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“Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt…Today you are leaving in the month of springtime.” (13:3-4)

We are enjoined to remember the liberation from Egypt and to relate it constantly. Interestingly, the Torah seems to emphasize the  fact  that  we  were  redeemed  b’chodesh  ha’aviv,  in  the spring. This is part and parcel of the geulah, liberation. It must be stressed again and again that we left during the spring. Rashi explains that we were redeemed in the spring, at a time when it is not cold or hot, or rainy. Indeed, at a time when the climate is perfect. When we think about it, however, the fact that we left Egypt in the spring is secondary to…

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“This month shall be for you the beginning of the months.” (12:2)

The first mitzvah Klal Yisrael received as a nation was the mitzvah of Kiddush haChodesh, sanctifying the new moon. Indeed, the moon is  the  constellation  by  which  we  reckon  our  Yomim  Tovim, festivals; and Klal Yisrael is compared to the moon. Simply, this is due to  the waxing and waning of the moon every month. As the moon goes through a process of monthly renewal, so, too, does Klal Yisrael have the opportunity and ability to rejuvenate themselves spiritually. Even if a person has feelings of rejection, when he senses within himself a sort of spiritual deterioration,  he can reinvigorate himself…

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“One more plague shall I bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that, he shall send you forth from here. When he sends forth, it shall be complete; he shall drive you out of here.” (11:1)

Simply, Hashem is conveying to Moshe Rabbeinu that Pharaoh and the Egyptians will have to undergo one more plague. Then the Ten Plagues will be complete, and Pharaoh will have received his due. Sforno, however, renders this pasuk differently. He explains that Pharaoh originally sent Moshe and Aharon away willingly; with his rod of anger, he drove them out from his presence. In a similar manner, he will now be compelled to send them and all of Klal Yisrael away in anguish. The  previous time he had driven away only Moshe and Aharon – and it was only from his…

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