Miriam, Leader of the Jews

Hi,

"Deuteronomy 24:9 mentions the redemption [from Egypt] specifically regarding Miriam, teaching that whenever the camps travelled, they did so only with Miriam travelling before them."

(Midrash, Sifri Devarim 275)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Marror: Out of Order?

Hi,

Marror is in an odd position in the seder. Marror is meant to represent the slavery of the Jews in Egypt, and Matzah is meant to represent redemption, but their order is reversed; we eat Matzah before we eat Marror!

One could contend that Matzah also represents bread of affliction and poverty, but Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook offered a different explanation: Marror indeed represents the bitterness of slavery, but one can only appreciate the value of that experience, and the purpose it served, from the hindsight perspective of the Jew who has already been redeemed from Egypt. Therefore, we first go through redemption, eating Matzah, and then we contemplate the Marror of our previous experience.

חג כשר ושמח,
Mordechai

Linking Pesach and Shabbat

Hi,

Food for thought; what is the Pesach and Shabbat connection? Isn't Shabbat universal [Creation of the World] and Pesach only Jewish [Exodus from Egypt]?

"Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: One must mention the departure from Egypt in kiddush [for Shabbat]. Regarding the departure from Egypt it says 'So that you should remember the day', and regarding Shabbat it says 'Remember the day of Shabbat, to sanctify it.'"

(Talmud, Pesachim 117b)

חג כשר ושמח,
Mordechai

Gd will watch out for us

Hi,

[Regarding Gd's declaration to Moshe at the Red Sea, "Why do you cry out to me?" (Shemot 14:15) before Gd split the sea.]

"R' Elazar haModai said: “Why are you crying out to Me? Do I need instructons regarding My children? Will you instruct me about My children and My creations? They were prepared before Me from the six days of Creation! It is written, 'Should all of the universe’s natural laws fall from before Me, this is the word of Gd, so the Jews would cease to be a nation before me, for all time!'”"

(Midrash, Mechilta d'Rabbi Yishmael Beshalach 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bringing the Jews from Egypt via human agents

Hi,

"I only benefited you by removing you from Egypt via a human being, with whom you could speak and to whom you could convey your needs, and who could teach you My ways. These are Moshe, who came to Pharoah; Aharon, who prophesied to Israel before Moshe came; and Miriam, who prophesied for the women. Also, the Torah was only given via Moshe and his speaker Aharon, and both taught the mitzvot to the men, and Miriam to the women."

(Ibn Ezra to Michah 6:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The reward for the expensive lulav

Hi,

"Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: From the reward for ‘taking’ you may deduce the reward for ‘taking.’ In Egypt Gd said, ‘You shall take a bundle of hyssop.’ How much is it worth? Four coins. And that mitzvah caused Israel to receive the spoils at the Sea, the spoils of Sichon and Og, and the spoils of 31 kings. Lulav costs a person more money, and includes more mitzvot, how much more so will be the reward!

"Therefore Moshe warned Israel, “Take for yourselves on the first day.”"

(Midrash, Vayyikra Rabbah 30)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Egyptian Slavery as punishment for lashon hara

Hi,

"Moshe wondered, ‘What sin did the Jews commit, to be uniquely enslaved?’

"When he heard [Datan]’s words [Shemot 2:14], he said, ‘They have harmful speech in their midst! How will they ever merit redemption?’ And so he said, ‘Now, the matter is known’ – Now I know why they are enslaved."

(Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 1:30)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The home as an altar

Hi,

“And they shall take the blood and place it upon the two doorposts and the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat the offering. (Sh’mot 12:7)”

“And you shall take a bundle of hyssop and immerse it in the blood in the receptacle, and you shall place it upon the lintel and the two doorposts, from the blood in the receptacle. (Sh’mot 12:22)”

“We learn from here that our ancestors had three altars in Egypt: The lintel and the two doorposts. R’ Yishmael said there were four: The receptacle and the lintel and the two doorposts.”

(Midrash, Mechilta of R' Yishmael Bo 6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Remember your origins

Hi,

“The departure from Egypt was the beginning of the introduction of the Jewish people to HaShem’s reign.

"The beginning is the essence, as it is written, ‘The end of a matter is better than its beginning.’ One must always remember this [beginning], which will bring strength and energy in all of one’s deeds. Depression begins when one forgets the origin.”

(Sfat Emet, Parshat Bo 5641)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The merit of the matriarchs

Hi,

"HaShem did not cause the chain of events taking the Jews out of Egypt other than because of the merit of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah."

(Midrash, Tanna d'vei Eliyahu 27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai