1. Purpose of Pesach: [1]

The celebration of the Passover Holiday is a great pillar and foundation within our Torah and in our faith. The Exodus was a nature breaking miracle and wonder. It was in Egypt that we saw G-d’s eternal powers revealed; His ability to override nature and do as He sees fit. It was the one time we witnessed as a nation the works of the supernal primordial Being. It is thus no wonder that Passover serves as an awakening of these memories which strengthen our faith and trust in G-d above.

Topic: The Kabbalistic reason behind the slavery in Egypt

Instructions: Upload the question under the category of

1. Question: [Tuesday, 14th Nissan, 5783]

What was the Kabbalistic reason behind the slavery of the Jewish people? Why did we have to be punished? Why are we deserving of such hard labor?

Answer:

According to the teachings of Kabbalah, the spiritual journey of the souls of the Jewish people did not begin in Egypt, but rather from the times of the beginning of creation. The Arizal explains as follows: the souls of the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt were reincarnations of the sparks of the souls that Adam wasted throughout the first 130 years of creation, between the births of Kayin and Seth. These souls were then incarnated into the generation of the flood. They were then reincarnated into the generation of the Dor Haflaga. They were then eventually incarnated into the souls of the Jewish people in the generation of slavery in Egypt.

Now, as for the explanation of why they needed to be enslaved, this is because souls are similar to gold. Just as gold does not grow as blocks in the ground and must go through a fine refinery process to remove the gold from the earth, dust, and other impurities, until it is finally sifted out. So too, the Jewish soul must go through this same refinery process, to remove from it all the evil forces that became attached to it with the sin of Adam. In detail, the decree to throw the children into the Nile was a cleansing for the sins they performed in the generation of the flood. Likewise, the hard labor of making bricks and building pyramids was to rectify the sins they performed in the generation of the dispersion.

Sources: Shaar Hakavanos Inyan HaPesach Derush Alef

______________________________________________

[1] Chinuch Mitzvah 21