Parashat Yitro has the Aseret HaDibrot/Ten Commandments in it, which start off with, “Anochi Hashem Elokecha … I am Hashem your God that took you out of Egypt.”
The Ibn Ezra quotes his contemporary, Rav Yehuda HaLevi, who asks why Hashem introduces Himself as the God of Yetziat Mitzrayim, as opposed to the God Who created the world.
Rav Yehuda HaLevi is well know for his sefer HaKuzari, which is a discussion between the Kuzar (king of the land of Kuzar) and a rabbi called HaHaver.
The question the Ibn Ezra quotes from Rav Yehuda Halevi is also part of the discussion that took place between the king and the rabbi in the book.
(People question whether this actually took place, or whether Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi was writing a book of Hashkafa and used this story as a backdrop.)
The Kuzar went in search for the correct religion, after he had a dream in which he heard that his thoughts were wanted by God, but his actions were not. Being a priest in his temple, he was unsure of what he was doing wrong, so he looked into other religions.
He spoke with Christians, but didn’t like that religion. Then he spoke with Muslims, but didn’t like that either. Eventually, with no choice, he asked about Judaism.
So after checking the other religions, the king of Kuzar ask the rabbi to tell him about Judaism. The rabbi answers, “We believe in the God of Abraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov, Who took us out of Egypt with signs and wonders, Who took care of us in the desert, Who gave us Eretz Yisrael, Who brought us across the Yum Suf and Yarden which were with split with miracles. We have Moshe Rabbenu, who gave us the Torah, then we had thousands of prophets, warning us, promising us good if we keep the Torah, and punishment if we don’t. We believe everything that is in the Torah.
Basically he discussed the three principles of our faith:
-Torah is Min Hashamayim
-Reward and punishment, and
- God.
But note that he doesn’t say God the Creator of the world, rather, he says God of Yetziat Mitzrayim.
The king responded
“Now I understand why I didn’t ask the Jews. You have gone through Galut, and you don’t really know what you’re doing.
That’s the way you answer? You don’t even mention creation? Now I see that the Jews really don’t know what they’re doing” The rabbi then explained why creation is not an indicator of God’s interaction with us. We never saw creation. He explained why we need Yetziat Mitzrayim, which, so to say, showed God in action.
The Rabbi then told the Kuzar, “ I am not the first one to answer like this. Besides Hashem who said, “I am Hashem who took you out of Egypt,” when Moshe Rabbenu spoke to Paroah he said, “the God of the Jews sent me. This means the God of Abraham Yitzhak and Yaakov”
Abraham was well known among the nations, and God had done miracles for him.
He didn’t say, “the Gods of the heavens and the earth sent me here,” and he didn’t say, “my Creator and your Creator sent me here.”
“Even before Matan Torah, God of Abraham Yitzchak and Yaacov means the God of miracles, God of interacting with the people. That is why I use that term.”
This is a fundamental for us. Yetziat Mitzrayim is everything.
I found this to be very interesting, because, of course we have to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim twice a day, but if I found myself sitting next to an irreligious Jew on an airplane, and he asked me to tell him about Judaism, I would tell him all about creation and the faults of evolution. The first thing to come to my mind would not be that God took us out of Egypt. That would not be my answer.
We call God, “Boreh Olam/Creator of the World.” But it seems like it’s really not enough that He is the Creator. It is all about His interaction with us. That is what is supposed to be building us.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein’s whole life was Yetziat Mitzrayim, every day of the year- not just on Pesach. At his funeral, Rav Wolbe eulogized him, saying, “We just lost the last person to leave Egypt.” He lived it, like he himself left. It made me realize how lacking I am in this constant feeling of Yetziat Mitzrayim.
At least, in these Parshiot, we should have this on our minds.
An example of this is Rav Yehuda Ades’ grandfather, Rav Avraham Ades who lived in Aleppo.
Rav Avraham was once getting a ride through the desert. He hired a Jewish donkey rider, but the many Muslim donkey riders who controlled that business ( like a Mafia) were unhappy about that.
One of them threatened the rabbi, saying, “Wait until we get to the desert, where no one is looking. Then you’ll be see what I’ll do to you.”
Rav Ades answered, “God that took our Forefathers through Egypt will protect me and watch over me. His outstretched hand is larger than your hand.”
Sure enough, in the middle of the desert, when this Muslim fellow bent down to pick something up, his donkey kicked him in the side and broke his ribs. He cried the rest of the way, begging the rabbi for forgiveness.
Our lesson from this story is that his immediate answer was, “God, that took me out of Egypt.“
This is what is supposed to be on our minds.
Who is Hashem? Hashem that took me out of Egypt.
We say it twice a day in Keriat Shema, and it is in our introduction to Shaharit, and Arbit.
But how much are we really living it?
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.