Parshat Bo contains the last 3 of the ten Makkot; the culmination of the redemption would soon take place. The commentaries grapple with a fundamental difficulty that lies at the core of the redemption of the Egyptian exile-Avraham had been told [Bereishit 15’ 13’-14’]:
“...And He [Hashem] said to Avram: Know for sure that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will enslave them and oppress them [for] four hundred years.
But also that nation whom they will serve I will judge; afterwards they will leave with great wealth…"
The prophecy clearly delineated that the Jews would be in exile for 400 years-and yet, the time that the Jews were in Egypt would number only 210 years? There are perhaps dozens of answers to this most basic of questions; the prevalent and most common approach is that the 400 years in reality would include all years from the birth of Yitzchak, who, as the primary descendant of Avraham, would spend all of his days in a qualitative version of exile [despite the fact that he never left the land of Israel]. When calculated from Yitzchak’s birth, there are exactly 400 years until the Jews would be redeemed from Egypt [See Rashi Bereishit, ad. Loc. for proof of this accounting].
The Tzvi LeTzaddik, on the other hand, offers a beautiful and inspiring approach. He explains, that in reality, every Jew during that time suffered doubly-once for their own personal pain and anguish, and again due to the fact that they witnessed their brethren suffering and being humiliated. In truth, this is a key facet of redemption-depsite the Jews’ individual torture at the hand of the Egyptians, the people that would soon become Am Yisrael were constantly offering empathy and support to the other downtrodden members of the fledgling nation. Hence, the Tzvi LeTzaddik brilliantly points out, in reality each person can be considered as having gone through the tortuous servitude twice over, and therefore the 400 years can be basically cut in half! Ergo, after 210 years, the measure of Jewish suffering prophecized to Avraham was complete, and the redemption could take place.
Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.
Have a Great Shabbat!