The Exodus from Egypt

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The book of Exodus recounts how, after hundreds of years of the Israelites' slavery in Egypt, God miraculously frees the people through a process of ten plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea. The Passover holiday commemorates these events, and discussing the Exodus is a focal point of the Passover seder.
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Exodus in the Ten Commandments
TANAKH
The Exodus from Egypt is highlighted in the first of the Ten Commandments. The book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah, recounts the Israelites' journey from slavery in Egypt to receiving the Ten Commandments.
I יהוה am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage:
Exodus 20:2
A Perpetual Reminder of the Exodus
TANAKH
The observance of Passover and the eating of unleavened bread serve as a perpetual reminder of the Israelites' departure from Egypt. The book of Deuteronomy provides detailed instructions for observing Passover.
Observe the month of Abib and offer a passover sacrifice to your God יהוה, for it was in the month of Abib, at night, that your God יהוה freed you from Egypt. You shall slaughter the passover sacrifice for your God יהוה, from the flock and the herd, in the place where יהוה will choose to establish the divine name. You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.
Deuteronomy 16:1-3
Remembering the Liberation at Night
MISHNAH
Sages in the Mishnah debate whether the Exodus needs to be mentioned in prayer at night. This first codification of Jewish law from the early third-century presents two opinions on the matter.
It is a mitzva by Torah law to mention the exodus from Egypt at night, but some held that this mitzva was, like phylacteries or ritual fringes, fulfilled only during the day and not at night. For this reason it was decided: The exodus from Egypt is mentioned at night, adjacent to the recitation of Shema. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: I am approximately seventy years old, and although I have long held this opinion, I was never privileged to prevail (Me’iri) and prove that there is a biblical obligation to fulfill the accepted custom (Ra’avad) and have the…
Mishnah Berakhot 1:5
Discussing the Exodus All Night Long
LITURGY
Telling over the redemption story is a focal point of Passover night. The Haggadah, the guiding text of the Passover seder, includes the story of five rabbis who were so immersed in discussing the Exodus story that they needed to be notified that the time had come for morning prayers.
מַעֲשֶׁה ONCE,
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria
and Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon
reclined [for the seder] in Benei Brak.
And they told of the Exodus from Egypt all that night;
until their students came in and said,
“Teachers –
the time for saying the Shema of the morning has come.” Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria said:
I am almost seventy years old,
and never have I merited to find the command
to speak of the Exodus from Egypt at night –
until Ben Zoma interpreted:
It is written…
Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Story of the Five Rabbis
The Precise Timing of the Exodus
TANAKH
The Torah describes the Exodus as happening at the end of 430 years of enslavement. The book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah, recounts the moment.
at the end of the four hundred and thirtieth year, to the very day, all the ranks of יהוה departed from the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:41
Perils in the Wilderness of Shur
MIDRASH
The Israelites faced perilous and harsh conditions in the wilderness of Shur, filled with serpents and scorpions. Midrash Tanchuma, a medieval collection of midrash, offers a vivid account of the dangers encountered by the Israelites during their journey through the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt.
And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur (Exod. 15:22). The wilderness of Shur is actually the wilderness of Kazab. They say that the wilderness of Kazab was eight hundred parasangs square and was filled with serpents and scorpions, as is stated: Who led thee through the great and dreadful wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions (Deut. 8:15). R. Yosé the son of Hanina declared: The serpents were the size of the beam of a house, and the scorpions were the width of a span.
Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 18:1
No Rejoicing Over the Downfall of the Wicked
TALMUD
Talmudic sages debate and analyze if one can rejoice over the downfall of the wicked. In the context of a discussion on the topic in tracate Megillah, the Babylonian Talmud presents a teaching of Rabbi Yocḥanan that the ministering angels were prevented from singing while the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea.
And similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20)? The ministering angels wanted to sing their song, for the angels would sing songs to each other, as it states: “And they called out to each other and said” (Isaiah 6:3), but the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: The work of My hands, the Egyptians, are drowning at sea, and you wish to say songs? This indicates that God does not rejoice over the downfall of the wicked.
