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Why does the Torah (תורה) emphasize telling our children and grandchildren about the plagues before saying "you will know I am Hashem (ה׳)"? The shiur develops a fundamental yesod: the final plagues were not about justice but about Hashem "toying" with Egypt—revealing that He acts as our Father, not merely as Judge. This transforms our sense of security and our responsibility to reflect His honor.
The shiur opens with a child's question: Why does the Torah (תורה) tell the Jewish people, poised to enter Canaan after forty years, to remember Egypt rather than their recent miraculous victory over Sichon and Og just weeks earlier? Those two kings were the mightiest powers in the world, protectors of Canaan, yet Israel defeated them in what seemed like a walkthrough. Why reach back forty years to Egypt, which most of the generation hadn't even witnessed firsthand? The answer emerges from a close reading of Parshas Bo. The Torah introduces the final three plagues with a puzzling statement: Hashem (ה׳) will harden Pharaoh's heart so that He can bring more plagues, and the purpose is "so that you may tell your children and grandchildren that which I toyed with Egypt." The language is striking—"toyed" (hissalalti), not "punished" or "judged." Moreover, the sequence is reversed: first comes telling your children, then "you will know I am Hashem." Logic would suggest the opposite: first you know, then you teach.
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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.
Parshas Bo (Shemos 10:1-2)
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