Thank Adonai, since He is good, since His kindness is forever. (Ps. 136:1) This can be explained based on a verse, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the residue of wrath shall be upon You.” (Ps. 76:11) When a person acknowledges a miracle that happened to him, God’s compassion comes to him to save him. Thus, the verse means, ‘When a person is saved from the anger of human beings, and acknowledges this reward, then,”The residue (hagirat) of wrath shall be upon You.’ This comes from the expression, ‘the grating (hagirah) of fingernail.’ This is preventing other anger from coming upon him. This is how we explain the verse, “He who offers a thanksgiving offering, honors Me.” (Ps. 50:23) …. Thus, “Thank Adonai since He is good,” means, ‘When God does good for you, you should thank Him.’ In this way loving kindness shall be drawn to you, as it says, “For his loving kindness” God sends forth loving kindness because the person thanked God. Later, I found this written in a commentary of Rabbi Yosef Molcho,136 of blessed memory.

למכה מצרים בבכוריהם. ויוצא ישראל מתוכם. ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה. אפשר לפרש במה שכתבנו לעיל בפירוש ההגד' דישראל יצאו לפני זמנם מסיבת קושי השעבוד דישראל הם בני אל חי ולהודיע זה הכה כל בכור עד בכור השבי ובכור השפחה ובכור בהמה ופטר חמור להורו' כי אף עמי הארץ ורשעים נקראים בנים וא"כ דין הוא שיעלה קושי השעבוד לחשבון השנים הבאו' וז"ש למכה מצרים בבכוריהם שרומזים לשר שלהם שהוא ראש השרים של מעלה וכן טלה אלהיהם ראש למזלות והיה בתוקפו זה אות לטובה כי לעולם חסדו שהוא יטה אלינו חסד ויצילנו מגליות שהרי הצילנו מתחת ראש השרים וכמ"ש מר זקנינו הרב חס"ל ז"ל והבאתיו לעיל וא"כ נמצא דמודים אנחנו למכה מצרים בבכוריהם שזה סימן כי לעולם חסדו ותמיד יעמיד חסדיו עמנו. ומזה שהכה הבכורות נמשך ויוצא ישראל מתוכם דייקא שהיו בתוך טומאתם של מצרים מה אלו אף אלו וכמעט היו נטמעים בנש"ט אבל מסיבת קושי שעבוד ושאנו בנים כמו שהראה במופת להרוג בכוריהם אף בכור השבי ושפחה ובכור בהמה וחמור לומר דהכל הם בכורות וגם ישראל אף הרשעים ועמי הארץ הנחשבים כבהמה וחמורים בנים הם וקושי השעבוד יעלה לחשבון ובכן הוציאנו מתוכם ממש וזה אות כי לעולם חסדו דאם בהיותנו עע"ז ונטמעים בתוכם גאלנו ק"ו שיגאלנו מד' מלכיות שכן יש בנו תורה ומצות ונמצא דמזה ידעינן כי לעולם חסדו יהי מושך חסד אל חופף עלינו כל היום. ומזה נמשך ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה דכיון דקושי שעבוד השלים הזמן א"כ עת לחננה כי בא מועד צאתנו ממצרים ובטובו קיים הבטחתו לאברהם אע"ה וגם את הגוי אשר יעבודו דן אנכי והמשפט שנעשה על ידו יתברך הוא חזק וכמ"ש הראב"ד פ"ק דתעניות והביאו הרב פרשת דרכים בריש דרך עצב ומזה ידענו כי לעולם חסדו דכה יהיה בגאולה אחרונה ויותר ויותר דבמצרים לא היה על ידו אלא מכת בכורות אבל לעתיד לבא הכל ע"י יתברך וכמ"ש בספרי לי נקם ושלם אמר הקב"ה אל תהיו סבורים שאפרע מכם על ידי שליח כשם שנפרעתי מפרעה על ידי משה ומסנחרב ע"י מלאך אבל לעתיד אני נפרע מכם שנאמר לי נקם ושלם עכ"ל וכתב מהרימ"ט פ' בא דבמצרים כתיב עושה פלא דאינו נקרא פלא כי אם מה שהוא ע"י הקב"ה עצמו ובמצרים לא נעשה על ידו יתברך אלא מכת בכורות אבל לעת"ל הכל על ידו יתברך דכתיב אראנו נפלאות. וא"כ ז"ש ע"י שהוציאנו ממצרים וקושי השעבוד השלים דאנו בנים עי"ז הגיע תור מ"ש דן אנכי והיה ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה כי המשפט לאלהים הוא חזק כלה ונחרצה כמ"ש הראב"ד. וזה סימן כי לעולם חסדו לעת"ל שיעשה הכל על ידו יתברך כדכתיב אראנו נפלאות. וכיון שיש לנו דין בנים א"כ אנחנו יש לנו דין ישראל ומזה נמשך לגוזר ים סוף לגזרים כי עוזא קטרג בשעת קריעת י"ס שישראל עבדו ע"ז ואף שהיה בשוגג דינם כב"נ וחייבים מיתה והקב"ה הצילם דדין ישראל יש להם ועע"ז בשוגג פטור כמ"ש הרב פרשת דרכים דף ג' ע"ש באורך וא"כ אם לא היה להם דין ישראל היו נטבעים לפי שעע"ז בשוגג אך לפי שהיה להם דין ישראל ניצולו והיה קי"ס וא"כ ממאי דאמרינן דיש להם דין בנים ממילא יש להם דין ישראל ואם כן מזה נמשך לגוזר ים סוף לגזרים. ומענין קי"ס נודעה יד ה' אל עבדיו דאע"ג דהנחלים והים עושים רצון קונם ומה שגזר עליהם ביצירה עכ"ז לצורך ישראל כביכול נתבטלה גזרתו ונבקע הים וכמו שהאריך הרב מהר"י זאבי ז"ל פ' בשלח ופי' בזה היתה יהודה לקדשו ישראל ממשלותיו כביכול דצדיק מושל יראת אלהים ולכן הים ראה וינוס ע"ש באורך. וז"ש מאשר גזר ים סוף לגזרים מזה נמשך כי לעולם חסדו דנבקע הירדן ע"י יהושע ואליהו ואלישע וגינאי נהרא לר' פנחס בן יאיר ולעת"ל כדכתיב והחרים ה' את לשון ים מצרים והשתא אתי שפיר לגוזר ים סוף לגזרים כי לעולם חסדו:

Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord, we have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and He has illuminated us; tie up the festival offering with ropes until it reaches the corners of the altar. You are my Power and I will Thank You; my God and I will exalt You. Thank the Lord, since He is good, since His kindness is forever. Thank the Lord, since He is good, His kindness is forever. Thank the Power of powers His kindness is forever. To the Master of masters His kindness is forever. To the One who alone does wondrously great deeds, His kindness is forever. To the one who made the Heavens with discernment, His kindness is forever. To the One who spread the earth over the waters, His kindness is forever. To the One who made great lights, His kindness is forever. The sun rules by day, His kindness is forever. The moon and the stars rule by night, His kindness is forever. To the One that smote Egypt through their firstborn, His kindness is forever. And He took Israel out from among them, His kindness is forever. With a strong hand and an outstretched forearm, His kindness is forever. To the One who cut up the Reed Sea into strips, His kindness is forever. He made Israel pass through it, His kindness is forever. He threw Pharaoh and his troop in the Reed Sea, His kindness is forever. To the One who led his people in the wilderness, His kindness is forever. To the One who smote great kings, His kindness is forever. He killed mighty kings, His kindness is forever. Sichon, king of the Amorite, His kindness is forever. And Og, king of the Bashan, His kindness is forever. And he gave their land as an inheritance, His kindness is forever. An inheritance for Israel, His servant, His kindness is forever. That in our lowliness, He remembered us, His kindness is forever. And he delivered us from our adversaries, His kindness is forever. He gives bread to all flesh, His kindness is forever. Thank the Power of the heavens, His kindness is forever. To the One that smote Egypt through their firstborn… He took Israel out from among them….. With a strong hand and an outstretched forearm. This can be explained in connection with what we wrote earlier in the commentary. Israel left Egypt before their allotted time because of the severity of the subjugation of Israel. The Israelites were considered the children of the living God. To make this known God smote the first born of the Egyptians - even the firstborn of the captives and of the maidservants as well as the first born of the cattle and donkeys, to make known that even ignorant and wicked Israelites were still considered God’s children. As a result, it was the law that the severity of the subjugation should be accounted for in the number of years that the Israelites were enslaved. Thus, it states, “To the One that smote the Egyptians through their firstborn,” alludes to their angelic prince who was the head of all the heavenly princes and the lamb, their God, the head of all the constellations, and even thought this was a time of special blessing for them. “His kindness is forever,” and His kindness always remains with us. From “He smote the first born” continues, “Israel went forth from within them;” it states from within them because they were trapped within the impurity of Egypt. The Israelites were like the Egyptians. They were almost trapped in the fiftieth gate of impurity. But because of the harshness of their subjugation and the fact that we were God’s children which was shown by smiting all the firstborn (even the captives, slaves as well as the cattle and donkeys). This proved that all the firstborn were killed while even wicked and ignorant Israelite firstborn who were like cattle and donkeys were given credit on the account of their subjugation. Also, “He took them out from among them.” This was a sign that “His kindness is forever.” Even though we were idolaters and impure among the Egyptians, and he still redeemed us, How much more so, will God redeem us from the four kingdoms because we had Torah and Mitzvot to our credit. From this it is known that “His kindness is forever.” God’s kindness shall continue to surround us