HaRav Dov Begon is Head of Yeshivat Machon Meir.
There are four expressions of Redemption which the Holy One, blessed be He, asks Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, to say to the Children of Israel: “And I will take you out… and I will rescue you… and I will redeem you… and I will take you…" (Exodus 6:6-7).
They allude not only to the Exodus from Egypt, but also to the departure from the subjugation of the four kingdoms that ruled over Israel: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Edom. This is in accordance with the explanation of the Baʿal HaTurim, who interprets “and I will take you" as corresponding to the kingdom of Edom, which is the harshest of them all; therefore it is written “and I will take" - like a person who takes by force.
As is well known, the exile of two thousand years is the exile of Edom, and it is the most difficult of all the exiles. Indeed, in the departure from the final exile we passed through the terrible Holocaust, which was the most difficult event in the history of our beloved people, a third of whom were murdered by the Nazis, may their names and memory be erased. But immediately after the Holocaust, the State of Israel arose with Divine Assistance, and regarding this the fifth expression of Redemption is fulfilled: “And I will bring you into the Land which I lifted My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance; I am the Lord" (Exodus 6:8).
At present, “Happy are we-how good is our portion, how pleasant is our lot, and how beautiful is our inheritance," for our generation is privileged to see eye-to-eye the return of the Lord to Zion, and the fulfillment of the Divine promise: “And I will bring you into the Land… and I will give it to you as an inheritance; I am the Lord."
We have been blessed with much light, yet there are still quite a few shadows. Therefore, we must not be like the Children of Israel in Egypt, “who did not listen to Moses because of shortness of spirit and hard labor." Indeed, we see how the Talmud’s signs of the footsteps of the Messiah (Ikveta de-Meshicha) that the Sages describe are manifest such as insolence increasing, kingship turning to heresy, the absence of rebuke, border-dwellers wandering from city to city without receiving compassion, truth being absent; and not only moral rebellion and governmental corruption, but also family and personal crises: “Youth will shame the elders… a son disgraces his father, a daughter rises against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the members of his household, and the face of the generation is like the face of a dog" (Sotah 49B).
Nonetheless, one must not fall into despair. On the contrary, one must believe that “the One who is higher than the high watches." Therefore, the Sages conclude: “Upon whom do we have to rely? Upon our Father in Heaven."
And, God-willing, we will continue to ascend the winding path with love and faith toward Redemption and complete consolation, speedily in our days. Amen.