The Egyptian exile was a cornerstone in the foundation of the
Jewish nation, a stone which the `builders despised,'
originally, but which turned out, at the end of the process,
to be a foundation stone.
Since the end result of the Egyptian exile was the foundation
of our faith, "I am Hashem your G-d Who took you out of the
land of Egypt," we should, therefore, conclude that the
essence of this exile, the process, was reverse, a denial of
G-d. Thus, on the basis of the ruins of this rejection of
Hashem was faith built up.
This premise is elaborated upon in Machshovos
Chorutz:
The primary message of the Egyptian rule was "The Nile is
mine and I created it" (Yechezkel 29). They boasted
being a superpower, independent of any other force. The
greatest arsenal of weapons was stockpiled in Egypt. "The
horses of Pharaoh, his chariots and horsemen." This was the
symbol of the greatest might of those times, and when the
Torah warns Jewish kings against accumulating horses, it
gives a reason: Lest this lead the people back to Egypt.
Rashi comments that the best horses were bred there, and a
desire to accumulate thoroughbreds would lead the people back
to Egypt. We find that King Shlomo ignored this warning and
purchased chariots valued at six hundred ingots of silver and
horses at one hundred and fifty. Egypt was the major supplier
of the sophisticated arms of the world in those times.
The horse, symbol of Egypt, represents far more. It
symbolizes self assurance, self sufficiency, arrogance and
heresy. When the prophet calls out to the people, "Shuvoh
Yisroel -- Return O Yisroel unto Hashem your G-d," he
first and foremost stresses, "Upon a horse we shall not
ride." This realization is the first opening to real
teshuvah. "Those come with chariots and those are
mounted on horses, but we come in the name of Hashem." These
opposed to those. Those who are mounted upon horses do not
come in the name of Hashem.
They sat on their horses, high and mighty. This was a country
which didn't need rain from heaven. The Nile flooded
periodically and irrigated the land. Its people did not need
to lift their eyes upward and pray. The economy flourished
and they were complacent. This situation could not have
arisen in Eretz Yisroel because there, the economy was
dependent upon rain, and one must pray for rain -- look
heavenward and hope and pray. You can't sit astride your high
horse and feel like you're master of everything.
Yeshaya prophesises upon Egypt, "Therefore I have called this
Rahav." Rashi explains this name as "Coarse spirited."
Vulgar and arrogant. The name `Rahav' says it all. The Nile
is mine and I created it. I created myself. I am the be-all
and end-all. The perversions that filled the land were a
direct result of this attitude of unbridled egotism.
The world center of sorcery found its way here, too. Why is
kishuf called thus? The word is an acronym of
kichush pamalya shel maala -- a denial of the
celestial powers (Chulin 7). And who better than the
Egyptians denied a power above them. Why, they didn't even
ever look up!
And then came the end.
At the very climax of their downfall, at the splitting of Yam
Suf, "Horse and rider were cast into the sea." This was the
decisive stage, the critical moment of Egypt's downfall, its
disintegration, the crumbling of its myth, the drowning of
its gods. Horse and rider were cast into the sea. And I will
deposit your corpses upon the corpses of your abominations.
Where are their gods? The rock upon which they depended? Let
them come and rescue them!
The result was immediate. "I shall sing to Hashem for He is
very mighty." When He drowned the horse, it was a victory for
the Kingdom of Heaven. They saw that He was the A- mighty.
"This is the essence of the shira," writes the Netziv
in Ha'ameik Dovor. The women who burst forth in dance
repeated this very verse. "I shall sing unto Hashem for He is
very mighty. Horse and rider did He cast into the sea." This
paved the way for the giving of the Torah.
Forty-two days later, the people stood at Mount Sinai. This
people had personally witnessed that strength is not to the
mighty nor does Hashem seek the prowess of the warhorse. The
people heard Hashem speak from the fire and say, "I am Hashem
your G-d Who took you out of the land of Egypt." This would
serve as the basis of the rest of the Torah. "All of the
commandments are a remembrance of the exodus, for Egypt is
the very antithesis of the Torah and its code of
commandments," explains R' Tzodok Hacohen.
*
"Your throne was established of yore; You are from the
beginning of the world." Chazal say that even though Hashem
existed before the world was created, still, His throne was
only firmly established when His children sang His praises in
Oz Yoshir (Midrash Rabba). R' Leib Bloch zt'l
explains in Shiurei Daas that so long as the thesis of
kochi ve'otzem yodi -- my might and my power -- reigns
supreme, there can be no resting place for the Kingdom of
Hashem on earth, as it were. It is challenged through man's
ignorant arrogance. One who is boastful pushes aside the feet
of the Shechina, so to speak. "I and he cannot reside
in proximity." If he takes up the space, I must leave. We
cannot coexist.
But at that special moment in time when the horse and rider
plummeted into the depths, when the pyramid of Egyptian pride
crumbled and disintegrated, then, on that day, was Hashem
able to reign alone and supreme. Then was His throne firmly
established on earth.
And then, at that point, did Moshe and the Children of Israel
sing . . .
