In every generation, a person must see himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: ‘It is because of what the L-rd did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’”
There are many interpretations of what it means to “see ourselves as if we left Egypt.” One well-known commentary is that each of us must try to imagine what it was like to have been a slave in Egypt and then look at ourselves as though we were personally redeemed. Another is that each person should consider the Exodus from Egypt as a personal miracle, done for his or her sake, since the redemption of our forefathers means that we ourselves do not have to be slaves today.
But there is another way to understand this obligation. According to the Chazal, the Egyptian exile is the root of all the future exiles that the Jewish people, as a nation, have experienced. (B’reishis Rabbah 16:4)
The Baal HaTanya explains that the main aspect of galus is galus ha’nefesh (exile of the soul) – when a Jew’s unique inner divine spark is in confinement and hidden from him. Without a connection to our Divine essence and to Hashem, we are no different from the animals that roam around the world.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov further explains that the concept of “Mitzrayim” is a state of being where you cannot see Divine Providence in your life. It is really “meitzarim,” a narrow place of constriction and distress, darkness and slavery. It’s a place where the forces of nature seem so real and overpowering that you can witness wondrous miracles, but not be moved by them. You can see the sea split before your very eyes and attribute it all to nature: “Well, there must have been a really strong wind that day.”
Perhaps the biggest and most detrimental illusion of all is that we feel that we are trapped, that the gates of t’shuvah are closed to us and that we will never be able to break free from our personal shortcomings, imperfections, and blocks.
Each one of us is brought into the world to refine and perfect ourselves and ultimately bring the world to completion by revealing Hashem, Who is hidden, within it. In the upper realms, there is an image of who we could be, and our goal is to get ourselves “down here” to match the image “up there.”
(Material was previously published on ShiratMiriam.com.)
List of People Who Need a r’fuah sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Yossi Azriel ben Chayah Michal
Aviel ben Ktziyah Batyah
Eliyahu ben Sophia
Mordechai ben Rachel Anba
Nissim ben Devorah
Ezra ben Farida
Yossi ben Vardit
Yaakov ben Mazal
Nissan ben Yael
Yehoshua ben Miriam
Eliyahu ben Miriam
Aharon Mordechai ben Sharon
Moshe ben Rachel
Gavriel ben Imo-Shalom
Marik ben Tamara
Yitzchak ben Chanom Chanah
Yosef ben Leah
Shlomo ben Miriam
Shalom Baruch ben Malkah Freida
Ilay Eliezer ben Rivah Rivkah
Misha Moshe ben Tamara
Meir Yaakov ben Esther
Shlomo Hartzel ben Eka
Chaim Zanvil ben Sarah Dinah
Reuven HaKohen ben Golda
Amram ben Perla
Arkady Avraham ben Mazal
Itai ben Ahuvah
Eliyahu ben Rachel
Pinchas Yitzchak ben Beila
Yosef Gideon Yaakov ben Peninah
Yaakov Reuven ben Brachah
Rachamim ben Rachel Leah
Tzvi ben Ratza
Refael ben Alizah
Chaim ben Shula
Binyamin David ben Etel
David Aryeh ben Raiza
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchamah Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadasah bas Devorah
Alizah bas Miriam
Shoshanah Shurah bas Zina
Luna bas Rachel
Malkah bas Miriam
Malkah bas Reicha Shifrah
Adele bas Adi
Evon bas Sally
Karen bas Rachel
Chavah bas Sarah
Brachah Chanah bas Sarah
Tovah Chanah bas Sarah Devorah
Rachel bas Edith
Chanah Elianah bas Naomi
Gittel bas Malkah
Mira Gitta bas Beila Mariasha
Adele bas Sofia Sarah
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.