Parshas Bo: Why Remember Egypt Rather Than Sichon and Og?

Rabbi Zweig addresses a compelling question from Parshas Eikev that emerged from a careful reading of the text. As the Jewish people stand on the threshold of entering Eretz Yisrael in their fortieth year in the desert, the Torah (תורה) anticipates their fear: "You will say in your heart, these nations are more numerous than I—how can I dispossess them?" Hashem (ה׳)'s response is to tell them not to fear and to "remember what Hashem your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt." The question is pointed: Why does Hashem direct them to remember events from forty years ago? Anyone under forty years old wasn't even alive during the exodus and has no personal memory of it. Even for those between forty and sixty—a small segment of the population—it's a distant memory. More puzzling still: just a few months earlier, Klal Yisrael had defeated Sichon and Og, described as "zero'os olam" (the eternal arms)—the most powerful kings in the world, mythological figures who were like the pillars holding up the world. Everyone alive witnessed that crushing victory. Why not simply remind them of that recent triumph instead of reaching back four decades?