Terminating "Tolerance"
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After Moshe leaves his unsuccessful and frustrating meeting with Pharaoh, the conditions of Bnei Yisroel have even worsened. Moshe asks, "Why did You send me?" Hashem appears to Moshe and responds. After first reminding Moshe of His promise to our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, He instructs Moshe to encourage Bnei Yisroel by informing them of the four languages of redemption, each of which will be significant in the process of redemption: "Vehotzeisi/and I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; Vehitzalti/And I will rescue you from their service; Vego'alti/And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm...; Velokachti/ And I will take you to Me for a people... And you shall know that I am Hashem Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt." These four expressions form the basis for our drinking four cups of wine at our Pesach Seder.
The Torah continues to tell us that Moshe indeed delivered Hashem's message, but Bnei Yisroel did not heed the message because of shortness of breath and hard work. Our obvious question is why did Hashem send the message, knowing full well that Bnei Yisroel would not be receptive? Further, why did Hashem, after itemizing the four languages of salvation, return and repeat the first statement, taking Bnei Yisroel out from under the burdens of Egypt, and use that particular expression for knowing Hashem, asks Rabbi Druk in Aish Tomid. This knowledge is so fundamental that it is prominently included in all of our ritual prayers.
It is important to remember that everything written in the Torah conveys a message relevant for all times, and the enslavement and redemption serve as models for all future diasporas and the future redemption as well. In that context, we must understand that the four expressions of redemption are not synonyms, but actually depict four stages of redemption. Rabbi Bernstein cites Rav Hirsch who connects each of these expressions to a different phrase in the Covenant between the Halves, when Hashem reveals to Avraham Avinu the future enslavement of his descendants.
Hashem told Avraham first that his descendants would be strangers in a land not their own. Hashem will take them out of that oppression. The next stage would be the servitude, to which Hashem will respond with, I will rescue you from that service. The status of Bnei Yisroel will be that of aliens in a strange land, a people without status or dignity. And Hashem promises to redeem Bnei Yisroel from such indignity. But that is not enough. Hashem will give us special status and dignity by taking Bnei Yisroel as His chosen nation, enabling us to receive His Torah.
The commentators all agree that the enslavement was gradual, as would be the redemption. Rav Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim refers to the Ramban's interpretation of taxation, followed by the secret command to the midwives to kill the newborn baby boys. This was followed by the decree to throw all baby boys into the Nile. When none of these strategies were effective, Pharaoh instituted the backbreaking work of materials and bricks. The stages of redemption would parallel these stages. First, Hashem would remove the oppression of burdens. This would be followed by a cessation of taxes and of Egyptians using Bnei Yisroel for any labor they themselves preferred not doing. Then Hashem would mete out justice to the Egyptians, and Hashem would take us as His nation at Sinai.
Certainly Hashem could have done all this at once, but the entire purpose of the redemption was for Bnei Yisroel [and the Egyptians] to know within their very depths that it was Hashem Who redeemed Bnei Yisroel and Who runs the world. Such recognition takes time. Each stage must be psychologically digested. Therefor the Torah elaborates on each stage and ends by repeating the initial purpose of the redemption, to know that it was Hashem Who took us out of Egypt to bring us to Sinai.
In our generation, we too are under the "burdens of Mitzrayim." continues Rabbi Reiss quoting the Chidushei Harim. We too need to stop tolerating the "servitude" that modern culture foists upon us. If Bnei Yisroel is happy living in a foreign land, all miracles will be irrelevant. If we are comfortable where we are, even enjoy living here, we will not be interested in redemption. Therefore, Hashem doubles the code word for the redemption, pakode pakadeti/I have [surely/doubly] remembered; we require both a physical and spiritual redemption. As the Sefas Emes interprets Moshe's words, if Bnei Yisroel are willing to tolerate both the labor and the culture of Egypt, how and why will the Egyptians let them go?
The Mechilta tells us that no slave ever left Mitzrayim Rabbi Schorr cites the Ishbitzer Rebbe in explaining this phenomenon. No slave left Mitzrayim because the Egyptian propaganda machine convinced the people that Egypt was so wonderful it was better even to be a slave in Egypt than to be a free man elsewhere. The first step to freedom is to stop tolerating this mindset. See the culture for what it is, slavishly following every desire, no matter how depraved. We bless Hashem that He has not made me one of the gentiles; now we must take the initiative to bless Hashem that He has not made me a slave to the cultural norms that surround me. Our first step should be a disconnect from most if not from all social media.
