Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary

The 6th of the 8 Terms

The official count of Terms of Redemption (L’SHONOT GEULA) is 5, with the first three related to Y’TZI’AT MITZRAYIM (the Exodus) - V’HOTZEITI, V’HI- TZALTI, V’GAALTI (see Towards Better Davening) for the review of proper syllable-accenting) - I will take you out, I will save you, I will redeem you. The fourth term is V’LAKACHTI - I will take you (unto Me as a Nation), generally understood to represent Revelation at Sinai, Matan Torah. And the 5th term is V’HEIVEITI,
I will bring you (to the land I promised to your ancestors). The Four Terms are matched to the four cups of wine at the Seder, and the Fifth Term is represented by the Kos shel Eliyahu, which points to the Complete Geula, still in the future.
Another way of counting Terms of Redemption gives us 8 expressions, rather than the traditional five. (This is not meant as an argument against the Five - just another way of looking at the p’sukim of the prophecy and promises that Moshe is to deliver to the People.
The first three are the same. They are found in one pasuk - Sh’mot 6:6. The next pasuk contains V’LAKACHTI and the flip side of it, V’HAYITI, and I, says G-d, will be to you (the People of Israel) G-d (ELOKIM). He will take us as His nation and He will be our G-d. This comes with a third term - VIDATEM, and you will know (that I am HaShem your G-d, Who took you out from under the burdens of Egypt). And you will KNOW is the 6th term in this way of counting. We will return to focus on it and its ramifications shortly.
The third pasuk of the prophecy consists of V’HEIVEITI, and I will bring you (to Eretz Yisrael). This, as mentioned above is generally called the Fifth Term of Redemption. By our count it is the 7th, and it is joined by one more term from the same pasuk - V’NATATI, and I will GIVE it (the land I promised to your forefathers and their descendants) to you as a MORASHA, a heritage. This can be understood as part of V’HEIVEITI, or, as we are presenting it now, as its own term.
Our logic is that if the first three terms are really different facets of the one experience of Y’tzi’at Mitzrayim, then these two can also be counted separately as part of coming to Eretz Yisrael.
And so too with the three facets of the Sinai experience - to get back on track - We becoming G-d’s, G-d becoming ours, and our KNOWING that He took us out.
Let’s us then focus on the 6th of the 8 Terms - VIDATEM, and you shall or will know.
This point is made very clear from the opening statement of the Aseret HaDibrot - I am Hashem your G-d Who took you out of the land of Egypt from the House of Slavery.
More than just stating the facts for our knowledge, it was the way we were taken out of Egypt and the subsequent standing at Har Sinai (and all that happened there) that confirms and ingrains within us the knowledge that it was HaShem Who took us out of Egypt.
As several Hagada commentaries point out - had not G-d taken us out of Egypt, and more so, had we not known that fact (and had we no constant reminders in the form of prayers and mitzvot) - we would still be enslaved (at least psychologically) to Par’o in Egypt.
Our knowing is very important to us. And it goes - not just for having come out of Mitzrayim, but also for coming to Eretz Yisrael.
Then and NOW.
The Exodus is not just a thing of the past. When Jews come to live in Eretz Yisrael, they are reliving coming out of Egypt. Living conditions in our various countries of origin range from Egypt-like to favorable. Regardless, we each and all need to know that it was G-d Who took US out of our little corner of galut and took us unto Him and brought us to the Land which He promised our ancestors and gave to us.
And the process continues. Prophecies in the Torah are not just once- upon-a-time things. They are ongoing. G-d continues to redeem us, to take us to Him, to be our G-d - and it is our commitment to Torah and Mitzvot that let’s us KNOW that it is all His Plan - including bring us here and bringing the Complete Geula.

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