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Why did God detour Israel through the desert instead of leading them directly from Egypt to the Land? The Torah (תורה) says fear of war would make them retreat, but a Midrash says they needed time to learn the agricultural mitzvos of terumah and maaser. The shiur reconciles these by arguing that a yerusha (inheritance) given without effort breeds irresponsibility—had they fought for the land, they would have treasured and protected it properly.
The shiur opens with a Midrash on Parshas Beshalach that compares the exodus to a father who delays giving his inheritance to his son until the son learns how to manage it properly. The Midrash applies this to God not bringing Israel directly into the Land: they needed time to learn the mitzvos of terumah and maaser before receiving the Land, so they would know how to "safeguard" their inheritance properly. Rabbi Zweig raises a fundamental difficulty: the Torah (תורה) itself (Shemos 13:17) gives a completely different reason—God didn't lead them through the land of the Philistines "lest the people reconsider when they see war and return to Egypt." Why does the Midrash invoke the need to learn mitzvos when the pasuk explicitly attributes the detour to fear of war? He considers whether the Torah's stated reason is the one given to the people (less insulting than saying they're not ready), while the true reason was their unpreparedness for the mitzvos.
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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.
Shemos 13:17 (Parshas Beshalach)
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