Introduction to Parshas Shemos

This week's parsha is parsha shemois and we are sham in the beginning of a new parsha in the beginning of a new safer safer shemois parsha shemois. So just a little bit of an introduction. Safer shemois very much picks up where safer bereishis left off and that is Yaakov with his sons, one daughter, grandchildren and even some great-grandchildren went to live in Mitzrayim. The reason that they had gone to live in Mitzrayim is because there was a hunger that had overtaken that part of the world and the only place that there was food, the only place that one can properly exist at that time was in Mitzrayim. It just so happened that Yosef was the melech, second in command of Mitzrayim and as a result he was able to farnegen for Yaakov and his family a parcel of land that was going to be beneficial from an economic perspective and uh safe place for them to be able to live and even continue to live in the lifestyle that they were accustomed to. That land was the land of Goshen which the Torah describes as being in the general region of Ramses. Now, the Yidden remained in Mitzrayim. Fast forward, it's already about a hundred or so years later. At that point, Yaakov was no longer alive. Yosef was no longer alive. In fact, all the shvatim, that entire generation had already passed away and it's there that safer shemois picks up. So safer shemois picks up really where Sefer Bereishit left off. However, it's about a hundred or so years later. Now, what was the state of the union at that time? So, a few things. The Yidden had been living in Goshen, which is where they went when they initially descended upon Mitzrayim. They were influenced very much by what was going on in Egypt, even though they were the name of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, but you live a hundred years in Egypt, and the Hillul Zeidus are no longer alive, things are going to happen. And spiritually, it's almost inevitable that on some level they are going to develop. And that's exactly what happened. At Kriyat Yam Suf, we know that Chazal say that when the Yidden came to the Yam Suf, and the Sar Shel Yam said, "I don't understand. I'm going to split for the Jews, but I'm going to drown the Egyptians?" Everybody knows that Chazal said that when the Yidden left Mitzrayim, they went in the Mem Tesha Sha'arei Tumah. That didn't happen overnight. That happened with time. The Yidden began to get involved in some of the things that were happening in Mitzrayim. Stating that, and this is critical in terms of understanding the story of the Yidden in Mitzrayim, culturally, the Yidden remained very much distinct from the Egyptians. Chazal say that in the merit of three things, four things, the Yidden were redeemed from Mitzrayim. So, it's interesting. The Yidden were influenced by the Avodah Zarah of Mitzrayim. They were committing some of the sins that the Egyptians were committing. But at the same time, they identified as a distinct group of people. Not Jews, cuz there was no such thing as a Jew at the time. But at the same time, they identified as being descendants of Yaakov and Yitzchak and Avram, they kept their own cultural identity. And it was actually something that wasn't so impossible for them to do. And the reason is because they lived in their own land. They lived in the land of Goshen. So, they're living in their own place, and as a result, they were able to maintain their cultural identity. There's a few things that I believe we need to really, really understand before we start. Number one. So, the Yidden are in Mitzrayim, and I don't think I'm giving anything away. They're about to become slaves. Life is about to become very, very difficult until ultimately with Nissim and a Floy, the Yidden are going to be able to get out. Why did the Yidden even stay in Mitzrayim for such an extended period of time? The theme, the overarching theme of Sefer Bereishit is Hakadosh Baruch Hu promises to Avram that your descendants one day are going to have the land of Canaan, and it's going to be the greatest place ever. Hashem promises it to Yitzhak. He promises it to Yakov. It's half tocha after half tocha after half tocha related to Eretz Canaan. As a matter of fact, we spoke out from the Minsk Gadol in Sefer Bereishit who said that there's no time where Hakadosh Baruch Hu speaks to the Avos where he doesn't say something about one day I'm going to give you the land of Canaan. Canaan is literally across the border of Egypt. The Ramban says that to go from Mitzrayim to Chevron would take ba'erech 6 days to make it across the Rafah border or whatever it's called. Crossing wouldn't definitely not take very long. They're right next to Canaan. Why would they have not gone? Now, once they were slaves, obviously, they would have loved to have