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Incorporating the Message of Yetziat Mitzrayim Into Our Daily Lives

Parshat Bo tells the story of Bnei Yisroel’s departure from Egypt. This narrative forms the basis for the hagada that we read on Pesach.

At the conclusion of the story of yetziat mitzrayim, the hagada instructs:

b’khol dor vador chayav adam lirot et atzmo k’ilu hu yatza mi-mitzrayim

“in each generation, each individual must view himself as if he was personally liberated from Egypt.”

This command sounds like a tall order – yetziat mitzrayim is in the distant past. How can one truly relive the experience of yetziat mitzrayim so it feels like a personal liberation?

I would like to suggest that the command “lirot et atzmo” is not necessarily limited to personally reliving the exodus in the sense that we need to feel like slaves departing from our oppressors (though many of the Seder rituals do attempt to create this feeling). Rather, I submit that part of “lirot et atzmo” is developing an attitude that reflects the incorporation of the message of yetziat mitzraim into our daily lives.

Indeed, there is a reason why remembering yetziat mitzraim is not limited to the Seder, but instead is one of the 6 events we are instructed to remember daily, and is also referenced twice a day in the Shema – morning and night. Incorporating the message of yetziat mitzraim into our lives – “lirot et atzmo” - is clearly much more than simply retelling the Exodus at the Seder.

Let’s begin by examining the word “mitzrayim.” Tehillim 118:5 states:

Min hameitzar karati kah, anani vamerchav kah” – “From the depths I called upon you, God. You answered me and released me.”

Radak explains that “meitzar” means confined spaces (narrow straits) and “merchav” means wide open spaces.

Malbim, in turn, explains that the word “meitzar” is a reference to “mitzrayim.”

Thus, based on this pasuk, “mitzrayim” may be viewed as a paradigm for dramatic salvation by Hashem from desperate circumstances.

A parallel pasuk in Tehillim expressing the same concepts is 4:2, in which David declares to Hashem: “batzar hirchavta li,” “in my distress you have relieved me.”

The Yerushalmi, Ta’anis 2:9 elaborates that what David is saying is that whenever he found himself in difficult, desperate circumstances (alluded to by the word “tzar”), Hashem “enlarged” (Hebrew root: “rachav”) those circumstances and turned things around.

One example cited in the gemara: “I was caught in the dilemma of Batsheva and you presented me with a son, Solomon.”

Returning to Tehillim 118:5, what is interesting about the pasuk is that the reference to Hashem's intervention is via a 2-letter name - “yud” and “heh”, rather than the typical 4-letter name of “yud,” “heh,” “vav,” and “heh.” Two of the letters required to complete Hashem’s full name are missing.

We find this same 2-letter name of Hashem used in parshat B’Shalach (17:16) in connection with Moshe’s construction of a mizbeach after the victory over Amalek:

Va’yomer ki yad al kes kah, milchama l’Hashem b’Amalek midor dor.”

“[Moshe] said that the sovereignty of the throne of Hashem means war for Hashem against Amalek from generation to generation.”

Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch observes that the word “kes” (translated as throne) appears nowhere else in Tanach, and explains that it alludes to an incomplete “kisay” (chair, or throne) by virtue of the missing “aleph.” Similarly, the name of Hashem in the pasuk is missing two of the letters of Hashem’s full 4-letter name.

The message , Rav Hirsch says, is that so long as Man does not subordinate his will to Hashem’s will, and so long as Man’s ideal of greatness is might and power (an idea represented by Amalek), Hashem’s glory is incomplete in the sense that his intervention in human affairs is not being acknowledged. People instead attribute their success to their own wisdom, power, etc. This is the philosophy of Amelak.

How can we tie these ideas together? On the one hand, we may often find ourselves in difficult circumstances where we feel the situation is hopeless – there is no room to maneuver. The message of Tehillim – and indeed yetizat mitzrayim – is “don’t despair.” Hashem will expand your circumstances so that from the very factors which make the situation seem so desperate, will emerge your salvation.

The paradigm: B’nei Yisroel stood at the edge of the yam suf, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. It seemed like the end. But then the waters parted and the natural phenomenon which appeared to spell doom (an impassable sea) emerged as the source of B’nei Yisroel’s salvation.

So too, whenever we find ourselves in difficult circumstances we must have faith that the same factors that are causing us suffering somehow must also contain the seeds of our salvation. It may take some time for this clarity to emerge, and for the situation to turn around, but the hope that it will, can help us withstand the difficult circumstances in the meantime. This is one message of “lirot et atzmo” – relive Bnei Yisroel’s experience in mitzrayim, and then incorporate the faith of Hashem’s intervention into your own life in a way that will help you endure your own difficulties and anticipate a salvation.

This concept is also beautifully represented in the pasuk from Tehillim quote earlier - "Min hameitzar karati kah, anani vamerchav kah." It is that when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances that we may, chas v'shalom, question Hashem's fairness - why isn't Hashem helping me! Why did Hashem allow this to happen to me? In our "meitzar," Hashem appears to us as "kah" - nistar - an incomplete G-d, chas v'shalom (in the sense that our expectation is always of Hashem being a G-d of lovingkindness).

And then, lo and behold, when we call on Hashem in our distress - "karati" - Hashem responds by "merchav kah" - expanding his "kah" to reveal His 4-letter name - i.e., His full glory and the wisdom of His decrees in terms of being for our ultimate benefit. In response to our cry for clarity Hashem reveals how everything was always for the good and for our best. The expansion of Hashem's name from "kah" to the full 4-letter name - the revelation of His goodness - represents the understanding of our situation that we seek when praying to Hashem in times of distress.

But there’s another angle here. When things are going well, we often pat ourselves on the shoulder and attribute success to our own wisdom. And even more than taking credit for success, we also don’t realize how close we may have come to the opposite outcome: failure. We don’t appreciate how a slight, fateful turn of events can turn success into failure. Hashem is missing from our outlook – Hashem is only a 2-letter name.

Indeed, there are times when we may not even realize or appreciate dangers we were in and emerged from unscathed. For example, take driving a car for long distances at high speed on a highway. Aren’t our lives on the line in every such situation – there are so many small things that could go wrong – another individual driving drunk, a sudden mechanical breakdown -- that would cause us to lose control of the car and lead to tragedy (chas v’shalom). Given these risks, when we arrive at our destination safely, we should quietly thank Hashem for allowing us to do so. We must recognize Hashem’s constant shemirah.

In short, for most of us, figuratively, Hashem is represented only by his 2-letter name. Our appreciation for Hashem is incomplete, and we don’t recognize that we are confronted daily with “tzar,” from which Hashem is constantly protecting us. Or that Hashem is constantly turning potential failures into successes.

A second message of “lirot et atzmo” then is to relate to Hashem via His 4-letter name by acknowledging His constant and ongoing intervention in our daily lives.

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