פרשה: בא · עלייה: שישי (יסוד)

ויקם פרעה לילה, Pharaoh rose up during the night, etc. The reason that the Torah mentions "at night," something that was obvious, is that according to the Zohar 2, page 38 that night was as bright as daylight. I have already found an allusion to this fact in Exodus 13,8 where the Torah instructs the Jewish father to tell his sons about the happenings during that night ביום ההוא, "on that day." The Torah means that the father should not fail to mention that one of the things that occurred during that night was that the night turned into day. In the event that we would think that the daylight during that night shone for both the Egyptians and the Israelites, the Torah emphasises that when Pharaoh rose he thought it was night because for him it was dark.

ויקרא למשה ולאהרון לילה, "He called for Moses and Aaron at night, etc." The reason that the Torah repeats the word לילה, night, could be that Pharaoh was afraid that inasmuch as he had forbidden Moses and Aaron to see him again on pain of death (10,28), they would use this as an excuse not to see him, fearing it was a trap to give Pharaoh an excuse to execute them. By emphasising the word לילה Pharaoh indicated that he had only threatened them on "the day you will see my face, etc." Since it was night, they had no reason to be afraid. Alternatively, Pharaoh meant that seeing it was dark they would not see his face anyways, and his threat applied only to their seeing his face.

One could also interpret this verse by viewing the word לילה as part of Moses' answer. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, whereupon the latter responded that it was now night, i.e. not the time to conduct negotiations. Moses may have added that G'd had forbidden any of the Israelites to leave their houses during that night (12,22) until morning.

Upon hearing this Pharaoh said: קומו צאו, "arise and depart." In other words Pharaoh freed the Israelites by this proclamation. The expression קומו, "arise," may even contain a hint of Pharaoh's granting the Israelites a "higher status" than they had possessed heretofore. Bereshit Rabbah 58,8 explains Genesis 23,17 where the field and cave of Machpelah are described as ויקם, having arisen. Whereas previously, before Abraham's purchase, the field and cave belonged to a low-life such as Efron, the field and cave "rose" to a higher status by becoming the property of a man of the calibre of Abraham. At any rate, Pharaoh believed that by declaring the Israelites a free people without any further ado, he could free himself of the plague of the dying of the firstborn. If they did not leave immediately, their continued stay could not be blamed on him.

Another meaning of the words קומו צאו is that it is an accusation. Seeing that Moses and Aaron had refused to come to Pharaoh, he called upon them to rise from their beds for their own benefit, i.e. "the reason I have called you was so that you should leave the country." Accordingly, Moses and Aaron explained that their failure to get up from their beds immediately was not lack of respect for the king but לילה, G'd had ordered them not to leave their houses during that night.

גם אתם גם בני ישראל, "both you and the children of Israel." Why did Pharaoh say גם, also, already before mentioning that Moses and Aaron were to leave? Besides, why did Moses and Aaron need Pharaoh's permission to leave that he said to them: "depart from amongst my people?" They were not his prisoners! Perhaps the wording of Pharaoh's dismissal reveals that subconsciously he had always wanted to arrest Moses and Aaron. When he now gave orders that the Israelites could leave, he had to first reverse his thinking about detaining Moses and Aaron individually. None of this would have been discernible if the word גם had been used only in connection with the departure of the Israelites as a people.

Still another meaning of this verse is that Pharaoh not only discharged the Israelites but he expelled them. The words גם אתם may then be interpreted thus: "Although you are no longer under my control as slaves, I do not want you to reside in my country any longer." This was a new element. Now the point had been reached of which G'd had said to Moses in 11,1: "when he will finally discharge you completely he will not only discharge you but he will expel you." The words גם בני ישראל refer to the women and the children; the word גם, also, in connection with גם צאנכם in verse 32 refers to the other items such as the animals Pharaoh himself was to supply (compare 10,25).

וברכתם גם אותי, "bless me also." The past tense here is to be interpreted as a wish, i.e. "bless me too." Pharaoh meant that not only should the plague stop but that the result of Moses' blessing should be the process of the rehabilitation of Egypt.

