בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים שנאמר (שמות יג, ח) והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים
בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים, שנאמר (שמות יג), והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים.
לפיכך אנחנו חיבין להודות , להלל, לשבח, לפאר, לרומם, להדר, לברך, לעלה, ולקלס, למי שעשה לאבותינו ולנו את כל הנסים האלו, הוציאנו מעבדות לחרות, מיגון לשמחה, ומאבל ליום טוב, ומאפלה לאור גדול, ומשעבוד לגאלה.ונאמר לפניו, הללויה.
In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: ‘It is because of what YHVH did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’”
Therefore it is our duty to thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore Him Who performed all these miracles for our ancestors and us; He brought us forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into great light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore let us say before Him, Hallelujah!
(83) In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 13:8); "For the sake of this, did the Lord do [this] for me in my going out of Egypt." Not only our ancestors did the Holy One, blessed be He, redeem, but rather also us [together] with them did he redeem, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 6:23); "And He took us out from there, in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers."
The Mekhilta puts it in the following way: (unknown section)
"God did not bring the people to Israel on the direct route. Instead, He took them through the desert. God said 'If I them to the Land of Israel now, everyone will immediately involve himself with their field or vineyard and they will pay no attention to Torah! Instead, I will take them through the wilderness. They will eat the manna and drink water from the miraculous well (that God provided by hitting the rock 17:5) and the Torah will become absorbed within their body."
Beshalach - Slave Mentality
Rav Alex Israel
The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
SLAVE MENTALITY
Maybe we can suggest that this midrash taps into an important psychological phenomena - the psychology of the slave.
The Israelites are used to living as slaves. Slaves are provided with rations so that they can work. The Egyptians made sure that they had food. What do the Israelites remember? They remember only that they were cared for there and provided for. The fact that they were getting slave rations, is for some reason overlooked. But when they find themselves hungry with no means of provision, they are immediately lost. Like a child without his mother, they simply cry. A simple need unfulfilled is a crisis for the slave.
It would seem that the mind of the slave is limited to these narrow horizons of immediate material fulfillment. The slave lives for the moment. He does not have the luxury of planning the future; his role is simply to survive the present. The hallmarks of the slave generation which is leaving Egypt can be felt throughout the parasha. God does not lead the Israelites "by way of the Land of the Pelishtim although it was nearer, for God said, 'If they encounter war, the people may have a change of heart and return to Egypt'" (13:17-18). The people still see Egypt as a protective secure environment. They need the security; they need its order and comforting predictability. Egypt is an environment where decisions are made for them, where they know the rules of life. In the outside world, they are lacking in confidence.
They are slaves in other senses too. The Ibn Ezra (14:13) asks; why did the Israelites not fight the Egyptians when they were attacked at the Red Se. After all, the Israelites numbered six hundred thousand fighting men, a considerable force. He answers:
"The Egyptians were masters to the Israelites. exodus generation was accustomed from the youngest age to suffer under the yoke of Egyptian oppression. Their spirit was broken. How could they stand up and fight their masters... after all they were inexperienced in the art of war..."
The result of this slave mentality will be a certain instability within the national mood of the people. They are fickle. One moment they can be uplifted by the soaring euphoria of the miracle at the Red Sea and the next minute, all has been forgotten; they might as well be back in Egypt. When crisis hits, the people panic and all the theological truths disappear as if into thin air.