Parashat Shemot: The Purpose of the Exodus

By: HaRav Menashe Sasson
מאת: הרב מנשה ששון

---

​Parashat Shemot introduces us to Moshe Rabbeinu, who was born in Misrayim at a time when the government issued a decree that, if followed, would have required all male Hebrew babies to be killed shortly after birth.  Moshe Rabbeinu, however, survived the infanticide decree, grew to adulthood, married, and started a family.
 
Then, one day when he was at work, shepherding sheep for his father-in-law Yitro, Moshe Rabbeinu had an encounter with HaShem, at what is known as the Burning Bush.  “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed.”  Shemot 3:2.  “G-d called out to him out of the midst of the bush. . . .”  Shemot 3:4.
 
During the subsequent conversation that occurred between HaShem and Moshe Rabbeinu, HaShem told Moshe “I am the G-d of thy father, the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Yizhaq, and the G-d of Ya’aqov.”  Shemot 3:6.
 
HaShem continued:

​I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Misrayim and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I [have] come down to deliver them out of the hand of Misrayim and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of [Eretz Yisra’el]. . . .

​Shemot 3:7-8.
 
One obvious question is why did HaShem take the Hebrews out of Misrayim, rather than simply solving their difficulties with the Egyptian government and thus making life in Misrayim tolerable.  Another obvious question is why did HaShem promise to take the Hebrews to Eretz Yisra’el, rather than, for example, to Brooklyn, London, Paris, Madrid, Baghdad, Tehran, or some other place.
 
The answer, of course, is because Eretz Yisra’el is holy; it is The Holy Land; The Promised Land.  The Torah is singularly focused on this point.

Now, the Lord said to Avram, get out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, [and] go to the land that I will show thee [Eretz Yisra’el], and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curses thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

​Bereshit 12:1-3.
 
“And the land which I gave to Abraham and Yizhaq, to thee [Ya’aqov] I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”  Bereshit 35:12.
 
The Torah explicitly states the reason for the Exodus.  “I am the Lord your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Misrayim, to give you the land of Kena’an [Eretz Yisra’el], and to be your G-d.”  Vayyiqra 25:38.  This pasuk is often misquoted as “I am the Lord your G-d, who took you out of Egypt to be your G-d,” omitting the all-important phrase “to give you the land of Eretz Israel.”
 
The Talmud states:

[T]he Sages taught: A person should always reside in Eretz Yisra’el, even in a city that is mostly populated by idolaters [gentiles], and he should not reside outside of Eretz Yisra’el, even in a city that is mostly populated by Jews.  The reason is that anyone who resides in Eretz Yisra’el is considered as one who has a G-d, and anyone who resides outside of Eretz Yisra’el is considered as one who does not have a G-d.  As it is stated: “To give to you the land of Canaan, to be your G-d.”

​Maseket Ketuvot, 110b.
 
Halacha, that is, Jewish Law, states that the misva of living in Eretz Yisra’el is timeless; it is still the Halacha today.  “If [a husband] proposes to ascend to Eretz Yisra’el and [the wife] does not want to [go], [the husband] must divorce her. . . .  [And if the wife] proposes ascending [to Eretz Yisra’el] and [the husband] does not want to [go], he must divorce her.”  Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 75:4.
 
Life is short.  There are many unforeseen circumstances and events which occur in a person’s life, not to mention that the world is changing faster now than ever before.  So, instead of singing “Next year in Yerushalayim,” let us make it “This year in Yerushalayim,” while it is still possible to make Aliyah.
 
שבת שלום
Shabbat Shalom!

---

SUBSCRIBE

READ THE NEWS

MAKE A DONATION

---

​Copyright © The Israel Foundation.  All Rights Reserved.