Welcome to the daily chizuk (encouragement). We have a mitzvat aseh de'oraita (a positive biblical commandment) tonight called Sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim: to recount all of the miracles that Hashem did for the Jewish people when He took us out of Mitzrayim. The Sefer Chinuch writes that this mitzvah is a foundation for our emunah (faith).
I once heard a class given by Rabbi Asher Wade. He was a pastor in the Methodist church, and he converted to Judaism along with his wife. He said he started to have questions about Catholicism that couldn't be answered, began investigating other religions, and came to the conclusion that Judaism is the only religion with solid proof. All other religions are based on dreams or private revelations, but with us, Hashem revealed Himself in front of 3 million people with the 10 makkot (plagues) in Mitzrayim and with Keriat Yam Suf. He spoke to us on Har Sinai, and then He revealed Himself in front of 3 million people. Then Hashem commanded us to retell this story every year, and it has been passed down for generations from father to son, father to son, for over 3,300 years.
It sounds like a long time, but the rabbi said that, assuming the average person gets married at about 22 or 23, it's only a transmission of 144 people, father to son. Imagine, he said, a room filled with 48 people and eight tables, with three seats at every table except for one that could seat four. Sitting there are you, your father, your grandfather, and your great-grandfather. It's like a mini seder (Passover ritual meal). The great-grandfather is telling the story to his children, but that great-grandfather has a swivel chair and can turn it around to the next table. At that table, he sees his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. If you keep doing that, back and back, when you get to the 48th table, there will be people at that table who were at Har Sinai, who saw the 10 makkot of Mitzrayim. That's all it is.
Tonight, when we gather at our seder tables, we will be continuing this transmission. The goal is to instill in everyone the idea that Hashem is actively involved in our lives, just as He was then, and that Hashem runs the world with such precision. The Chatam Sofer writes that in Mitzrayim, every brick that the Jews had to make and build with was calculated by Hashem with such a cheshbon (calculation). There wasn't one extra brick or one extra bit of suffering. When they left Mitzrayim, the pasuk (verse) says it was exactly to the day, 430 years after Hashem told Abraham this would happen. And it's Leil Shimurim. It was anticipated by Hashem. They didn't stay even for one extra second. Everything was calculated.
It was hard slavery for 210 years, and they might have thought, “Hashem forgot about us. Why is this happening?” But Hashem was involved every step of the way, awaiting the redemption. Even the punishments administered to the Mitzrayim were so precise. When they drowned at the Yam Suf, we know that Chazal tell us some went down like lead, some went down like stone, and some went down like straw. It depended on how much they tortured us. The ones who tortured us more suffered more. Everyone got exactly what they deserved. This is hashgacha peratit (individual divine providence). This is the message that we have to give over to our children.
I would like to wish everyone a Chag Kasher V'Sameach. May we all rejoice together with the binyan (rebuilding) of the Beit HaMikdash. The daily Emunah will resume Be'ezrat Hashem (with Hashem's help) after Pesach.