I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me.[2]
Actually, the Bnei Yisrael walked out of Egypt. They probably would have preferred taking an air route, but it wasn’t offered to them. How were their travels similar to the wings of eagles?
Seforno explains: The nesher[3] carries its young along distinctive pathways – heights not accessed by other birds. His intention seems to be that HKBH not only redeemed us, but did so in a dramatic way beyond the experience of the rest of the world. Hashem tells His children, “See that in order to bring you close to Me, I have performed the spectacular. I have done things for you of a different and higher nature than for anyone else.”
Here is how a midrash[4] reports it. “When the Jews were enslaved in Egypt in muck and brick-work, they were reviled and despised by the Egyptians. After they were freed, and they became rulers over all inhabitants of the earth, the Egyptians reacted in disbelief. ‘Yesterday you worked with mud and bricks, and today you have become free people?’ The Jews responded: ‘We can’t figure it out either!’”
The Masorah attaches a dalet to the word atem/“You” at the beginning of the pasuk, indicating that there were three other similar constructions in Tanach, for a total of four. One of them is, “You – go and take straw [to make the bricks that you are assigned to do.]”[5] Another is, “You are all nitzavim/standing firm today – all of you.”[6] Completing the set is, “’You are my witnesses,’ says Hashem.”
When Paroh dismissively barked his order at the Jewish slaves, they had hit the nadir of their Egyptian journey. Moshe had promised redemption to them. Instead, their hopes were not only dashed, but their lives were made even more miserable. Yet, it was only a short time later that they heard our pasuk, telling of the wondrous way in which Hashem lifted them to an apex of redemption coupled with revenge against the Egyptians. What they experienced was as distinctive as the flight of the nesher, and accomplished with great speed.
After frightening the Bnei Yisrael with the 98 curses of the tochechah, Moshe tells them, “You are all standing upright today.” This third instance of atem adds a third level to the progression. From the depths of desperation in Egypt, they moved to the startling salvation at the Sea. Now, they were able to look back at some decades after receiving the Torah. To be sure, there were many setbacks and disappointments. But an entire generation could say that they had survived Hashem’s exacting scrutiny. They had survived, and were about to enter the Land.
The word nitzavim channels other appearances of the same word. They had been told at the Sea[7] to stand firm and witness the salvation that Hashem would bring. (The implication is that they would witness this many times in the future.) They had been told to stand firm at the base of the mountain to receive the Torah. And now, they could stand firm with the knowledge that observing the Torah can work for an entire nation!
The process, of course, is not complete. The revelation of Hashem’s Kingship will not be complete until the end of days. At that time, we will have attained the highest level of atem: “’You are my witnesses.”
While we are taught that the final redemption is not instantaneous, but a step-wise process, this is true only at the first steps. The final events will be quick and dramatic – and as majestic and singular as the flight of the nesher.
- Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozharover Rebbe zt”l ↑
- Shemos 19:4 ↑
- Nesher is most often translated as eagle. The Steppe eagle can fly at an altitude of 29,000 feet. There is ample reason, however, to believe that the nesher of Tanach is not the eagle, but the griffon-vulture. (The eagle of Tanach would then be the עיט.) Rüppell’s griffon-vulture holds the contemporary record for highest-flying bird, at 37,000 feet. ↑
- Shir Hashirim Rabbah 6:12 ↑
- Shemos 5:11 ↑
- Devarim 29:9 ↑
- Shemos 14:13 ↑