עשו כדבר משה, they did in accordance with Moses' instructions. The Torah stresses that the reason the Israelites "borrowed" all this silver, gold, etc., was not because they were greedy for material goods but because Moses had instructed them to. The Torah may also teach us an object lesson in what Maimonides wrote in chapter nine of his Hilchot Yesodey Hatorah that if a prophet orders the people to commit an act which is against Torah law and such an order is of a temporary nature, an emergency situation, the people are to accept the prophet's instructions as long as the violation is not in the realm of idol worship. The people here were not happy about deceiving the Egyptians by making them think they were borrowing these trinkets intending to return them in a few days. Seeing that Moses was a duly accredited prophet, however, they complied with bis instructions in spite of their misgivings.

וישאילום, וינצלו את מצרים, they let them have what they asked; they emptied Egypt (of valuables). All this was a result of G'd giving the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians so that the Egyptians lent them these trinkets against their will (the will of the Israelites). This proves that the Israelites were not prepared at that time to leave Egypt permanently else they themselves would have asked not only for what the Egyptians volunteered but for much more in order to enrich themselves. When the Torah writes that: "they emptied Egypt," the subject are the Egyptians themselves. From the above we see how correct the Talmud was in Berachot 9 where it is stated that the Israelites were so enamoured of the idea of leaving Egypt that financial gain did not interest them at that time. As a result G'd helped them acquire great possessions in a miraculous manner. All of this was a reward for their meritorious behaviour. [The author implies that if the Israelites had displayed greed by asking for a lot they never would have received as much as they did. Ed.]

מצות כי לא חמץ, unleavened breads because it was not leavened. The Torah means that the reason they baked Matzot was that they did not have permission to eat leavened bread; as a result they had to hasten in order to bake מצות. These loaves turned out to be matzot even though some time had elapsed between the kneading of the dough and the baking. Possibly, they kept the dough in motion in order to prevent it from becoming leavened. When the Torah bothered to graphically describe that "their kneading bowls were slung as bundles in their dresses over their shoulders" (verse 34), such a description would not be justified unless we were to learn something from it. Surely the Israelites had some other place where they could have carried their dough. The Torah wants to teach us that they deliberately vibrated the dough to keep it from rising. The process was facilitated by the fact that they had not added yeast to the dough in the first place. The Torah describes that the reason the dough did not have a chance to become leavened before the Exodus as being: "for they were being expelled from Egypt."

ויהי מקץ שלושים שנה, It was at the end of 430 yers, etc." The Torah does not tell us what happened at that time, otherwise why would the word ויהי be repeated immediately afterwards. If the Torah had alluded to the time of the Exodus the second ויהי would be superfluous. Another thing requiring exegesis is what painful element is alluded to in the word ויהי in this instance.

Perhaps the painful element referred to is the very length of time it took for the people to be redeemed. Had they possessed the necessary merit they would not have had to wait until the pre-arranged timetable, i.e. מקץ, the end of the time originally allocated for their bondage. Alternatively, the pain alluded to is the very length of the 430 years mentioned earlier as the time the people sojourned in Egypt.

ויהי בעצם, it was on that same day, etc. The Torah may use the expression to tell us that though the Israelites departed on that day, the troubles of the Egyptians had not come to an end. We have a reference to the Egyptians being busy on that day burying their dead (Numbers 33,4) whereas at the same time the Israelites left Egypt their heads held high.

ליל שמורים הוא לה׳ It was a night of vigil for G׳d, etc. The verse refers specifically to those miracles G'd performed at night. 1) In the days of Abraham when the latter defeated the four kings with his 318 men at night (Genesis 14,15); 2) during the Exodus when G'd is reported to have killed the firstborn at midnight (12,29). 3) In the days of Hezekiah when the angel Gabriel smote the army of Sancheriv on that night (Kings II 19,35). 4) In the days of Mordechai and Esther when the king could not sleep (Esther 6,1). 5) The redemption of the Jewish people in the future.

