Parashat Yitro has in it the Aseret Hadibrot- what we call the Ten Commandments.
Commandment One is
אנכי ה׳ אלקיך אשר הצאתי מארץ מצרים
Anochi Hashem Elokecha...I am Hashem your G-d that took you out of Egypt.
The famous question, that all the Rishonim ask is why it says, “ I am Hashem your G-d that took you out of Egypt?
Shouldn’t it say, “I am Hashem your G-d Who created you?” The first encounter with the Creator was creation, not Yetziat Mitzrayim.
There are different answers given. The Hovot HaLevavot’s answer is that in order to be beholden to the Torah, we needed something to happen to make the Jewish people more beholden to G-d than any other nation. At Creation, everyone was created, and therefore everyone has to reciprocate, with certain basic principles, to their Creator, specifically with the Seven Noahide Laws, that all of humanity is obligated in. What obligates the Jewish people more than any other nation of the world is that we were taken out of Egypt. The Hovot HaLevavot learns that Yetziat Mitzrayim brought about a greater responsibility of servitude for the Jewish people. That is the foundation of the Ten Commandments.
The Orchot HaChaim written by the Rosh, Rabbenu Asher, the Rishon, gives another answer, which is a very powerful lesson:
לבטוח בה' בכל לבבך
One must rely on G-d with all your heart
ולהאמין בהשגחתו הפרטית
And believe in His individual supervision
This means not only did He create the world at large, but He deals with me on an individual basis. He’s involved in my life, on every point.
ובזה תקיים בלבבך היחוד השלם
If you believe in that, you believe in the complete Oneness of Hashem Echad, which means that nothing happens without G-d.
Therefore, of course, if there’s nothing else but G-d, how could He not be involved in everything?
בהאמין בו כי עיניו משוטטות בכל הארץ
His eyes are everywhere
ועיניו על כל דרכי איש
He’s watching the path of man
ובוחן לב וחוקר כליות
He’s testing our heart and delving into our inner being
Now he makes a famous statement:
כי מי שאינו מאמין אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים
If you don’t believe in Yetziat Mitzrayim,
אף באנכי ה' אלקיך אינו מאמין
You don’t believe, “I am Hashem your G-d”
You can’t believe in G-d unless you have the Yetziat Mitzrayim lens on.
The Yetziat Mitzrayim lens isn’t the same as the Creation lens. Creation happened 5,782 years ago. The day-to-day involvement of G-d in our lives comes only from the understanding of Yetziat Mitzrayim. We saw how the Jew put his straw in the glass and got water, while the Egyptian put his straw in the glass and got blood. If you don’t believe in that, you don’t believe in G-d.
ואין זה ייחוד שלם
You don’t believe in Hashem your G-d.
כי זה היה סגולת ישראל על כל העמים
This is what makes us special
We have this understanding and relationship with G-d called Hashgacha Pratit- Individual Supervision
וזה יסוד כל התורה כלה
This is the foundation of the entire Torah
This is the principle of Hashgacha Pratit and it’s why Hashem could not have said, “I am Hashem that created you.”
That would not have been enough.
“I am Hashem that took you out of Egypt” means that we are obligated as servants of Hashem, and that Hashem is involved in our lives on an everyday basis. These points are connected, because, as the Hovot HaLevavot says, you can’t rely on G-d unless you realize that you’re like a servant under your Master’s jurisdiction. We are totally controlled by Hashem. Every little detail of our lives is controlled by Him.
That is the fundamental of Jewish Emunah.
The stories of Hashgacha Pratit are endless.
One recent example- I was walking on the street, and saw, in front of Landau’s, a man who sets up tables to sell Sefarim outside various locations. I wanted to see if he would sell a Hebrew sefer on Bitachon that I worked on. I happened to have two copies with me, so I gave them to him and asked if maybe he could sell them wherever he goes. Sure enough, his next stop was the Yeshiva where my son learns.
My son called me a few days later and said, “You won’t believe this, but there’s a boy who learns this Sefer with his rebbe b’havruta, and he didn’t have a copy. Then, Lo and behold, this man came to the Yeshiva to sell sefarim, and he had a copy of the book!”
I told my son, “You don’t know the whole story,” And I told him how I noticed the man, and asked him if he wanted to sell the sefarim.
So Hashem was aware that there was a young boy learning b’havruta, with his rebbe, from a certain Sefer, that he wanted, and Hashem said, “No problem. I will send it to you. I’ll have it hand delivered right to your doorstep.” That’s Hashgacha Pratit. And that is our Emunah. And we learned that from Yetziat Mitzrayim. This is the foundation of the whole Torah and the Number One statement of the Ten Commandments:
אנכי ה׳ אלקיך אשר הצאתי מארץ מצרים
Anochi Hashem Elokecha...I am Hashem your G-d that took you out of Egypt
It says that one of the reasons Yitro came was because he heard about the war with Amalek.
Why was that what made him come?
Because he saw that someone could deny Hashgacha Pratit.
Amalek is famous for denying Hashgacha Pratit and saying everything is a coincidence. Amalek tried to cool everyone down and keep them from getting excited over the Jewish people.
This caused Yitro to join the Jewish people.
It’s dangerous out there. The world doesn’t believe in Hashgacha Pratit. Baruch HaShem, we do.
Let’s keep it up.
Have a Shabbat Shalom.