The Ramban has a beautiful introduction to Sefer Shmos. His premise is that although Hashem said through Moshe Rebbainu that the Jewish people are destined to be taken out of Egypt and brought to the land of Israel. Lemaseh, that doesn’t happen in Sefer Shmos. However, the Ramban says, the geulah did take place, because redemption doesn’t necessarily depend on a physical place. Rather, one can reach geulah wherever they are, as long as they make themselves worthy of having השראת השכינה, just as the Avos were considered a מרכבה לשכינה.
So how does one get to this state of redemption? The Ramban explains that it’s learned from the Avos. Sefer Braishis, which focuses on the Avos, is also called Sefer Hayashar. The passuk says ועשית הישר והטוב. Being yashar means to be upright and to go beyond the letter of the law, as the Gemara interprets in Baba Metzia. Yashar is about perfecting one’s character traits - middos. This is what the Avos did to reach dveykus with Hashem, and to merit to be the chariot of the shechina.
Perhaps one can also add that the name of Sefer Shmos alludes to the significance of one’s name. A name represents our mission in this world. Hence when parents give their children names, they are divinely inspired. When a person lives his name, he is striving to reach his own personal redemption.
Many times a person finds himself in a situation or relationship and he feels challenged by the situation or the person. The natural reaction is to blame the situation or the person, and to make oneself the victim. However, a higher level is to see the situation and the person as a conduit for growth, and as an opportunity to reach personal greatness and redemption.
I recently heard something very powerful in the name of Reb Elimelech from my dear friend Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh. In Parshas Vayechi, we are taught by Rashi that chesed shel emes means doing kindness without expecting a return from the person for whom you did kindness. The depth of this concept is that when we are focused on the opportunity to do chesed, then expectation doesn’t mix in.
It’s fascinating to note that the gimatriya of chesed v’mes is the same as chosson vekala. Both are 519, which is also the numerical value of baal habayis. When a chosson and a kallah work to do chesed without reward, but simply for personal growth, then they are the real baal habayis, they are the true kings and queens. We know that the chosson and kallah are called king and queen, and the well-known question is, until when? The classical answer we usually tell the husband is “you’re a king so long as you see your wife as a queen.”
However, based on Reb Elimlech, so long as a person isn’t focused on what he is supposed to get, then he is still a king. As we know, the middah of malchus is לית מגרמיה כלום; it has nothing from itself, it’s about giving to others. Hashem is the Melech Haolam; He doesn’t need anything from us; He created us so that He can give. The only thing that we can do is be a nation that receives, or more precisely, a nation that deserves to receive. When a person lives according to the concepts above, and not with personal expectations from others, then he is on the road to greatness and true redemption.
by Rabbi Daniel Coren