gone. That's the whole story, "Let my people go." But they weren't given the option at that point. But it's 100 or so years that the Yidden, for whatever reason, have no interest in going to Eretz Canaan. Then they're going to become slaves and they're going to wish they would have gone. But, the hater, why didn't they pick themselves up and go when they had several opportunities to go? But, the answer is very, very partial. It's Sukkot in the Torah. And that's really why you almost can't even start Sefer Shemot without learning the end of Bereishit because there's some obvious questions that are going to jump off the page that are really not questions because they're literally Sukkot in the Torah. When Yaakov Avinu heard that Yosef was alive, he immediately said, "I have to go see my son Yosef." But, his intention was never to spend any time in Mitzrayim. He knew that the place that he belonged was in Eretz Canaan. That was obvious. Stating that, in route to Mitzrayim, Yaakov Avinu stopped off in Beer Sheva. And when he was in Beer Sheva, he had a dream. And Hakadosh Baruchu told Yaakov as follows, Hakadosh Baruchu told Yaakov that "I want you to go to Mitzrayim. Have no fear. You're going to become a great nation where there some Not just that, I'll be with you every step of the way and when it's time for you to leave on no you I I'll go go away." Hakadosh Baruchu had told Yaakov, "Do not leave Mitzrayim until the time is ready to leave. But, up until then, that's where you're supposed to be. In fact, you're going to see you're going to have tremendous bracha when you're in Mitzrayim. When are you going to leave? When I tell you on no you I'll go go away. I'm going to be the one that's going to take you out." Truth is, Yosef's parting words to his brothers, right before he passes away. These are the last Sukkot in Parshat Vayechi. Last Sukkot in Sefer Bereishit. Vayoel Yosef alav, "Anochi met." Ve'elokim pakod yifkod etchem. Hakadosh Baruchu is going to remember you at some point. Ve'he'elah etchem min ha'aretz hazot and he is going to take you out of this land. Hello again and by the way when that happens I want you to take my with you as well. You say as well in his parting words to his brothers the Jewish proverbially speaking people was that there's going to be a day where I could just bought who's going to remember you. They knew that there was a promised land for them but they had very very clear instructions. I could just bought who told it to you and he told it to them and that is that there's going to be a time when you're supposed to go from it's right back to Canaan but I could just bought who's going to tell you when that time is and up until then you cannot come. This is not an initiative that you're able to take on your own but rather this is something that you have to wait for I could just bought who to go ahead and I could just bought who to execute. The truth is it's even a little bit deeper than that. And really really it traces itself all the way back to to the Brisbane sign. By the Brisbane I could just bought who gives a one of the many have talked that one day he's going to be to have descendants at the time he was childless and now he will have descendants that going to be great qualitatively and ultimately they're going to inherit the the very very holy land of Canaan. The in the middle of the Brisbane who tells you to take that you should get you should know that before the inherit the land they are going to be strangers in a land that doesn't belong to them and they're going to be slaves and they're going to be subject to torture. And that is going to last arba me'ah shanah, for a period of 400 years. However, you should know that that nation that's going to chapter with the Jews, I'm going to judge. They're going to leave etc. etc. etc. Yaakov's family had a mesorah, a mesorah that traced itself back to the zeida Avraham Avinu, the patriarch, the founding father. And that is that the Yidden weren't just going to inherit the land of Kenaan, but they were going to have to go through some sort of process. A process where they were going to be arba me'ah shanah. It was clear to them that this time that they were spending in Mitzrayim was all the meter running on these 400 years. And they had to wait until this of avadim. They had to wait until there was a ve'eenu otzam. They had to wait until the 400 years passed, and then they understood the acharei chen yeitzei bechush gadol. They're going to be able to They're going to be able to leave the land. As a matter of fact, if you look at the Rishonim, the pasuk says that when Yaakov goes to Beer Sheva and he has the dream, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes to Yaakov in the dream, what's the first thing he tells him? Al tira meireid Mitzrayim. Don't