Yetziat Mitzraim - The Birth

According to Kabbalah, the development of Z"A is broken up in to stages:

• Ibbur (Pregnancy)
• Yenikah (Suckling/Nursing)
• Katnut (Childhood)
• Gadlut (Adulthood)

In Shiur Yemot HaMoshiach, I mentioned the idea of Gadlut. I'd like to look at Ibbur.

It is brought in Pitchei She'arim (part 2, page 56) that the period of Ibbur started with the birth of Avraham Avinu (1948), and ended with Yetziat Mitzraim (2448).

Specifically, there are:

• The first 3 days, corresponding to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
• The next 37 days, corresponding to the 12 tribes and the 70 souls that went in to Mitzraim
• The remaining 7 months of pregnancy, corresponding to the 210 years in Mitzraim. (This time period is explicit in the text)

I would propose that the first 3 days were from the birth of Avraham until just after the birth of Yosef, when Yaakov decides to leave Lavan and go back to Eretz Yisrael. This would leave 84 years per "day". By mathematical default, that would also leave 1 year per "day" for the the 37 days. This (at this point) is my hypothesis.

Regardless, it was after 500 years that the birth occurred, both in the upper and lower worlds. This is what we celebrated last night.

מועדים לשמחה

Chipazon - Ours or Theirs?

שמות יב:יא - וככה תאכלו אתו, מתניכם חגרים, נעליכם ברגליכם, ומקלכם בידכם, ואכלתם אתו בחפזון, פסח הוא לה' י

Shemot 12:11 - Thus shall you eat it, your waists with belts, your shoes on your feet, your cains in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste, it is a Pesach for Hashem.

It seems from here that we had to be ready to leave Mitzraim in a hurry. But elsewhere we see that we actually didn't leave the night of the 15th of Nisan, but rather during the day.

במדבר לג:ג - ויסעו מרעמסס בחדש הראשון, בחמשה עשר יום לחדש הראשון, ממחרת הפסח יצאו בני ישראל ביד רמה לעיני כל מצרים

Bamidbar 33:3 - And they traveled from Raamses in the 1st month, on the 15th day of the 1st month, the day after the Passover, Bnei Yisrael went out of Mitzraim with a high hand, in front of the eyes of all Mitzraim.

So on the one hand we are told that Am Yisrael left in Chipazon. The other hand, we didn't leave until the next day, in a triumphant fashion.

So what is the Chipazon then?

At the end of Parshat Shemot, Moshe complains that only bad has happened to Am Yisrael since he started his mission. Hashem's response is as follows:

שמות ו:א - ויאמר ה', עתה תראה, אשר אעשה לפרעה, כי ביד חזקה ישלחם, וביד חזקה, יגרשם מארצו

Shemot 6:1 - And Hashem said: Now you will see what I will do to Par'oh, for with a strong hand he will send them, and with a strong hand he will expell them from his land.

So here we have the Hashem replying to Moshe that the appointed time has come, and the direct intervention from Heaven will cause Par'oh to expell Am Yisrael from Mitzraim. Ponder that verse for a moment.

There is an argument in the first chapter of the Talmud Bavli Brachot as to whether or not the Chipazon is Am Yisrael's or Mitzraim's. Rashi brings, on the word Chipazon in Devarim, that the Chipazon is Mitzraim's. On a certain level, we celebrate/commemorate the fact that they couldn't get rid of us fast enough. This is not a negative occurance, but rather a positive promise from Hashem that was fulfilled in the unfolding of the Exodus.

We are at the end of the Final Galus, and we are told that this Chipazon will not exist. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

The pasuk in Yeshayahu makes it sound like a positive development, "for Hashem will go before us". This could make one think that the Chipazon in Yetziat Mitzraim was Am Yisrael's, despite the opinion brought by Rashi. Nonetheless, just like there are two ways to think about the Chipazon in Yetziat Mitzraim, so too I cannot help but think that there is more than 1 side to the pasuk in Yeshayahu.

Chipazon - Haste

דברים טז:ב - וזבחת פסח לה' אלקיך, צאן ובקר, במקום אשר יבחר ה', לשכן שמו שם.