Megillah 10b:26
A Celestial Celebration of the Exodus
KABBALAH
According to the Zohar, the Exodus from Egypt was a celestial celebration involving heavenly hosts. This foundational kabbalistic text reveals the spiritual and divine joy shared between the heavenly beings and the people of Israel during the recounting of the Exodus story.
Then all the angels and supernal beings gather round and observe Israel, how she sings and rejoices because of her Lord’s own Redemption-and seeing the rejoicings below, the supernal beings also break into jubilation for that the Holy One possesses on earth a people so holy, whose joy in the Redemption of their Lord is so great and so powerful.
Zohar, Bo 11:180
Recounting the Miracles of Liberation
HALAKHAH
Recounting the story is a religious obligation that emphasizes the miracles and divine protection experienced by the people of Israel. Rabbi Joseph Karo's Shulchan Arukh, the authoritative 16th-century code of Jewish law, explains the obligation to engage with the Passover story and the laws of the holiday.
A person is obligated to engage in the laws of Passover and the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and to recount the miracles and wonders that the Holy One, Blessed be He, performed for our ancestors until sleep overtakes him. Gloss: And all the laws of the first night also apply to the second night (Agur). It is customary to recite only the Shema before going to sleep and not the other passages that are usually recited on other nights, in order to provide protection, as this is a ‘night of watching’ from harmful forces.
Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 481:2
The Dual Meaning of the Plague of the Firstborn
COMMENTARY
The final plague, the death of the firstborn, devastated Egypt. Rabbi Barukh HaLevi Epstein’s commentary on the Passover Haggadah offers a unique interpretation of the Hebrew term for the plague, 'Makat Bechorot.'
The plague of the first-born: While the other plagues are referred to by their names (blood, frogs, vermin, etc.), the final plague is referred to with an extra word, “Makat, the plague of...” We say “Makat Bechorot,” “the plague of the first-born.” Why do we add the word “Makat” to this plague and not the others? The names of the first nine plagues are clearly talking about something that is inherently bad and pernicious, such as frogs or lice or blood; however, it is not self-evident that the word “Bechorot,” “first born” is referring to something bad…
Barukh SheAmar on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, The Ten Plagues 16:1
The Multitude of Plagues
LITURGY
Though the Torah explicitly mentions ten plagues, rabbinic tradition teaches that the Egyptians experienced many more. The Haggadah, recited during the Passover seder, presents an accounting of the plagues.
Rabbi Akiva says: How can you know
that each and every plague
the Holy One brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt
was in fact made up of five plagues?
For it is said,
“His fury was sent down upon them,
great anger, rage, and distress,
a company of messengers of destruction.”
“His fury” – one,
“great anger” – two,
“rage” – three,
“distress” – four,
“a company of messengers of destruction” – five.
Conclude from this that
THEY WERE STRUCK WITH FIFTY PLAGUES IN EGYPT
AND WITH TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY PLAGUES
AT THE SEA.
Pesach Haggadah, Magid, The Ten Plagues 20
Abraham's Merit and the Splitting of the Red Sea
REFERENCE
The splitting of the Red Sea is attributed in some soruces to the merit of Abraham. In his encyclopedic work, Hayyim Joseph David Azulai (Chida) draws from midrashic sources to explain how Abraham's righteousness led to this miraculous event.
2 The splitting of the Red Sea: It was in the merit of our father Abraham, peace be upon him. That is as our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, wrote in Yalkut Tehillim (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 863:18), "For He remembered His holy word to Abraham His servant (Psalms 105:42) — Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, 'In the merit of Abraham am I splitting the sea for them.'" And they also said in Yalkut Yehoshua (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 15:1) that it was in the merit of our father Abraham, peace be upon him, that He split the sea…
Midbar Kedemot, Letter Kof 2
The Moral Dilemma of Borrowing from the Egyptians
JEWISH THOUGHT
Before the Israelites left Egypt, God commanded that they borrow valuables from the Egyptians, that they ultimately would not give back. Samuel David Luzzatto, a 19th-century scholar, explores the question of how God could command what appears to be a deceitful act.