Concerning the miracle in Abraham's time, the Torah says here "it was a night of vigilance for G'd," because G'd had demonstrated His truth as mentioned in Bereshit Rabbah 42. According to the Midrash there were some people who did not believe that G'd had saved Abraham from Nimrod's furnace in Ur Kasdim at the time. When they heard about how Abraham defeated these four kings, they changed their minds. The verse goes on to say "to take them out of Egypt," a reference to what happened during this night; the words הוא הלילה, are an allusion to the night in the future when G'd would smite the army of Sancheriv. The allusion to what would happen in the time of Mordechai and Esther is contained in the words הזה לה׳, whereas the reference to the redemption of the future is provided by the words שמורים לכל בני ישראל לדרותם, i.e. at the end of the exiles, may it happen soon.

ויאמר ה׳…זאת חוקת הפסח, G'd said: "this is the statute of the Passover, etc." It is puzzling why this verse does not follow the usual procedure of introducing a direct commandment, i.e. "speak to the children of Israel, etc." According to what we wrote on verse 3 that this paragraph was said on the 14th of Nissan there was no need to write: "speak to the children of Israel" because it is a continuation of what is written in verse 3, i.e. "speak to the whole community, etc." We must explain then why this paragraph is not recorded as part of what Moses said in that verse. The answer is that this whole commandment is designed for observance of the Passover in future generations only, hence it was revealed after the Exodus. The principle reason for the legislation is to inform Israel that every detail mentioned here is essential for performance of the Passover in the future.

I have seen a view expressed in Shemot Rabbah 19,5 according to which G'd despatched a special wind from Paradise which lent its fragrance to Moses' Passover. When the Israelites inhaled this fragrance they all begged Moses to allow them a taste of his Passover lamb. Moses replied they could not do this as they had not been circumcised, seeing it states in our verse that you have to be circumcised in order to eat from the Passover. Thereupon the Israelites performed the rite of circumcision upon themselves. According to this Midrash we can easily explain why the Torah here did not write: "speak to the children of Israel, etc." An alternative explanation is that this paragraph was addressed only to Moses and Aaron and that G'd commanded them that uncircumcised people should not eat from the Passover. After the Israelites came to Moses and wanted to eat from his Passover they decided to circumcise themselves. [after all the commandment to circumcise themselves dated back to Abrahamitic times and was not valid only for consumption of the Passover. Ed.]

According to the aforementioned Midrash how was it possible that Moses would let everyone partake of his Passover seeing it could only be eaten by people who had been invited prior to its being slaughtered? Perhaps Moses only promised them that they could eat from it in order to encourage them to perform circumcision. As soon as the Israelites had circumcised themselves they found that their own Passover exuded the same fragrance as that of Moses so that they did not need to ask him to share it with them. I have seen a proof that the words of that Midrash are true, i.e. that the Israelites had not been prepared to circumcise themselves up to that point. We read in Ezekiel 20,8: "they rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me, and I threatened to pour out My wrath over them in the land of Egypt." Clearly, the prophet speaks of the Israelites' unwillingness to observe even the few commandments of G'd which applied at that time, primarily that of circumcision.

וכי יגור אתך גר, "When a stranger will sojourn with you, etc." This was Moses' authority to accept converts from amongst the Egyptians. The reason the Torah writes אתך, "with you" (sing), is that such conversions had to be personally approved by Moses. There is also a hint here that G'd agreed to this only reluctantly, i.e. לרצון משה, and that is why the Torah wrote אתך גר, "he is a stranger (proselyte) with you, (but not with Me). G'd's reluctance was due to Moses' inability to examine G'd's hidden reasons. We all know what the result of Moses' accepting such proselytes was and how they triggered the sin of the golden calf.

המול לו כל זכר, "let all his males be circumcised, etc." Just as failure to circumcise a slave prevents such a slave from participating in the Passover, so failure of a proselyte to circumcise all his male slaves is a prerequisite before the proselyte himself can eat of the Passover. The reason that the Torah adds ואז יקרב, "and then he may approach," is to tell us that he does not need to appoint a natural born Jew to slaughter his Passover offering but that he may do so himself. This is why the Torah adds: "he will be just like a natural born Jew."

ויהי בעצם היום הזה, It was on the self-same day, etc. The reason the Torah records the Exodus immediately after concluding the legislation of the Passover ceremonies is to remind us that the fulfilment of this מצוה is what triggered the redemption from Egypt. The Israelites had no other credentials than performance of this commandment.