לא תאספון לתת תבן לעם ללבן הלבנים כתמול שלשם הם ילכו וקששו להם תבן (ה-ז)
Sefer Shemos is called the “Sefer HaGeulah” according to the Ramban. Suffice it to say that our sojourn from Egypt to Canaan was a long and arduous one. One may wonder how was it possible for the Bnei Yisroel, in such a short span of time, to become subjected and enslaved to Pharaoh. The shevatim were capable of decimating the entire Egypt just a mere few years earlier. How could everything have devolved so drastically, so quickly? A similar question is often asked about the sorrowful saga of the Holocaust. Why was there no fighting back? Why were we led like sheep to slaughter with so little in the way of protest?
Although this is a delicate question, R’ Chatzkel Levenstein zt”l gives us the proper insight on golus and tzaros. He says that it really makes no sense, from a logical perspective; but this was the gezeira mishamayim. The ratzon of Hashem trumps and defies all forces of reason. That explains Mitzrayim and that explains Europe. But that isn’t the only point here. The Sefer HaGeulah focuses on renewal. How can we hasten this, oh so sought after renewal?
At the end of the parsha, the tide seems to tilt a bit. Pharaoh decrees that no straw will be supplied while his slaves’ quota will remain the same. The posuk says, "ויפץ העם בכל ארץ מצרים לקשש קש לתבן" - the Yidden scrambled to find straw to use. What was Pharaoh’s intention? I once heard the following beautiful machshava. Pharaoh knew the only way for the Jews to hasten their redemption is through unity and achdus. His “last straw” was to promote discord among the Jews as they would begin fighting over who found this particular straw and to whom does it belong. This would cause a delay in their salvation.
This teaches us that if we want to change the Sefer HaGolus V’hatzaros into the Sefer HaGeulah V’yeshua we must be proactive in promoting אהבה ואחוה ושלום ורעות - and then we’ll be zoche to עוד ישמע בערי יהודה ובחוצות ירושלים. Welcome home!