A Light Unto the Nations

The Israelites [also] did as Moses had said. They requested silver and gold articles and clothing from the Egyptians. God Made the Egyptians respect the people, and they granted their request. [The Israelites] thus drained Egypt of its wealth (Shemos 12:35-36).

Prior to the Exodus, Hashem caused the Jews to find favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. The immediate reason for this was so that the Egyptians would readily offer their vessels of gold and silver to Bnei Yisrael, in fulfillment of Hashem’s promise to Avraham that his descendants would leave their servitude with great wealth. But if that were Hashem’s only intention, it would have been sufficient to cause the Egyptians to give over their wealth out of fear of Bnei Yisrael.

We must, therefore, seek another explanation for the miracle of the Jews finding favor in the eyes of the Egyptians (see Ramban to Shemos 113)-i.e., some reason why it made a difference whether the Egyptians loved and respected us or merely feared us?

Throughout our galus we have been mocked, hated and killed by the nations of the world. We have had to strengthen ourselves not to concern ourselves with those who deride us because of our service to Hashem (see Rema to Orach Hachaim 1:1). There is a danger, however that this state of affairs will be seen as being the way things are meant to be, that we will view the mockery to which we are subjected as an indication of the perfection of our avodah.

The Torah teaches us that the opposite is true “Learn and observe [the Torah] for it is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear of all these laws and proclaim that this is truly a great, wise and understanding nation” (Devarim 4 6). It is clear that the Torah attaches importance to the respect given us by the nations of the world.

The Netziv writes (Ha’amek Davar to Bamidbar 14:21) that the goal of creation is that God’s glory fill the entire earth i.e., that all human beings recognize Him. As we proclaim twice daily in the Shema, our perception of the oneness of God will only be complete when Hashem, Who is acknowledged now only by the Jewish People, will be the one God recognized by the entire world. “When Hashem will be King over the whole world, on that day will He be One and His Name one” (Zechariah 14 9).

This acknowledgment of God by the nations of the world is so important that the miracle of the splitting of the Sea was performed in order that “the Egyptians should know that I am God” (Shemos 7 5). Ibn Ezra adds that the Egyptians referred to were those who drowned. Thus the splitting of the Sea was warranted even for the few seconds of recognition of God by the drowning Egyptians. The World to Come is not limited to Jews; the righteous gentile, who observes the mitzvos incumbent upon him as Divine imperatives, also merits Olam Haba.

We, the Nation of Priests, represent Hashem to the world by our exemplary lifestyle, and imbue the world with knowledge of His existence. “We are a light unto the nations” (Yeshayabu 42:6). The Netziv explains that this function could have been achieved by the Jewish people settling in Eretz Yisrael and inspiring the entire world through an awareness of the miraculous Divine Providence that guides the Jew in his land. We did not merit this. As a consequence, it became necessary to spread the knowledge of Hashem by living among the nations and causing them to witness how we sacrifice ourselves for God’s Name. Our survival as a solitary lamb among seventy hungry wolves points to the existence of a Divine Creator, whose Divine Providence guides and protects His nation.

The halachah consistently exhorts us to act in a way which will effect a kiddush Hashem (sanctification of the Divine Name), and thereby brings us respect as a holy and upright people. We are forbidden to desecrate God’s Name by giving the gentiles reason to castigate us for conduct unbefitting a holy nation (see Choshen Mishpat 266 regarding returning lost articles to a non-Jew). Kiddush Hashem is a facet of the mitzvah of ahavas Hashem, love of God. Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos writes that this mitzvah includes an imperative to call out to all mankind to serve God and acknowledge Him.

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 6) says, ” ‘And he is a witness,’ this refers to Yisrael, as it says, ‘You are my witnesses, says Hashem, and I am your Lord….’ If you will not testify, you will carry His sin.” If you do not relate My existence to the nations, says Hashem, I will exact punishment from you. The nations of the world should ideally function in unison with us to proclaim and acknowledge the Creator.

We bring seventy sacrifices on Succos for the benefit of the seventy nations, yet we bring them in descending order to intimate that the nations should decrease. There is no contradiction in this. The need for seventy distinct nations is only a result of the Tower of Bavel at which mankind united to deny God. As a consequence, God created divisions among them to thwart this attempt to countermand the purpose of man. The ideal, however, is that mankind should unite in the service of God. As the prophet Zephaniah proclaims, “Then will I return to the nations a clear language so that they can all call on the Name of Hashem and serve Him in unison” (Zephaniah 3 9).

As God’s representatives, we must ultimately command the respect and favor of the nations of the world in order to fill the world with His glory. That occurs, says Rashi, only when we fulfill the mitzvos properly. A mitzvah fulfilled properly is Godly and perfect and can only command respect and admiration. If we fail to perform the mitzvos properly, however, then we will be considered fools. Derision and mockery will be our lot, for the portion of the mitzvah improperly performed is not Divine and therefore elicits ridicule that then spreads and encompasses the entire mitzvah.

Chazal explain that the verse, “AII nations of the earth will see that God’s Name has been called upon you and will respect and fear you,” refers to the tefillin placed on the head. The Vilna Gaon added that this means not just the tefillin on the head but the tefillin in the head – i.e., the internalized intention with which the mitzvah is performed.

The scorn of the nations of the world is not a sign of our perfection, but rather that something is lacking in our service of Hashem, that we have failed in our role of leading a life of holiness separate from the nations and their lifestyles. The halachah “Esav hates Yaakov” guards us against the possibility of assimilation and spiritual self-destruction. But when we fulfill our role properly, the entire world will want to share in our service of Hashem.

