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Why does the pasuk say "ki amar Elokim" when explaining that Hashem (ה׳) avoided the direct route lest the people return to Egypt? The shiur develops a profound yesod: by articulating this concern, Hashem was actually creating that very tension—instilling in the one-fifth who left Egypt a struggle between going forward to Eretz Yisrael and returning to Egypt. True zechus for Eretz Yisrael requires actively choosing to go there, not merely fleeing somewhere else.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a fundamental question on Parshas Beshalach: the Torah (תורה) states "ki amar Elokim pen yinochem ha'am"—"for God said, lest the people change their minds" when seeing war and want to return to Egypt. Why does the pasuk include the phrase "ki amar Elokim"? If the Torah is simply explaining Hashem (ה׳)'s reasoning for avoiding the Philistine route, why not just state "pen yinochem"—that they might want to return? What does adding "God said" contribute? To answer this, Rabbi Zweig develops a deep philosophical foundation from the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s Hilchos Teshuva (תשובה). The Rambam asks: How can Hashem punish people if He knows what they will do? If He doesn't know the future, He's not God; if He does know, how can there be free choice? The Rambam's answer is that Hashem's knowledge is fundamentally different from human knowledge. Human knowledge, when we know something will happen, constrains reality—it cannot be otherwise. But Hashem's knowledge operates in a different dimension entirely, one that does not eliminate human free choice.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Beshalach 13:17-18
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