Why does Judaism make such a big deal about the Exodus? Of course, on Passover it deserves the limelight. But every Shabbat and holiday, in the middle of Kiddush, apropos to nothing, the Exodus from Egypt is thrown in. Every day in reciting the Shema, we recall the Exodus. Even one of the 613 commandments of the Torah is to remember the Exodus every day.
Jewish history is not short on great historical episodes: the sacrifice of Isaac, the revelation at Sinai, the crossing into the Promised Land. Why should the Exodus get top billing?
The Jewish understanding of God has two foundations: 1) God created the world and 2) God intervenes in human affairs. Shabbat is testimony to the first premise; the Exodus is testimony to the second.
Although the concept of God as the creator was widely accepted in the Western world from the time the Jews introduced it, until the advent of Darwin, the second premise has always posed a predicament: If God is intimately involved in human affairs, why is there so much suffering in the world?
This conundrum caused philosophers to devise theories which gave God credit for creating the world, but effectively dismissed Him for the long haul. Thus, the Watchmaker Theory: Just as the watchmaker makes the watch and sets its mechanism in motion, at which point his job is done, so too God set the laws of nature in motion, after which, thank You very much, His services were no longer required.
In other words, God's laws of nature work independently of Him, thus producing random effects -- such as terminally ill children -- in which God cannot intervene. He has turned over the keys of the car to nature, and, no matter how recklessly nature drives, God is confined to the back seat.
A corollary of this theory is that God neither knows nor cares what transpires in the lives of individuals. (Because if He did know or care, obviously everyone would be healthy, wealthy, and wise.)
This concept is anathema to Judaism. Judaism proclaims that nothing happens in the cosmos -- no electron encircles an atomic nucleus, no cell divides, no star is born or dies -- without Divine will animating it at every nanosecond. As the blessing before drinking a glass of water states: "Everything exists by Your word." Translate: If God did not will that glass to be full of molecules of H2O at this moment, poof! It simply would not exist.
This is the real meaning of the oneness of God, which Judaism obsesses on: there are no forces of any kind independent of God. Period. God not only made the watch, but His will keeps it ticking, His energy animates its atoms and molecules, and His providence decides who will own it and for how long.
* * *
That's where the Exodus comes in. The Children of Israel were slaves to the mightiest dynasty on earth. As the Midrash says, no slave ever escaped from Egypt, surrounded as it was by potent fortifications and daunting deserts. By the laws of nature, there was no possibility for the Israelite slaves to achieve freedom.
The whole point of the Exodus was for the Jewish people to see, once and for all, that God runs the show, from the minutest detail to the grandest spectacle. Ultimate caring. Ultimate involvement. "So says God: 'Thus you will know that I am God'" (Exodus 7:17).
Every component of the Exodus was meant to reveal another facet of how God is involved in the world. Thus, the plague of lice, the smallest creatures perceptible to the naked eye, was intended to show that God's supervision penetrates to the smallest units of existence. The plague of frogs, where the normally water-loving amphibians jumped into the burning ovens of Egypt, showed that God's will, not brute instinct, rules the animal kingdom.
This is why the Exodus is repeatedly mentioned and continually remembered. The Exodus demonstrated God's love for humanity and how he intervenes in destiny for the sake of their collective and individual redemption.
Only in an immature, unstable relationship does the wife require the husband to prove his love and dependability over and over again. If every time a Jew is confronted with misfortune, he or she doubts God's love and closeness, that is a sure sign that the Exodus has been forgotten.
This leaves us, however, with the problem of suffering, an issue that we have been grappling with for millennia, as the biblical Book of Job testifies. The Jewish answer to the conundrum of suffering is laid out on the Seder table.
On this festival of rejoicing in our redemption, symbols of suffering abound: the bitter herbs, the salt water reminiscent of tears, the choroset resembling the mortar of our back-breaking labor. Yet the symbols of redemption and the symbols of suffering are inextricably woven together. The choroset, representing mortar and enslavement, is sweet. The karpas, representing new life, is dipped in the salt water. The bitter herbs are coated in sweet choroset before eating.
This is the lesson of the Hagaddah's recondite account of the five sages partaking of a Seder in B'nei Brak. Rabbi Elazar says that he never understood why the seder had to take place at night until another sage explained to him that only the totality of day and night, joy and suffering can produce the redemption.
The Exodus was our national introduction to God-who He is and how He acts, always with supreme love and caring for our ultimate welfare. In the most visceral way, those who partake of the Seder taste the truth that suffering is an inextricable part of the process of redemption -- nationally and individually.
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(19) Ruth Fogelman, April 13, 2020 3:40 PM
the issue of suffering
As Sara Rigler writes, "...the problem of suffering [is] an issue that we have been grappling with for millennia, as the biblical Book of Job testifies." It can have many reasons. Suffering is sometimes G-d's way of squeezing us until we scream from the pain, but through the pain, and only through the squeezing and the enormous pain and loss can we grow into the person we are destined to become. Also, wide-scale chaos, pain and death can be the forerunners of the next leap on the way to our full Ge'ulah, as we can see from world history and Jewish history.
I hope and pray that our sincere prayers and acts of kindness will move G-d to swiftly remove this plague from the world and bless us all with health, peace and tranquility, and that He will give us the privilege of health, good news and full redemption.