Included in the realm of providence and of reward and punishment revealed by the L-rd to His people at the exodus from Egypt was their borrowing vessels of silver and gold and garments, viz. (Shemoth 12:36) "and they emptied out Egypt," just as He had foretold in the beginning of His words to Moses (Ibid. 3:21-22) "And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go out, you will not go out empty. And every woman will borrow of her neighbor and from the woman in whose house she dwells, etc…
Sefer Yesodei HaTorah 27:1
The Mystical Night of the Exodus
MUSAR
The night of the Exodus is imbued with mystical significance and divine protection. In his work, Kav HaYashar, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kaidanover explores the protective aspects of the Divine Name and the unique practice of not reciting the bedtime Shema on this night.
In view of our obligation to relate the story of the Exodus it seems to me that a hint to the Divine Name mentioned above can also be seen in the acronym of the phrase, “a night of guarding” — leil shimurim (Shemos 12:42). For the value of the letters ל"ש [330] is equal to that of the Name יכ"ש [330]. This night is called a “night of guarding” because throughout the night we are protected from harmful spirits (Pesachim 109b). In acknowledge of this we refrain from reciting the [bedtime] Shema on this night in order to demonstrate our…
Kav HaYashar 90:12
Despair at the Sea
SECOND TEMPLE
The Israelites, despite witnessing miracles, were ready to surrender to the Egyptians and even blamed Moses during their entrapment by the sea. Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian, provides a detailed account of the Israelites' despair before the parting of the Red Sea.
4. When the Hebrews, therefore, were neither able to bear up, being thus, as it were, besieged, because they wanted provisions, nor saw any possible way of escaping; and if they should have thought of fighting, they had no weapons; they expected a universal destruction, unless they delivered themselves up to the Egyptians. So they laid the blame on Moses, and forgot all the signs that had been wrought by God for the recovery of their freedom; and this so far, that their incredulity prompted them to throw stones at the prophet, while he encouraged them and promised them deliverance…
The Antiquities of the Jews 2:15:4
Remembering Key Events in the Shema
TOSEFTA
The recitation of the Shema is not just a prayer but a reminder of key events in Jewish history, including the slaying of the firstborn and the dividing of the Red Sea. The Tosefta, an ancient collection of rabbinic laws and teachings, emphasizes the importance of recalling specific aspects of these events during the Shema.
One who says the Shema must remember the exodus from Egypt when saying "Emet V'Yatziv". Rabbi [Yehuda] says that one must remember the [Davidic] kingship. Aherim say that one must remember the slaying of the first born and the dividing of the Red Sea.
Tosefta Berakhot 2:1
God's Supremacy Over Egyptian Idols
CHASIDUT
Rabbi Chaim Tyrer of Czernowitz, in his Chasidic commentary Be'er Mayim Chaim, explains how the first plague, turning the Nile to blood, proved the powerlessness of Egyptian idols.
However, the whole essence of their being struck with this plague was for it to thereby be a sign and wonder in the land for the sake of God that there is none like Him. As they were worshipping the Nile, like the statement of the sages, may their memory be blessed (Shemot Rabbah 9:9), [that] their awe was struck, and they all saw that it was [from] the Lord and that there is no savior from His hand. So the idols of Egypt shook before Him. And that is why the section began with this opening, Thus says the Lord, "By this, you shall know that I am the Lord" (Exodus 7:17)…
Be'er Mayim Chaim, Exodus 7:17:3
Explaining the Seder Symbols
LITURGY
To fully observe the commandments of the seder night, one must not only recount the story of the Exodus but also explain the significance of the seder symbols. Rabban Gamliel's statement in the Passover Haggadah emphasizes the importance of talking about these symbols.
רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל Rabban Gamliel would say:
Anyone who does not say these three things on Pesaḥ
has not fulfilled his obligation, and these are they:
PESAḤ, MATZA, AND BITTER HERBS. The
PESAḤ
is what our ancestors would eat while the Temple stood:
and what does it recall?
It recalls the Holy One’s
passing over (Pasah) the houses of our ancestors in Egypt,
as it is said:
“You shall say:
‘It is a Pesaḥ offering for the LORD,
for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt
while He struck the…
Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Rabban Gamliel's Three Things
Jews cross Red Sea pursued by Pharoah. Fresco from Dura Europos synagogue, 244-256 CE. {PD-US}
Jews cross Red Sea pursued by Pharoah. Fresco from Dura Europos synagogue, 244-256 CE. {PD-US}

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