The Famous Gr”a Everyone Should Know

We have discussed before that the Gr”a spent a lot of time trying to find hints in Torah Shebiksav for ideas that are expressed in Torah Sheba’al Peh.[i]One of the most famous hints that the Gr”a discovered is in Parshas Shemos.

We know that Am Yisrael was supposed to be in Mitzrayim for 400 years- that was the nevuah. Ultimately, we were in Mitzrayim for only 210 years.[ii] So, in a sense, we left Mitzrayim 190 years early. Chazal explain[iii] one approach to this idea. The Mitzrim oppressed Am Yisrael very severely, and in the 210 years that we were in Mitzrayim, we received the amount of oppression that equaled the amount we had originally deserved for the 400 years. In other words, the Mitzrim went overboard, and in 210 years we had received “the correct amount” of oppression. This is why we left Mitzrayim early.

What is the posuk that describes the Mitzrim oppressing Am Yisrael? “Va’yemareru es chayehem,” they embittered their lives. The Mitzrim made our lives bitter. The notes (te’amim) on this phrase are kadma v’azla. The Gr”a pointed out that these words “kadma v’azla” mean (in Aramaic) to “go early.” So, the notes on this phrase in the Chumash, which is one source for Am Yisrael leaving Mitzrayim early, mean to go early. What a beautiful remez in the Torah for the ideas of Chazal.

This d’var Torah of the Gr”a, however, goes another giant step deeper. It is known that the Gr”a would work with gematrios.[iv] Time and time again, the Gr”a points out that the Chumash and the Nach are expressing gematrios. So here, the Gr”a[v] points out that the exact gematria of “kadma v’azla” is 190.  This is absolutely incredible! This phrase, which is one source for the idea of Am Yisrael leaving Mitzrayim early, contains an exact hint to leaving early by 190 years!

This should be a chizuk for our emunah. We see here the complete unity of Torah Shebiksav and Torah Sheba’al Peh.

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

B. Ginsburg

[i]Rav Nevenzahl shli”ta discusses this in his seferMitzion Michlal Yofi in Parshas Ha’azinu.

[ii]Rashi (Bereishis, 15:13) and other meforshim explain that the 400 years began with the birth of Yitzchak and in that sense, we were gerim(wandering) for 400 years. But still the actual time in Mitzrayim was only 210 years. 

[iii] SeePirkeid’RebbeEliezer, 48 and Let My Nation Go, p.314,  n.64.

[iv]There are two types of gematrios out there. One type is as follows. You are at a sheva brachos and someone gets up to speak and says, “well the chassan’s name is Moshe, which is the gematria 345, and the kallah had a 3rd grade teacher who had a daughter, whose middle name had the same gematria. What a perfect match!” This is not real Torah. It’s just something cute used to liven up a simcha. The Gr”a used the second type of gematria, the type that is emes.

[v]There is a sefer on the Haggadah called the Seder Ha’aruch. In this sefer (Vol. 3,pp. 168, 252, and 399), this second part of the d’var Torah is quoted in the name of Rav Yonasan Eibshutz. When I was in high school, I heard this second part in the name of the Gr”a. The first part of the d’var Torah (that “kadma v’azla” means to “go early”) is printed in the name of the Gr”a. It seems to me unlikely that the Gr”a would not have also said the second part (that “kadma v’azla” equals 190). It is a straightforward gematria, and the Gr”a worked with gematrios. So, there is a bit of a lack of clarity in regard to who said this second part.