Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The reason that God freed the Jews from slavery was to give them a mission. To bring God’s law to the world by their behavior.

Before the plague of the death of the first born, God states to the Jewish people that He is God and that He is a judging God. This is remind us that we will receive reward or punishment for the things we do.

The problem that the Egyptians had was that they did not treat their slaves with respect since they considered them not to be human. The Torah teaches us that even a slave has to be treated with respect and that they were also created in the image of God.

The reason that the first commandment that the Jews receive is to teach them the responsibility of being free. A free person is also responsible for their actions. A slave is not.

When Pharaoh says that only the men can go to worship God Moses immediately refuses the offer. All the Jews, men, women and children, will go. This is a basic principle in the Torah. We leave no Jew behind.

The biggest problem that Pharaoh had was that he was not able to admit he was wrong. He chose to blame the Jews even though he was at fault for not heeding God.

When every shred of evidence should have convinced Pharaoh that his policies would lead to disaster, he stubbornly refused to change. This was his march of folly.

All the plagues in Egypt, except the 10th, were opposed to the gods of Egypt which were nature gods. God was making the point that He controlled nature, not the other way around.