24 Jan PARSHAS BO: I HAVE A DREAM

Rabbi Shimon
Schwab Said: I Have A
Dream
The Torah teaches
that “G-d placed the
favor of the people in
the eyes of Egypt”
[Shemos 11:3]. Prior to leaving Egypt, the
Jews obtained gold and silver utensils and
articles of clothing from their Egyptian
neighbors. This was a fulfillment of a
promise that G-d had made to Avraham “…
and afterwards they will go out with great
possessions” [Bereishis 15:14]. The fact that
G-d placed the favor of the people in the
eyes of the Egyptians to the extent that they
were willing to give them their valuables —
never to see them again — was indeed
miraculous.
Perhaps there could have been a more
congruous method of fulfilling G-d’s
promise to Avraham. Perhaps it would have
made more sense if “G-d placed the FEAR
of the people in the eyes of Egypt”. After all
that had transpired during the Ten Plagues,
the Egyptians were now in awe of the Jews.
Therefore, the more logical way for this
event to occur would have been for the

Egyptians to give the Jews their valuables
out of mortal fear, rather than out of ‘favor’.
Rabbi Baruch Leff comments that the fact
that the wealth was transferred to the Jews in
that way teaches us something about the
Exodus. The Exodus from Egypt, our Sages
tell us, was the paradigm for all future
redemption. If we want to know how the
future redemption will take place, we must
examine the prototype of redemption that
occurred in Egypt. In effect, this means that
before we leave this last bitter exile, “G-d
will place the favor of His nation into the
eyes of the nations”.
Before we leave, the nations must admire
us. They will have warm feelings towards
us. They will love us. That is because the
prophet Isaiah said that the role of the Jewish
people in the Exile is to be a “light unto the
nations” [42:6]. This concept has
unfortunately been borrowed and twisted
and misconstrued in all different types of
wrong ways. But the fact remains that Isaiah
the prophet told us that we are supposed to
be a “light unto the nations” – a shining
example to the nations of what a human
being is supposed to look like. The purpose
of this world is to fill the world in its entirety

with the Glory of G-d. Not only the Jews of
the world, but all of humanity should come
to the recognition that there is one G-d who
created this world and takes an active role in
this world. Jews are supposed to be the
medium of that message.
The Netziv (1817-1893) writes that had we
not sinned and had we remained in the Land
of Israel and had we fulfilled our mission by
living a proper life style in the Land of Israel,
then we would have never had to go into
Exile. Unfortunately, we did not do that and
G-d had to send us into Exile. Our job in
Exile is to be this shining example of what a
person is supposed to be.
The pasuk [verse] says “And all the
inhabitants of the land will see that the Name
of G-d is written upon you, and they will fear
you” [Devorim 28:10]. The Talmud teaches
[Berochos 6a] that this refers to the Tephillin
that are worn on the head. The Vilna Gaon
comments that the Talmudic reference is the
homiletic (Drush) teaching of the pasuk.
But, the Vilna Gaon asks, what is the ‘simple’
(pshuto) interpretation of the pasuk? There is
a principle in Biblical interpretation that a
pasuk always has a simple interpretation
[Shabbos 63a]. So what is the simple

interpretation of this
pasuk? The Gaon said
that the simple
interpretation of this
pasuk is that when a
Gentile sees a Jew, he
should immediately
recognize that the
Name of G-d is
written upon him. He
should immediately
realize, “This is a holy
person”.
We have not yet
arrived at that point.
The paradigm of the Exodus from Egypt is
that until we reach the level of “the favor of
the nation is in the eyes of Egypt”, signifying
that the Gentiles respect and admire and
cherish us, unfortunately, we are not holding
at the level of redemption. This is the ideal
for which we must strive.
Unfortunately, if that indeed will be the
standard, one must wonder how close the
redemption is today. We look forward to the
time when the recognized definition of a
“Jew” will be a definition that will make us
all proud.