Prior to our first redemption-the model of the final redemption to come-Hashem brought us favor in the Egyptians’ eyes so that we would not forget this ideal. The Egyptians readily gave us vessels of gold and silver to enhance our service to Hashem in the desert. The clothing they gave us represented the honor and glory in which they wished to garb us. And so it will be in the final redemption.

May we merit, through our meticulous performance of the mitzvos the respect, honor, and admiration of the entire world, rather than the mockery and abuse that is our current lot. Then all nations will follow our lead in serving Hashem and bringing the world to perfection.

Pidyon Haben Redemption of the Firstborn

Sanctify to Me every firstborn that initiates the womb among the Israelites (Shemos 13 2).

The Torah explains the requirement of redeeming the firstborn in 1 terms of Hashem having acquired all the firstborn of the Jews when he killed the firstborn Egyptians. But there is a problem with this explanation the slain Egyptian firstborns encompass many more types of firstborns than those we are required to redeem. The killing of the firstborn of Egypt affected both firstborn male and firstborn females and the firstborns of both mothers and those of the fathers.

But the Torah requires only the firstborn male of the mother to be redeemed.

When one is the beneficiary of a miraculous salvation, he, as it were, draws from his bank account of merits. Thus the salvation of one is “on credit” and must be paid off with future mitzvos. God’s beneficence creates reciprocal obligations for those who do not deserve the benefits bestowed. Thus the blessing we recite upon being delivered from a dangerous situation, birkas hagomel, can be translated as “.. . He who grants the obligated benefits.”

The redemption of the firstborn stems from the fact that our redemption in Egypt was an undeserved miracle, which therefore created an obligation of extra service to Hashem. The Kohen from whom the firstborn is redeemed stands in place of the firstborn in fulfilling this added responsibility.

We can now understand why the firstborn females need not be redeemed. Although Jewish males sunk into idolatry in Egypt, the women remained steadfastly faithful to Hashem. It was in the merit of the righteous women in Egypt that our ancestors were redeemed. Therefore the firstborn females deserved to be saved, and their miraculous salvation entailed no redemption.

The explanation of why only the firstborn of the mother requires redemption is different. We read in the Haggadah that God alone smote the firstborn Egyptians “I and not an angel; I and not a seraph; I and not an agent; I am Hashem, I and no other.” And yet Hashem explicitly warned the Jewish people to stay indoors that night so the “destroying angel” would not harm them (Shemos 1222-23). And Chazal interpreted the preceding Hashem in the verse, “And God (veHashem) smote all of the firstborn,” as referring to the Heavenly Court. So it would seem that the angels did take part in this plague.

Chelkas Yoav notes that it is impossible for either an angel or man to determine the firstborn of the father. Thus only Hashem could kill the firstborn of the fathers Ani Hashem-I am Hashem Who distinguished between the seed that formed a firstborn and the seed that did not form a firstborn.” The firstborn of the mothers, however, were killed by the destroying angels, which can determine whether a woman has previously given birth.

When Moshe first describes the killing of the firstborn (Shemos 115), he says that every firstborn in Egypt “from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the slavewoman” will die. But when the plague actually took place, the Torah describes God as smiting every firstborn “from the firstborn of Pharaoh until the firstborn of the captive in prison” (Shemos 12:24). The first verse merely says that all firstborn in Egypt will die, not specifically that God will smite them. Hence it refers to the firstborn of the mothers as well, and the slavewoman is mentioned. The second verse, by contrast, says that Hashem smote all the firstborn, and therefore refers to the firstborn of the father. Thus the male captive is mentioned as the furthest extent of the punishment.

We know that when Hashem gives over the power of destruction to an angel, the angel does not distinguish between tzaddik and rasha; all are affected equally. It could be, however, that this only goes so far as including those who may not deserve being killed under normal circumstances, but does not include those who have a specific merit to protect them.

When Hashem Himself brings destruction, only those deserving of such destruction are affected. Thus, the Jewish firstborn of the fathers -whose Egyptian counterparts were smitten by God personally- were not saved miraculously. There was simply no specific reason why they should be killed, and therefore no redemption is necessary as a consequence of their being spared. The firstborn of the Jewish mothers, however-whose Egyptian counterparts were smitten by the destroying angels-were miraculously saved, since normally they would have required some special merit to save them. Thus only the firstborn of the mother is included in the mitzvah of redemption of the firstborn. But this only applies to the male firstborn of Jewish mothers, for the females did possess the special merit of not being sunken in idolatry.

If one has only enough money to pay for his expenses to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for one of the three Festivals or to redeem his son, the pidyon haben (redemption of the son) takes precedence. This is surprising, for generally a mitzvah that has a set time takes precedence over pidyon haben, which can be fulfilled at a later date.

On the three pilgrimage Festivals, a Jew came to Jerusalem to see and be seen by Hashem. He was, as it were, reviewed by the King to determine his share of service in God’s Kingdom and to set his responsibility for the coming months, when he would return home to serve God with the bounty he had been given. Pidyon haben, on the other hand, is the payment of a debt past due, for being given a firstborn son, who is the product of an undeserved miracle. One cannot begin to establish future responsibilities and contributions to God’s Kingdom before he has paid his past debts to that Kingdom. Hence pidyon haben takes precedence over the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

May we recognize our indebtedness to Hashem for all the undeserved bounty He provides us and commit ourselves to serve Him with all our hearts and souls.