With the death of the last of the sons of Yaakov, the Jews’ decline into slavery began. It started slowly, with the Egyptians offering good wages for skilled labor, and the Jews, ever the patriotic people in whatever host country they find themselves in, signed up.
Eventually, they would become unpaid slaves, be beaten, abused, killed, and worse. They would cry out to Hashem and be saved.
It’s amazing to realize that 210 years of labor and mistreatment are crammed into a few short chapters, and the focus of the parsha is on the savior being born and preparing to take the Jews to freedom in their land, as they serve Hashem.
The retribution against Pharaoh and his people will go on for two whole parshios, and for that the Torah takes its time.
Our “daring” escape from Egypt, as we walked out methodically with heads held high at high noon, followed by our miraculous salvation at the Reed Sea fill up another one.
It seems Hashem wants us to realize that though we have pain and suffering, it’s nothing compared to the miracles and redemption we will experience. That will make everything else fade into the background – may that time come very soon.
