בס”ד
This week’s Torah portion tells of the special commandment that the Israelites received on the eve of their exodus from Egypt: Each family was commanded to take a lamb home on the tenth of the Jewish month of Nisan, to keep the lamb at home for four days, and on the fourteenth of Nisan to slaughter it for the ‘Passover sacrifice.’ The lamb was one of the Egyptian idols. Could the Jew tell his Egyptian neighbor that he was keeping the lamb in his house for 4 days just in order to slaughter it for a sacrifice?
The lamb was an Egyptian false idol. Its slaughter was to demonstrate the disregard for idolatry in front of everyone. All the Egyptian neighbors came and asked why they were keeping the lamb at home and what they were planning to do with it. The answer was that the lamb will be slaughtered and sacrificed. This was an overwhelming representation of the helplessness of their false idol, thus, the abolition of the Egyptian idol.
However, there was another purpose of taking the lamb, the Egyptian idol: to put the Jews to the test! And to see if their faith in G-d is stronger than their fear of the idol worshipers Egyptians; if they follow their G-d, even when the path is full of danger and discomfort. And indeed, the Jews stood the test well. They bravely carried out the command and did not hesitate to tell the Egyptians about their purpose and intention to slaughter the lamb for sacrifice. And so the Torah says that thanks to the strength of their faith and their dedication to fulfilling the Creator’s command, the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt.
In many ways, there is a parallel between that period, on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt, and the period in which we live today. So then, as now, the demand of us is to endure the test of faith in Hashem and His commandments, in preparation for redemption.
This explains the many difficulties in our generation, difficulties in both the physical and spiritual sense. G-d expects us to face these difficulties, while discovering the enormous power hidden within us. The first Noahide commandment is not to worship idols. In our generation, the Seven Noahide Commandments are the key to personal redemption, and are basic moral commandments that binds all of humanity. Observing these laws, will surely hasten the complete redemption.
Source: Likutei Sichos Vol. 1 page 127.
By Rabbi Moshe Bernstein
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