5. Why did G-d send us into Egypt in the first place-The secret mission of refining the sparks:[1]

Although it seems that the Jewish people’s slave labor in Egypt was a punishment, indeed it involved a secret Divine mission, and as with any secret mission, it entailed its disguised hardships. Since creation, and the sin of Adam, there exists Divine sparks of Holiness which require elevation and purification from their mangling with Kelipos. These sparks are scattered all over the world, and it would require a lengthy period of time for the Jewish people to properly elevate all these sparks in all these localities. Therefore, G-d arranged out of His kindness for there to be famine in the world and have the money from all the lands enter Egypt in the times of Yosef. These monies carried with them the sparks hidden in those lands. The Jewish people were then enslaved in Egypt which caused them to exit Egypt with much wealth. The wealth that they took out from Egypt contained these Divine sparks, and were later elevated by the Jewish people.

The amount of sparks redeemed:[2] The verse states that the Jewish people emptied Egypt. The Sages [Pesachim 119a] interpreted this to mean that they made it like an ocean that had all of its fish removed. This means that the Jewish people in Egypt removed all of the holy sparks of Tohu that had fallen into Egypt until it became like an ocean without any fish. They did not leave even one spark in Egypt. Upon leaving Egypt, we redeemed 202 sparks out of the 288 sparks that fell from the world of Tohu. These sparks became elevated and reincorporated within G-dliness, thus being called “Tzivos Hashem,” as the sparks are now part of the name Havayah, which was their original source and root. This is the inner meaning of, “We emptied Mitzrayim” and “a great multitude left with them”, as this refers to the Divine sparks that were elevated and reunited with their source in Kedusha.

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[1] Likkutei Imrim Maggid 102 [Kehos Edition]

[2] Torah Or p. 112 and 120 Mamar Vayomer Hashem and Mamar “Betzem Hayom Hazeh Yatzu Kol Tzivos Hashem …”