וְאֶֽת־לַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃ v’et lachatzeinu, “ And our pressure,” The Egyptians would press the Israelites to work faster, as is stated, “And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “You must complete the same work assignment each day…” (Ex. 5:13) They acted like bears and lions toward the Israelites. They would order them to perform several tasks at once and then not allow them to rest even for a short while from their toil and labors. The Egyptians would come up with new evil decrees. They made them clean the marketplace and courtyards, and they forced them to attend to the bathhouse who warmed the water for their baths. They made them attend to their gardens and orchards, plant their fields, draw water, and carry the wares from place to place. They also made them dig ditches and care for the children, This was the **זֶו הַדְּחַק “**This refers to the pressure,” They pressed them to do all of these chores. Furthermore, the Egyptians subjugated the Israelites to all of their other slaves, as it states, “...because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage,” (Ex. 6:5). It is written, מַעֲבִדִים אֹתָ֑ם.¹²⁹ “And in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor,” (Ex. 1:14) this verse teaches us that even if the Israelites could figure out how to accomplish a job more easily, such as bringing up seah in three trips, the Egyptians would insist that they do it in one trip. Similarly, if the Israelite wanted to take one of the animals to carry the wares or the wheat of the Egyptians to its place, the Egyptians would not allow them to do so. Instead he insisted that he carry it on his shoulders. They acted similarly in all things. They did all this to weaken them so that they would not be fruitful and increase. None of this mattered because the Israelites continued to grow stronger, “Through the favor of the Presence in the bush.” (Deut. 33:16) ¹³⁰ Further, if an Israelite died they would not let the other Israelites bury them; instead the Egyptians would throw them out in the field, as it says, ““Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness?” (Ex. 14:11) In other words, the only reason you redeemed us was because there were no graves in Egypt. (Hayn) These were but a few of the evils that the Egyptians inflicted on us and our souls; there were many more! It was part of Egypt’s intention to anger God, the Creator, as is written in the Midrashim regarding the reasons for the plagues that the Holy One brought upon them. (As a result,) the plagues struck the Egyptians measure for measure. The Israelites were subjugated with rigor by the Egyptians because they were God’s chosen and to whom God wished to give His holy Torah which is compared to water. Because they were blessed with, “Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth…” (Gen. 28:14) Because they were compared to animals over which human beings had no ascendency. Because they gave their lives in martyrdom. Because Israel was the offspring of Abraham, God’s beloved one. Because in the future God would wipe away their sins and make them white like snow. Because they are the hosts and troops of God, separated from the other nations. Therefore he divided the night to Abraham, giving half to his offspring. This is the conclusion of the Midrash… It would seem that it was the Egyptians' intention to anger God. Does it not make sense that after restraining Himself for some time, in the end He would send the angel of His face to warn them. And when they became stubborn and hardened their hearts, continuing to perform such abominations against Israel, that God would rightfully send, “His burning anger upon them, wrath, indignation, trouble, a band of deadly messengers,” (Ps. 78:49) to punish them for their sins. God is righteous in all His ways and kind in all his deeds. With all this God performed great kindness with them as we shall explain.

footnotes: ¹²⁹ It is written without a yud. Mabidim with a yud would mean “subjugated them”, while מַעֲבִדִ֣ים without a yud might be interpreted as “they enslaved them to others” ¹³⁰ See Rashi -ורצון שכני סנה — the last two words are the equivalent of שוכן סנה (the י being the suffix that that sometimes appears in participles, for the most part in poetry). The-meaning is: And may his land further be blessed through the favor (רצון) and satisfaction of the Holy One, blessed be He, who first revealed himself to me in the thorn-bush (סנה‎).