דברים טז:ג - לא תאכל עליו חמץ, שבעת ימים תאכל עליו מצות לחם עני, כי בחפזון יצאת מארץ מצרים, למען תזכר את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי חייך

Devarim 16:2 - And you shall offer the Passover to Hashem your G-d, from the flock and herd, in the place that Hashem will choose to dwell His Name there.

Devarim 16:3 - And you shall not on it Chametz, 7 days you shall eat upon it Matzot, bread of the poor, for with haste you went out of the land of Mitzraim, so that you shall remember the day of your going out of the land of Mitzraim all the days of your life.

In Yeshayahu, we find a contrast between Yetziat Mitzraim and the final Geulah:

ישעיהו נב:יב - כי לא בחפזון תצאו, ובמנוסה תלכון, כי הלך לפניכם ה', ומאספכם אלקי ישראל

Yeshayahu 52:12 - For not in haste will you go out, and not in flight will you go, for Hashem goes before you, and the G-d of Israel is your gatherer.

The Geulah from Mitzraim stemmed from a certain need to escape immediately. We soon would have reached a point of no return, the 50th Gate of Tum'ah. So Hashem in His infinite mercy, took us out of Mitzraim all at once.

The Final Geulah, however, is based on the Keitz Meguleh, which has levels, steps.

For the Final Geulah, we know that if it were to occur all at once, there would be a tremendous amount of harsh judgement if we were not to be worthy, therefore the long Steps of Moshiach are in fact a Chesed.

The question, however, is why Yetziat Mitzraim took place so quickly.

There are possible explanations for this. In preparation for Pesach, we should consider these differences in circumstance, between then, with Chipazon Mitzraim, and our situation today.

חג כשר ושמח

The Four Cups

The Talmud Yerushalmi, Pesachim chapter 10:1, gives many reasons why the Mishnah states we must drink 4 cups the night of the Seder.

• The "4 expressions of Geulah" from Shemot 6:6-6:7
• The 4 times the word cup is used in the dream (Breishit chapter 40)
• The 4 kingdoms (i.e. from Daniel) which rule over Am Yisrael
• The 4 cups of wrath that Hashem will pour out on the nations
• The 4 cups of consolation that Hashem will pour out for Am Yisrael

See the Gemara here for the exact verses.

The GR"A says (though I am unable to find the exact source in my Haggadah this year) that the 4 cups correspond to 4 periods of time.

1. This World
2. The Days of Moshiach
3. The Resurrection of the Dead
4. The World to Come

I would propose that this corresponds to what is written here in the Raya Mehemna.

1. This World - From the time of Exile through the time 1st Geulah of 5708, up to the 2nd Geulah.
2. The Days of Moshiach - From the time of the 2nd Geulah of 5727 until the 3rd Geulah
3. The Resurrection of the Dead - The start of which is between the time of the 3rd Geulah and the time of the 4th Geulah. On another level of understanding, Am Yisrael will reach the level of "days of old" in this era, as if Am Yisrael of old is the dead that is resurrected
4. The World to Come - As mankind reaches higher and higher after the end of the Geulah, it will be akin to Olam HaBa here on earth, the 7th millenium, etc.

May we all be zocheh to eat from the Zevachim and the Pesachim in the final Beit HaMikdash.

Chag Sameach

Four Redemptions

One of the prior posts indicates that there are in fact 4 different Geulot (Redemptions) that Am Yisrael is to experience. The full text was posted yesterday here.

The 4 listed are as follows:

• Rejoice (The Hebrew רנו, pronounced Ronnu)
• 60 (The Aramaic שיתין)
• 66 (The Aramaic שיתין ושית)
• 72 (The abbreviation ע"ב)

Rejoice, רנו, is in Gematria 256. I believe that I know what year this means. I will not explain that calculation, but there are conclusions:

• The Final Redemption is (in this Zohar quote) divided in to 4 different mini-Redemptions.
• We have already been redeemed twice. Once was hundreds of years ago, once was decades ago.
• The First Redemption was completely hidden from the world, setting the latest date of the Geulah.
• The Second Redemption (The Pekidah) was mostly hidden from the world, setting the stage for the next step.
• The Third Redemption (The Zechirah) will be obvious, yet there will still be detractors.
• The Fourth Redemption, Creation is perfected.