While the Sefas Emes also translates savlus Mitzrayim as tolerating Mitzrayim, he puts a different twist on the verse. The Sefas Emes writes that we had become so immersed in the culture of Mitzrayim, so able to tolerate it and become assimilated within it, that had Hashem not removed us immediately from the attitude of tolerating this depravity, we ourselves would have sunk to the fiftieth level of impurity and would have been beyond redemption. Therefore, Hashem had to take us out immediately.
The Sefas Emes notes a progression First, the Egyptians wanted to befriend Bnei Yisroel. Indeed, they began speaking to Bnei Yisroel with a "soft, gentle mouth." But when Bnei Yisroel began to go astray, that initial love turned to hate. When we began adopting the customs and practices of the Egyptians, they could no longer tolerate us. [Throughout history, we see that "Let us be like them" does not produce peace and love, but suspicion and hatred.] Therefore,, first Hashem took us out of the spiritual burdens of Mitzrayim and afterwards rescued us from their physical servitude.
The third stage, redemption, had to come directly from Hashem. If Pharaoh had consented to Bnei Yisroel leaving, we would feel beholden to Egypt. Therefore, Hashem hardened Pharaoh's heart so that He could exact judgment against the Egyptians and redeem us with His outstretched arm. [Interestingly, in the last verse of Parshat Shemos, Hashem tells Moshe that Pharaoh will chase them out "with a strong arm." We have a striking image of our "father/fatherland" evicting us with a strong arm right into the loving, strong arms of our Father Who embraces us and brings us close to Him. CKS] But only when we can separate ourselves completely from the alien and decadent cultures can we truly be His and merit complete redemption in our time.
When Hashem said Bnei Yisroel would be strangers in a land not their own, the underlying message, writes the Nesivos Shalom, was that not only would the physical land not be their own, but the culture and mores of that land would also not be their own. Bnei Yisroel would suffer two types of affliction, physical work and spiritual burdens. Hashem took us out of both, like a fetus being removed from its mother's womb. The pull of Mitzrayim was so strong that we needed Hashem Himself to remove us from its grasp. It was too strong for an angel or a messenger. Our extraction from Egypt required Hashem's "personal" intervention. Being before we received the Torah, we could not gather spiritual strength from Torah. But once Hashem took us out of that spiritual enslavement, we remained forever spiritually free no matter how bleak our situation. Even in the darkness of Auschwitz Jews found ways to light Chanukah candles. Therefore, we always refer to that miracle as yetziat Mitzrayim/extraction from Egypt, not redemption or rescue from Egypt.
Rabbi Schwadron brings an entirely different perspective to sivlot Mitzrayim. In Lev Shalom, he connects the word sivlot to savlanut, patience. While an attitude of patience is laudable in material and physical matters, it is not so in spiritual matters. While in our secular culture, we have no patience, preferring instant gratification, We seem to have tremendous patience and only mild interest in spiritual matters. We seem to have developed a new religion, Apathetic Judaism. We are no longer drawn to elevate ourselves. Do we show up for Hashem? Do we act with love in our service to Hashem, or are these just empty words in our morning prayers? Are we waiting for the angels to rain down blessings upon us, or do we run out of shul the first moment davening is over? We have fallen into a rut of complacency with Hakodosh Boruch Hu while nurturing the rush of the material world within ourselves.
We are choosing spiritual mediocrity, admonishes us Rabbi Frand. We are perfectly content with our current spiritual level. The problem is that nothing is stagnant in this world. It is like being on a down escalator. Unless you strive to move up, the escalator of life and of connection to Hashem will bring you down. To remain where you are takes at least some effort; to elevate yourself takes much effort. It is up to us to take ourselves out of being patient with the spiritual burdens of the Mitzrayim around us.
In Ziv Hachochmah, Rabbi Yekutiel Weiss takes us back to one of our earlier questions. If Hashem knew that Bnei Yisroel would not listen, why did He insist Moshe tell them about the coming redemption? Rabbi Weiss notes that even if Bnei Yisroel were not yet ready to accept this news, the words would still make an impression upon their hearts, ready to be absorbed when the timing would be right. Similarly, as the Kotzker Rebbe noted, when we recite the Shema, Hashem asks us to keep His words upon our hearts, for we may not be ready to absorb His words into our hearts at this moment. But when we will be receptive, those words will be ready to enter our hearts.
Things do not change overnight. It took forty years for the people to evolve so that their hearts could know what their eyes saw and their ears heard throughout those miraculous forty years and the miracles of the exodus.
Life has its ups and downs. There will be days when we sense Hashem's presence very strongly and other days when we do not feel Hashem's love. The key for our lives is to maintain a sense of desire for that loving relationship so that you remember the vision and Hashem's promise. Then we too can begin to move forward, step by step, through the various stages, until we can live our lives knowing that Hashem has taken us as His treasured people. Hashem will reach for us with His strong arm and take us close to Him.