Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses textual and theological parallels between the prohibition of charging interest, the commandment of wearing Tzitzis and maintaining honest weights and measures in commerce.

Rava says: Why do I need the mention of the exodus from Egypt that the Merciful One wrote in the context of the halachos of the prohibition against interest (see Leviticus 25:37–38), and the mention of the exodus from Egypt with regard to the mitzvah to wear Tzitzis (see Numbers 15:39–41), and the mention of the exodus from Egypt in the context of the prohibition concerning weights? Rava explains: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I am He Who distinguished in Egypt between the drop of seed that became a firstborn and the drop of seed that did not become a firstborn, and I killed only the firstborn. I am also He Who is destined to exact punishment from one who attributes ownership of his money to a gentile and thereby lends it to a Jew with interest. Even if he is successful in deceiving the court, God knows the truth. And I am also He Who is destined to exact punishment from one who buries his weights in salt, as this changes their weight in a manner not visible to the eye. And I am also He Who is destined to exact punishment from one who hangs ritual fringes dyed with indigo [kala ilan] dye on his garment and says it is dyed with the sky-blue dye required in ritual fringes. The allusion to God’s ability to distinguish between two apparently like entities is why the exodus is mentioned in all of these contexts.

Mei Hashiloach (II:Shemos, Yisro, 12) develops the idea of the Exodus and God’s ability to pierce falsehood and self-delusion implied in the above passage. Scrupulous honesty in a financial affairs, especially when tempted otherwise, often indicates a deep faith in God as the source of success, not human strength or cunning. The Egyptian slavery and exile represented the hubris of human technology and achievement, believing in mastery over all the forces (whether through magic, technology or both.) The cries of the Jews in the depth of their slavery was a moment where they “hit bottom” realizing that only God could save them. At that darkest moment, they were able to see the illusory nature of the material world, priming them to comprehend the truths of the Torah.

Shemos (2:23):

And after a long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God.

Ramban (ibid) notes that their cries intensified after the king died and a new ruler continued to subjugate them. Usually people hope for a positive change with a new regime, when the relief did not materialize they were brokenhearted. However, that was the moment when they had nowhere to turn but inward into their souls, and seek out God. 

Though we do not ask for suffering, it has the potential to force us to reevaluate our priorities and beliefs in ways that we are unlikely to otherwise do. When you have nowhere to turn, you cannot afford the luxury of betting on the wrong horse. That is when what we really believe and what we have deep in our intuition comes out, which often is a humble and desperate appeal to God whose power is beyond the rational and physical world.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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