be afraid to go to Mitzrayim. Why would Yaakov be afraid to go to Mitzrayim? His son is running the whole show. So why in the world would he be afraid? Rashi says, the fisha He was a little worried because he was being forced to leave the chutz la'aretz. Now, he didn't want to leave Kenaan. He's a little afraid to leave Kenaan. But if you look in other Rishonim, other Rishonim say, and the Sifrei Maccabees and all say this, that al tira meireid Mitzrayim is cuz Yaakov knew understood that if he's going with his family to Mitzrayim right now, you know what that means? That means the ki ger yihyeh zar'acha be'eretz lo lahem, va'avdum ve'eenu otzam arba me'ah shanah, that's about to start right now. And this is something that he was so worried about. He was mom and scared. Thus, they would start to tell him, "Al tira, do not be afraid and even though there's going to be a it's going to be I'm going to be there with you. And as a result, it's not something you have to be so terribly concerned about. The reason they settled in Metrayem The reason they had no ambition to just pick themselves up and just go to the other side of the border, which would have been perfectly okay. I'm not sure anybody would have stopped them is because they knew they knew that their destiny was that they had to spend some time in Metrayem. I told it to Yosif I told it to them on their deathbed. It traced itself all the way back to the Bris bein and they knew that it wasn't as simple as let's just storm the land and settle there and life is going to be perfect. They first had to go through this process of the So, say for again picks up about a hundred or so years after that entire generation of his sons and the had passed away. They are still living in Metrayem. They know that ultimately this is not the place that they belong, but at the same time this is the place that at least in the short term they have to be. And in the beginning of component of that in the is about to play itself out. Now, I think it's to try to identify a little more precisely when exactly we are relative to the 400 years and also relative to the end of say for gracious. Hazal say that the Shivan Mitzrayim did not start until the last of the Shvatim passed away. The last of the Shvatim to pass away was Levi. Yosef was the first one, we saw that in the end of Parshas Vayechi, Levi was the last one. He was the last of the Shvatim to pass away. The Seder Olam which was written by the Tanna Rabbi Yosi ben Halafta, some Rabbi Yosi in Chaz says that Levi passed away 116 years before the Yidden left Mitzrayim. Before Yetzias Mitzrayim, 116 years, that's when Levi passed away. Which would mean that Sefer Shemot, which begins with the Shivan Mitzrayim, took place 116 years before before Yetzias Mitzrayim. Now, how many years were the Yidden in Mitzrayim? They were Mitzrayim for 210 years. From when Yaakov descended upon Mitzrayim until when the Yidden actually left Mitzrayim was 210 years. If the Shivan started 116 years prior to them leaving Mitzrayim and they were there for 210 years, that means the Shivan started 94 years from when the Yidden descended upon Mitzrayim. So, if you want to pinpoint a little bit more precisely when exactly Sefer Shemot begins, it's 94 years from when Yaakov and his sons descended on Mitzrayim. So, we think of Yaakov u'vanav, they all descended on Mitzrayim. Next thing you know, the Shivan Mitzrayim. Really think about this is something we're talking about now. When Yaakov lived there in the 1920s, right? A lot happened since the 1920s. Couple of World Wars, right? Things happened since then. So, the bottom line is is that it was a a very long time after, about a century after, but it's 116 years before the Yidden actually left Mitzrayim. The Seder Olam also says that the Avdus itself of Mitzrayim didn't all happen in one shot. It started off there was some sort of shibud, but then it got to the level of the inuy some. It got to the level where it was outright torture. That started 86 years before the year they left Mitzrayim. What's the remus to this? Miriam was called Miriam because she was born at the time of Vayumor es chayea, and Miriam was 86 years at the time of gulas Mitzrayim. The point is the inuy some happened 86 years before they left Mitzrayim. The psukem we're going to learn right now are going to start with the year of being avadim and immediately it's going to pivot into Vayumor es chayea. That really happened over a 30 or so year period. But the bottom line is a lot of time had passed from the good old days when the Jews had things going for them very very well in Mitzrayim. This is where we find ourselves right now. It's right here that Sefer Shemot begins and without any further introduction we begin another safer of Chamisha Chumshay Torah.