Leaving Egypt
Egypt is not merely a place; it is a state of being. The name for Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim, which shares the same etymology as the word meitzarim, meaning constraints and limitations.
This is the meaning [of the verse, "I am the Lord, your G-d,] Who took you out of the land of Egypt (Mitzrayim). Since, the entirety of seder hishtalshalus (the chaining down of the worlds) is referred to as Mitzrayim—the idea of constraint and limitation.
Torah Ohr 71c
This concept of constraints exists in holiness as well. A created and finite individual is formed with limitations by his very definition. Even when he serves G-d with all his energy and might, he cannot leave the confines of his personal limits—no matter how great they may be.
It is for this reason that despite the greatness of our Patriarchs, they never truly left Egypt. For, although they each reached the epitome of their particular expression of G-dliness, it was limited and therefore still “Egypt”—meitzarim and constraints.
Leaving Egypt essentially means leaving all of one’s limitations—even restraints of holiness. When a person serves G-d in a way that transcends themselves, they must leave behind their personal mode of serving the Almighty and become truly nullified towards Him.
However, a person cannot leave their personal boundaries on their own, for if they are the one leaving their own definitions, it stands to reason that they are not truly escaping themselves. If the person is leaving his individuality by means of his own individuality, this means that he is not truly leaving the confines of his individuality!
Rather, the redemption must be brought about by a revelation of HaShem (YKVK). When the revelation of G-dliness that surpasses the world is revealed, it is then that the person can leave the confines of human experience.
As long as the Patriarchs never experienced this, they were not able to leave these confines. It was specifically in Moshe’s time when HaShem (YKVK) was revealed, and therefore specifically then that the Jewish people went out of exile and left the constraints of the finite world.
An eternal lesson
This is the eternal lesson that we are all to learn.
