behold, You made the heaven and earth with your great strength and outstretched arm. You did the wonders and miracles in Mitzrayim until today.”
The simple explanation is that the wonders and miracles in Mitzrayim are remembered and discussed until today. (Redak, Metzudas Dovid).
The Baal Shem Tov explains that the miracles that happened in Mitzrayim were to open the eyes of Klal Yisrael to see that Hashem runs the world and everything comes from Him. Similarly, today, if we persevere enough we can see that continuously Hashem performs miracles for us. The purpose and the message of these miracles are still relevant in our daily lives nowadays too.
The difference is, that in Mitzrayim the miracles were very clear and today we have to look more carefully and observe what is happening in our lives to notice the ongoing miracles.
The problem is that there are situations that we incur that cause us to lose track of who is really running our lives.
Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik Chaver gave the following parable.
There was a man who committed a very severe crime. The Judge felt that a prison sentence and whippings wasn’t enough. Therefore when giving his verdict the Judge never told the man how many years he was sentenced for. In addition, he told the prison wardens to give him beatings as well, sometimes more and sometimes less. This would cause the man to give up hope and think that he will rot in jail forever.
The man was taken out regularly for beatings. However, he saw that the beatings weren’t according to certain order, just every time different. The man realized that he was at the mercy of the prison warden and started begging him for mercy and to ease off the beatings.
The Judge was informed and was furious. Didn’t he realize that the beatings were part of his punishment? If they lost their purpose then what was the point. Therefore the Judge ordered for the man to barely receive any food.
The prisoner, who was on the verge of collapsing from starvation, realized his mistake and wrote the Judge a letter.
In the letter he wrote that if the beatings would have been at certain times or had the Judge been there when he received them, he would have understood that it was his verdict. But when the Judge isn’t present and the beatings look like there is no order to them, the Judge shouldn’t be surprised that I turned to the warden for mercy, due to the fact that I was under the impression he was doing what he wanted at his pleasure.
Similarly, Klal Yisrael sinned and was punished from Hashem to be exiled. The exile seems like it’s forever, the nation’s torture us as they please. We imagine, and the nations think so too, that it comes from their will and hatred. So we try and use our connections to ask them for mercy, to ease the decrees, to find every way to ease our suffering.
But in reality it is all decided from Hashem to the smallest detail. So we daven to Hashem “Why do You Hashem stand far away, cover up the timing of our sufferings.” (Tehillim 10-1) We don’t see our Judge and we don’t see any order to our troubles. So we lose track and start thinking that so and so is the reason for our suffering.
In the same way in Mitzrayim the Jews sighed and cried because of the work. They blamed their work and officers. They lost track that it was all from Hashem.
Hashem sent Moshe Rabbeinu to open their eyes and show them that everything that happens, whether good or bad, its timing, to the finest details, is all from Hashem.
Our job is to observe and see through what is happening to us and realize that everything is being directly run from Hashem. As Yosef said to his brothers, “I am Yosef, don’t worry, you didn’t send me here. It was Hashem that sent me here to sustain everyone in the famine.”
The brothers sold Yosef and he went through 22 terrible years. They finally realized what they had done to Yosef and the terrible suffering he had endured. But Yosef Hatzaddik explained to his brothers that they were mistaken. Hashem had a plan that Yosef needed to arrive in Mitzrayim and through all the sufferings and challenges he went through, those sufferings and challenges were the tools that made him grow spiritually to be Yosef Hatzaddik.
Our Avodas Hashem is to observe what happens to us and in whatever situation we are in, to be able to recognize that it is all from Hashem.