(18) Anonymous, November 30, 2013 11:03 PM
This is good information. THANKS
(17) Lukas Dohnal, July 22, 2013 1:35 PM
Purpose of suffering
This article is interesting. However, I still do not understand one thing. Why is suffering necessary for redemption? ... Does it mean that for "redemption" (or "escape from suffering"), suffering needs to exist first? ... That doesn't make sense to me. I mean - why would anyone need redemption in the first place, if there was no suffering? What's the purpose of redemption? And whatever the purpose is, shouldn't the ALMIGHTY, PERFECT God be able to achieve that purpose in a perfect way, excluding the suffering of living beings?
(16) Anonymous, March 5, 2013 1:59 AM
WOW
I simply love this text. It explains very succinctly, what I have intuited, and provides the necessary details. The word "Providence," is Stunning, in my opinion, for that reveals the idea of multilayered significance of Human life, and G-d's interplay with His Creation. I find this Amazing text Stupendous, for its simplicity belies profound understanding!!!
(15) Larry, April 11, 2012 6:02 AM
who causes suffering?
I'm just starting to study Judaism. It seems alot of suffering is caused by man. Isn't that why G-d gave us the law? Some of the most horrific crimes were committed not only by leaders, but by the average Joe doing his job or just following orders. We are to follow G-ds law, and bow to no man for their greatness or their money, etc..
(14) Anonymous, March 7, 2010 7:30 AM
Beautiful Brilliant. Thank you Mrs Rigler for all your articles. I am fond of them. I read them very often, and every time my soul is touched. Toda lach !
(13) Raphael, March 3, 2010 10:40 AM
Beautiful Brilliant. Thank you Mrs Rigler for all your articles. I am fond of them. I read them very often, and every time my soul is touched. Toda lach ! Raphaël from Paris.
(12) raymond, April 5, 2007 3:18 PM
human suffering
What about the suffering of people in their daily lives? How would you address that? Would you say to someone, G-d is with you? Is that supposed to comfort them? What would you say?
(11) Glen, March 27, 2004 12:00 AM
Thought provoking
Very insightful, and encouraging to face the day. Thank you very much.
(10) Patrick Hurley, March 24, 2004 12:00 AM
I feel very certain and secure when I read the wisdom of the Rabbis. Thank you for providing this website. It's 'chicken soup' for my soul!
(9) Anonymous, March 23, 2004 12:00 AM
Enjoying the article you wrote
Your article has brought out some warm and beautiful thoughts. Passover does have a very special meaning for me because I begin to reflect on my relationship with G-d and realize how loving He is even when I face very painful times—I know He is helping me all the way. Also, the lessons that
G-d may teach us are very difficult to learn but I believe that I can be a better person for them in the long run. As I reread the story about the Israelites the story becomes clearer to me on how they struggled during those difficult years, like I still do, to learn and follow the law but to also learn how to build my relationship closer to Him.
Again, thank you for writing this wonderful article and also, I love to read articles coming from Aish.
(8) Anonymous, April 15, 2003 12:00 AM
Concise and timely
Just before the holiday, the proper mindset is important. This article presents important fundamental everyone should know and remember. Great Job!
(7) Erik, March 27, 2003 12:00 AM
Exodus
Thank You,
I was doing a report on exodus for school your site was very helpful.
(6) Edward Welch, March 28, 2002 12:00 AM
Timely and helpful.
I was raised as both a Christian and a Jew , I am slowly making a return to the faith of my fathers ,your pages will help Toda EJW.
(5) Anonymous, March 26, 2002 12:00 AM
sara rigler does it again. beautiful.
(4) Randy Benson, March 26, 2002 12:00 AM
God's Love
What do you say to someone who's life has been nothing but pain and struggle? Their parents are alcoholics who fight and beat them constantly. They have no money. They only know poverty. Do you say you have this because God loves you? This person has been taught to believe in God, to be afraid of God, to never use God's name in vane, but when they have grown and look back the throught enters their mind that maybe this God is not their God. Where was he through the pain and suffering? When they rationalize and begin to believe there is no God. What do you say to them?
(3) Bruce Pezzlo, March 26, 2002 12:00 AM
will suffering continue to exist after redemption?
Thank you for this article. I plan to use this to open our seder this year.
I worry that suffering in not only 'an inextricable part of the process of redemption' as you state, but that suffering will forever exist. Even after strong handed redemption from Egypt, Israel struggled, in the desert, claiming Eretz Yisroel, and on and on to these days of exile. Perhaps that is our gift in this world, the ability to exercise our mitzvah muscles to build these 'muscles' by performing the 613 mitzvah's in the face of suffering. The opportunity to be strong in mitzvah while we are vulnerable to this world where suffering exists might be an opportunity that will continue even after redemption. Must suffering exist after redemption?
Chag Semeach.
(2) Tom Slatton, March 25, 2002 12:00 AM
A great article pregnant with truth.
(1) Anonymous, March 24, 2002 12:00 AM
amazing
whoever is in charge of this website, i just want to say that everyday i try and log on to see what is on the website because it gives me chizuk and meaning to my everyday existence. I like to write so if you ever want an article from the perspective of an american student studying here, let me know because id love to share my ideas and voice some opinions. thank you so much and keep on doing a great job. You inspire so many of us daily.