What Hashem Is Trying To Tell Us

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If you look at it carefully, out of all the ten מכות , there were only two major miracles that occurred: דם and ברד . The rest are פלאי פלאים , but not נסים . G-d found it more important to express Himself in the world of פלאות than the world of נסים . That’s interesting to think about as we delve into this discussion about the goal of יציאת מצרים and what our objective is this evening.

א) וַיּ֤אֹמֶר י״י אֶל־משֶֹׁ֔ה בּ֖אֹ אֶל־פַּרְע֑הֹ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י אתֹתַֹ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃
ב) וּלְמַ֡עַן תּסְפַּ ר בְּאזְנֵ֨י בִנךְָ֜ וּבֶן־בִּנְךָ֗ אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁ֤ר התִעְלַּלַ֙תְּיִ ֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם ואְ תֶ־אתֹתַֹ֖י אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֣מְתִּי בָ֑ם וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּי־אֲנִ֥י י״י׃

G-d tells משה that He actually took away פרעה ’s בחירה in order to place His signs, or אותות , in כלל
ישראל ’s midst. The מכות are defined as אותות . An אות serves as a sign with a specific function. As
the next פסוק tells us, the מכות ultimately exist to relate them to the ears of our children and
grandchildren that which G-d manipulated and performed to know that He is the name .י-ק-ו-ק
As the של״ה tells us, this name connotes an understanding of the infinite being who expresses
himself as the constant creator. He’s the מחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית . That’s the goal of these
אותות . It’s to tell us this idea. אתכם , you, the Jews, need to know and understand this reality
through My אותות . Know G-d is G-d.

The אברבנאל points out that the מכות are divided into three parts:
1. The first three are a basic introduction. .ותדע כי אני ה׳
2. The second set represents G-d בקרב הארץ . It’s not just that “I’m here.” It’s
more than that; He interacts with us.
3. The third set represents כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ . I am the Source of all, therefore, I
can combine elements which look contradictory. Fire and water don’t work
together. But because אין כמוני בכל הארץ, I make it happen. If you look carefully
at the פסוקים , the מכות are really an educational tool to teach the Jews and
the civilized world about monotheism.

This is the reintroduction to the G-d Who we today know and serve. It’s all from מצרים.

This is the goal of the night.

The מצות הלילה is to do what I do whenever a child asks. .מה העדות
What’s the purpose of religion? And we tell him about the story of Egypt because it’s where
everything started. Whatever we know about G-d was from there. We don’t know Him from ברא
שמים וארץ . We weren’t there. But we did see Him take us out of Egypt to then meet up at Sinai.
That’s what’s your sharing with your child on פסח . It’s the G-d Who you live and die for. It’s למען
תדעו כי אני ה׳ . We take the theological discourse, going through the progression and
transformation of a nation from paganism back to monotheism, and see those ideas and values
in the story of יציאת מצרים . But it’s critical to realize that He’s not just a G-d Who performs miracles
for us. Remember G-d performed more נפלאות than נסים in Egypt. There is a reason for that.
Understand G-d through nature. See Him through your telescope and microscope and
understand that all the laws of the natural world are His decree and He can manipulate them as
He pleases. That’s what נפלאות teaches us. נפלאות teach us that what you
take as a given doesn’t have to be. The סדר היום is His will. You take for granted gravity. Gravity is
רצון הבורא and it can stop today. Understand that what you call “laws” are nothing more than an
accumulation of recorded human observations of a mere 5,000 years. You have no clue what
happened before or what will happen after. If you think about it, you have a pretty weak חזקה of
what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s all רצון ה׳ . Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t take for
granted your alive. Don’t take your health for granted. Don’t take for granted your Jewish. That’s
what יציאת מצרים taught me. Everything is רצון ה׳ . Everything is because G-d wants it to happen.
When I say מחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית this is exactly what I mean.