כי אמר אלהים פן ינחם העם בראותם מלחמה ושבו מצרימה. We can learn from here to what length a person has to go to make "fences," artificial safeguards to prevent himself from sinning. Even G–d Himself made such a "fence" when He decided to let the Israelites travel via an indirect route so as to preclude the people from having second thoughts and wanting to return to Egypt.

ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף. Shemot Rabbah 20,19 comments here that someone with a wise heart chooses to perform מצות. The reference is to Moses who, while all of Israel was busy collecting silver and gold, busied himself with locating the remains of Joseph to keep the promise made to him on his death-bed that his bones would be taken for permanent burial in ארץ ישראל. We must all learn the lesson to fulfil a מצוה when it is at hand, and to desist from the pursuit of riches during the time it takes to perform the מצוה in question.

ויקח שש מאות רכב בחור וכל רכב מצרים. The Zohar asks if the 600 choice chariots were not also part of Egypt's cavalry that the Torah had to add the words "and all the chariots of Egypt?" The Zohar answers that the subject in this verse is Samael who took the chariots of other nations with him in the pursuit of the Israelites. G–d paid those people back when Sisera lost all his iron chariots in the battle against Barak and Deborah (Judges 5,20-21).

We learn from this that whenever Israel finds itself in trouble, parties that have no quarrel with Israel also gang up on it. We must therefore realise how important it is at such times to do repentance, since during such critical times all our past deeds and actions are examined in minute detail to see if our enemies are justified in their attack upon us. The Zohar quotes a Rabbi Yossi on 14,10 as saying that the unusual construction of ופרעה הקריב, instead of ופרעה קרב for "Pharaoh approached," is an allusion to the sentiments of repentance that the approach of Pharaoh evoked in many Israelites. The word הקריב must be understood as "he brought them close to their father in Heaven."

What is required in addition to remorse, is the forsaking of evil and the performance of good deeds. One needs to hold on to the pillar of Torah which is the banner of true freedom, i.e. freedom from the evil urge. We are capable of performing mighty deeds as long as we embrace Torah with our right hand, paraphrasing the words of Moses describing G–d's mighty deeds: ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח ימינך ה' תרעץ אויב. Our sages (Midrash Hagadol) in commenting on Genesis 27,22: הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, whereas the hands are the hands of Esau," interpret this phrase to mean that as long as the voice is the voice of Jacob, the hands of Esau are powerless against us.

If the repentance is not total G–d withdraws His right hand, מאחור, away from the face of the enemy. The "enemy" is Samael, our perennial accuser and his armies who face us in this world; we know this from the Tikkuney Hazohar who comments on Genesis 16,12 where Hagar is told about the forthcoming birth of Ishmael: על פני כל הארץ ישכון, "He will be at home all over the earth." The significance of the parable describing G–d as withdrawing His right hand backwards is that the left hand normally is employed in adiministering דין, justice, whereas the right hand symbolises חסד, love extended to the חצונים, the קליפות which are known as אחוריים, "the ones behind". Psalm 77,1.1 refers to this idea when the Psalmist says: "I have said that it is my fault that the right hand of the Most High has changed."

Another peculiarity is the wording of 14,25, where G–d is described as removing the wheels from the chariots of the Egyptians. The Torah writes: ויסר את אופן מרכבותיו, "He removed or locked the wheel (sing.) of their chariots." If the Torah refers to the chariot of Pharaoh it should have said the "wheel of his chariot." If the chariots of the army are meant, the Torah should have spoken about the 'wheels' of their chariots." Why this peculiar phrasing? We must say that the שר של מצרים who is an extremely powerful שר had assembled many other chariots of חצוניים, "external" forces as explained by the Zohar we have quoted earlier. The word אופן which is often used for angels, is used here as a description of Pharaoh's שר. When G–d detached this שר, all of the chariots of the Egyptians came apart, which in turn caused the confusion of the Egyptians described in the Torah. When this happened all the אלופי אדום, and the אילי מואב as well as the inhabitants of Canaan were seized with fright, as described in 15,15.

ויאמר אם שמוע תשמעו לקול ה' אלוקיך והישר בעיניו תעשה והאזנת למצותיו ושמרת כל חוקיו. Take note of how much a person must be tuned in to G–d in order to engage all his senses in carrying out G–d's wishes and instructions. Each one of the expressions mentioned in this verse carries multiple implications for all of us.

הנני ממטיר לכם לחם מן השמים … למען אנסנו הילך בתורותי. This verse contains an indirect instruction to say a word of Torah during meals.

לקטו ממנו איש לפי אכלו. The Torah tells us here how much a person needs to eat to sustain himself. This is the reason the measurements are spelled out in such detail, as well as the fact that people's subjective estimate of their "needs" were proven wrong, since, regardless of how much they believed they had gathered, once they measured it, they found that every person had obtained the same quantity. When the Torah afterwards describes some people as "storing" extra מן for the following day against Moses' instructions, and it turned into worms, this was a warning of what our sages (Avot 2,7) called מרבה בשר מרבה רמה, that he who eats excessively, over and beyond his needs, only increases the number of worms that will eventually invade his corpse. When the Torah added: ויבאש, this is a hint that decomposition can set in even during one's lifetime when one gorges oneself on too much unneeded food. I have enlarged on this subject in my treatise שער האותיות under the heading of שלחן and the letter ק for קדושה.

בחר לנו אנשים. Rashi sees in the word לנו proof that Moses equated Joshua with himself in this task. The Rabbis deduced from this a rule that a teacher should always be as concerned with the honour of his student as with his own. The honour of someone of equal status to oneself, however, should be placed on a par with the honour of one's teacher. The source for this is found in Numbers 12,11 where Aaron, Moses' older brother, addresses him with the words: בי אדוני, "Please my lord!" The honour of one's teacher should be treated as equivalent to the honour of G–d Himself. We derive this from Numbers 11,28 where Joshua pleads with Moses to kill Eldod and Meydod for prophesying the death of Moses. The words used are: אדוני משה כלאם. Joshua felt that insubordination against his teacher Moses deserved the same penalty as insubordination against G–d Himself. We can now understand why we are taught in Avot 4,1: "Who is truly honoured? He who honours G–d's creatures."