1994/5

We see from this Parsha that Hashem was quite willing to save the Jews from  the Egyptians.  But were the Jews really ready to accept Hashem as their one and only G-d?  Even if they were, how could Hashem be sure of the Jews' loyalty?  The answer to these questions might be found in this week's Parsha.

Some suggest that there was really only one way to be sure that the Jewish people were truly committed to Hashem. If the Jews were willing to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of Hashem, then they would be worthy of His help.  It was thus for this very reason that Hashem told the Jews to sacrifice the Korban Pesach publicly.  The Jews were required to drag the lamb through the streets, then slaughter it, and then sprinkle the blood on their doorposts, all in full view of any Egyptians who wanted to watch.  The reason the Jews were required to do these noticeable acts was that the lamb was considered a god to the Egyptians, and they would thus be angry to see their "god" treated this way.  They might be so angry that they would kill the Jews for doing this.  Hashem figured, though, that if the Jews really believed in Him, they would do all this anyway, and would not worry about the Egyptians when they would bring that which represented the Egyptian god through the streets, slaughter it and then sprinkle its blood on their doorposts.  By bringing the Korban Pesach in this manner, the Jews showed that they really believed in Hashem fully and that they thus deserved to be brought out of Egypt.

Some commentators note that the bringing of the Korban Pesach by the Jews is similar to Akeidas Yitzchak.  By proving that Avraham and Yitzchak were willing do anything, even to die for Hashem, the act of the Akeidah cemented the strong, unbreakable relationship between Hashem and these Avos.  By risking their lives to obey Hashem, Bnai Yisrael in Egypt showed that they were on the holy level of Avraham and Yitzchak, and that they thus deserved to be freed.