The first few parshiyot (Torah portions) in Sefer Shemot (The Book of Shemot) deal with the Galut Mitzrayim (Egyptian Exile) and the eventual Redemption. In fact, the Ramban calls this sefer “Sefer Geulah (The Book of Redemption)”.
The Gemara (Talmud) gave names to all the chumashim (Five Books of the Torah), and the Rishonim (Jewish scholars of the period following the writing of the Gemara) also used it. (Incidentally, the Latin translation retained them – hence they are known as Genesis (בראשית –בריאה), Exodus (גאולה), Leviticus (תורת כהנים), Numbers (חומש הפקודים) and Deuteronomy (משנה תורה).
We understand that although the Redemption was important, nevertheless the Exile itself was no less so. It is in exile – and because of the exile – where the Bnei Yisrael (Children of Israel) became what they are. This is what we say in the Haggadah – מלמד שיהיו בני ישראל מצוינים שם – we learn that the Children of Israel stood out there). We will attempt to illustrate this.
Healthy Hate
When we read the Torah on Monday and Thursday, the Levi finishes with the pasuk – ויקוצו מפני בני ישראל – the Egyptian despised the Bnei Yisrael. The question arises, since the halachah (Jewish law) is that one should begin and end on a good note, how and why is this the place where we stop? The answer is given, that it is in fact a very good point to terminate. Because this is what we are trying to achieve – that the nations of the world should not want to mix with us. This could in fact lend to another meaning in the preceding part of the pasuk – וכאשר יענו אותו כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ- only because they were subjected, that is the reason why they became great and multiplied.
Dangerous Emancipation
Before Yaakov Avinu (our patriarch Jacob) had that eventful meeting with his brother (Parshat Vayishlach), he prayed – הצילני נא מיד אחי מיד עשו – please save me from the hands of my brother, from the hands of Esav (Esau). The explanation is given that if Esav would behave like Esav, then that would be one thing to pray for. But if Esav should behave like a “brother”, then there is even more to worry about. It is for that reason that as long as the ghetto walls separated the Jew from Gentile, although there might have been periodic upheavals, by and large, they flourished successfully. But as soon as the walls came tumbling down, then millennia of isolation dissipated in a matter of half a century. The Maskilim (activists in the Haskalah movement) and finally the Reform and Neologs laid waste entire communities.
On Hoshanah Rabbah (the seventh day of Sukkot) and sometimes on another day of Chol Hamoed Sukkos (the intermediate days of Sukkot) – depending on the calendar – while circling the Bimah, we chant a wonderful tefillah (prayer) called אום אני חומה – Om Ani Chomah. The entire paragraph expresses the unbreakable bond of love between Klal Yisrael (the Jewish Nation) and Hashem (God). No matter what transpires, we are the beloved Chosen Nation – and that love is mutual. There is a song in Yiddish said to be composed by the Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, that depicts this. Loosely translated it means that although subjected to tribulations, nevertheless, we continue their tradition.
It is certain that achievement in difficult circumstances is a great accomplishment in itself. However, according to the above, there is another dimension to this. Because we are subjected, it is for this reason that Klal Yisrael is here to stay.
Keeping Up The Momentum
We hope and pray that the exile should not be too burdensome upon the Nation of Yisrael. However, the fact is that as long as the “Refuseniks” in Soviet Russia put up a fight and taught, learned and lit Shabbat candles in the cellars, they were growing greatly. But as soon as they arrived as free men in the United States and the State of Israel, some of them – and even very famous ones – turned sour. Because there was no adversity to fight against, therefore they dropped their wings.
This could be a reason why the State of Israel is always on the table of the United Nations for one reason or another. In fact, tiny Israel – whose name does even fit inside itself on the average globe, is the recipient of more than half of all the UN resolutions put together, none of them in their favor. This travesty of justice and absurdity would have no explanation other than to keep the nations of the world at bay and not to fraternize. It is our hope that the State of Israel – the government and all inhabitants – should learn this lesson and behave as Jews are expected to. May Hashem guide Eretz Yisrael (Israel) through its present troubled state, now and always.
The Power of Learning Torah
So how are we to accomplish our goal? The simple answer is by performing mitzvot and especially learning Torah. The Or Hachaim writes that although it is well known that in Mitzrayim the Bnei Yisrael were permeated with “49 Gateways of Impurity” and had they been tainted with the 50th they could not be redeemed – that is all before Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah). Afterwards, with the power of the Torah, we can overcome everything.
Rabbi Moshe Wolfson quotes the great Italian scholar, halachist and kabbalist, the Rema MiPano, that the 50th “Gateway of Tumah (Impurity)” is Atheism. Even the Egyptians weren’t that stupid to believe that the world was created by accident. Rabbi Wolfson points out that the world has never before been as permeated with apikorsut (heresy) as it is today. It is actually being funded by most Western governments. Nevertheless, we are here to tell the tale. This, because the power and kedushah (holiness) of Torah learning, is way above all, and today, in a certain way, as never before. This gives us the strength to succeed even in the most trying situations.
In summary, of course it is the right thing to continuously pray that the Galut (exile) should not be too difficult. We say in Shabbat Minchah (afternoon prayer) על מנחתם יקדישו את שמיך. The Tiferet Shlomo explains these words to mean that we hope to sanctify Hashem’s Name by peaceful means. Nevertheless, if challenges do arise, then it is up to us to realize that the Exile is in fact an excellent opportunity to grow very great – as a nation as well as individuals.
By Rabbi Gavriel Lamm