every day. From this we continue, “With a strong hand and an outstretched forearm;” since the harshness of subjugation completed the time of their enslavement, a time of grace arrived for our exodus from Egypt. God in His goodness kept His promise to our father Abraham, of blessed memory. “And also the nation that enslaved your I will judge;” the judgment was carried out by God, as the Ra’avad137 of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key and important links in the chain of Jewish mystics. (wikipedia) wrote about this on the first chapter of Masechet Taanit quoting the author of Parashat Derachim138 brought this (at the beginning of Derekh Etzev). From this we know that, “His Kindness is forever,” for this is how it will be in the final redemption - maybe even greater! In Egypt only the final plague was carried out by God but in the future the entire redemption will be carried out by the Holy One, as it says in the Sifre, “To be My vengeance and recompense,” (Deut. 32:35) Said the blessed Holy One, “Do not think that I will bring vengeance upon you through an emissary as I did to Pharaoh through Moses, and Sannherib through an angel. Rather, in the future I will punish, as it says, “To be My vengeance and recompense.” The Maharimat 139in Parshat Bo writes, about Egypt it is written, “He performed wonders.” Something is not called a wonder unless it is performed by God Himself. In Egypt God only performed the plague of the firstborn. But in the future everything will be performed by God, as is written, “will show him wondrous deeds As in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt.” (Micah 7:15) If so, God took us out of Egypt because the harshness of the subjugation completed the sentence of slavery. Because we were considered God’s children, the time arrived for the fulfillment of “I will judge.” (Gen. 15:14) God then redeemed us with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm because God’s judgment is mighty (Deut, 1:17) as Ra’avid wrote. This was a sign that, “His kindness is forever,” in the future as well. Then God will perform all the acts on His own, as is written, “I will show him wondrous deeds.” (Mic.7:15) Since we considered God’s children, therefore we were judged as Israelites and this brought about the splitting of the Red Sea. Uzza accused us, at the splitting of the Red Sea, arguing that Israel also worshiped idols, and even if it was by accident they should be judged as Noahides and were deserving of death. But the blessed Holy One saved them by arguing that they had the status of Israelites and an Israelite who worships idols by accident is exempt, as Rabbi Yehuda Rosanes, author of Parashat Derachim argued, see what he wrote there at length. If they hadn’t had the status of Israelites, they would have drowned since they would have accidently worshiped… If we say that they were considered ‘God’s children,’ then we certainly had the status of Israelites, therefore we say, “Who cut up the Reed Sea into strips.” From the splitting of the sea it was made known that the hand of God was there for his servants. The rivers and seas perform the will of their creator especially when he decreed it at the time of creation. Even so, God did this for the sake of Israel, so to speak. God abrogated His own decree and split the sea, about which Rabbi Y Zeevi wrote at length (Parshat Beshalach). He explained, “Judah became His holy one, Israel, His dominion…” (Ps. 114:2) Therefore “The sea saw and it fled.” When it states, “He cut up the Reed Sea into strips,” it continues, “His kindness is forever.” He also caused the Jordan River to split in the time of Joshua, Elijah and Elisha. And it is written of the future, “Adonai will dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea.” (Is. 11:15) Now it was appropriate to split the Red Sea into strips for His kindness is forever.

Rabbi Gavriel Esperanza140 of blessed memory, explains that as a reward for, “He split the wood for the burnt offering,” (Gen 22:3) the sea was split, as it says, “Who split the Red Sea.” Because Abraham split the wood in preparation for the Akeda, God split the sea for the people of Israel.