Noticeably, yetzias Mitzrayim, our liberation from Egypt, is mentioned twice in the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments. In his commentary to Sefer Shemos 20:2, which is the first time the Aseres HaDibros appears in the Torah, Rashi writes: “It is worth it that I took you out of Egypt that (now) you will be obliged to serve Me.” Ibn Ezra writes: “The special and unparalleled treatment that Hashem accorded Klal Yisrael gave Him the ‘right’ to impose special responsibilities on them.” In his commentary to Devarim 5:6, Rashi writes: “It is for this reason that He redeemed you, so that you will become His servants and observe His commandments.”
Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman, zl, explains that yetzias Mitzrayim is much like Brias ha’Olam, the creation of the world. Just as Hashem created the world from nothing, the Egyptian redemption was a comparably seminal event. When Hashem created the world, it was covert, with no revelation on His part. No one saw – no one knew. In contrast, during yetzias Mitzrayim, Hashem provided Klal Yisrael with an unprecedented revelation of His powers. Hashem was mechadesh, innovated, the creation of the world, divulging publicly for all to see that He was Master of the world. Thus, yetzias Mitzrayim was a repeat of Brias ha’Olam. Is it then any wonder that it carries such significance?
Rav Heyman explains this further. Let us imagine that Adam HaRishon’s creation preceded that of all other creations. Thus, being “first,” Adam would have a “ringside seat” to observe the completion of Hashem’s world. He would have seen and experienced the awesome greatness of Hashem. As a result, his gratitude to Hashem would have been overwhelming. Indeed, as a result of his perceptive experiences, Hashem could make demands on Adam to induct him into His service (out of a sense of gratitude). It did not, however, happen this way. Adam was created last, after all other creatures. He entered a completed world. He did not experience Hashem’s creative miracles. As a result, he did not personally observe Hashem’s miraculous guidance of the world.
During yetzias Mitzrayim, the world was completed, and Hashem “introduced” Himself to His creations. Nothing about this revelation of Hashem’s power and glory was covert. The world was able to observe how water and fire could be fused, dust and air can produce at Hashem’s command, and even the multiple “gods” of Egyptian culture were putty in His hands.
As a result, we are obliged to acknowledge and relate to Hashem on two planes: to recognize His mastery over the world in general; to accept His monarchy over Klal Yisrael in particular. The first mention (in the Aseres HaDibros) in which Hashem “introduces” Himself as the G-d who took us out of Egypt denotes Hashem’s monarchy and mastery over the entire world. It was on Pesach/yetzias Mitzrayim that the world was created anew. We must show our gratitude to Him by accepting to carry out anything that He asks of us. Another aspect of the Egyptian exodus was Hashem’s protection over us and the manner in which He struck and smote the Egyptians for their mistreatment of the Jews. Hashem redeemed us and, therefore, we are obligated to serve Him and commit to whatever He asks of us. We acknowledge this in the commandment of Shabbos, in which we affirm Hashem’s creation of the world.
We reiterate the age-old question: Do those who do not observe Shabbos disavow/dispute Hashem as Creator of the world? We do not have a good answer to this question. On the surface, their actions imply a lack of respect for Hashem as Creator. Realistically, however, they do not knowingly desecrate Shabbos. They do not have a concrete philosophy to support their actions. It is pure yetzer hora, evil inclination, convincing them that it is not necessary to observe Shabbos. It is, at best (in their minds), an archaic law that applied to life in the shtetl. Today, with modern technology and a new way of life, Shabbos is obsolete. Does this mitigate their actions? Absolutely not. It does not mean, however, that they do not acknowledge Hashem as Creator. Most of them are like tinokos she’nishbu, children taken captive, who do not know what they are doing.
