Every Great Moment Happened on the Fifteenth of Nisan

Chapter 5. All seven days the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with Moses at the bush, as it is said, "Moses said to the LORD: Please, my Lord, I am not a man of words, neither since yesterday, nor since three days ago, nor since You have spoken to Your servant" (Exodus 4:10). "Since three days ago" gives three days; the three repeated words "also" add three more; and the day on which He was speaking makes seven days. It was the season of Passover, and they align it with the fifteenth of Nisan. At that same time in the following year, the children of Israel went out from Egypt. Likewise, on the fifteenth of Nisan He spoke with Abraham our father between the pieces. On the fifteenth of Nisan the angels came to Abraham our father to announce the birth to him, and at that same season in the following year Isaac our father was born, as it is said, "At the appointed time I will return" (Genesis 18:14). On the fifteenth of Nisan Israel went out from Egypt, as it is said, "It came to pass at the end of thirty years..." (Exodus 12:41), one endpoint for all of them. On the fourteenth day of that month, Israel slaughtered their Passover offerings in Egypt, and it was the fifth day of the week. That night the firstborn were struck. "On the morrow after the Passover," it was the eve of Shabbat, they traveled from Rameses, as it is said, "The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Sukkot" (Exodus 12:37), and it is written, "They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month" (Numbers 33:3), and it is written, "The Egyptians were burying..." (Numbers 33:4). From Rameses they traveled to Sukkot, from Sukkot to Etham, and from Etham to before Pi-hahiroth. These are three days. On the fourth day, "it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled" (Exodus 14:5). On the fifth and sixth, "the Egyptians pursued..." (Exodus 14:9). At the light of the seventh day they went down into the sea, as it is said, "The cloud and the darkness came, and it lit up the night" (Exodus 14:20). In the morning Israel came up from the sea and the Egyptians sank. At that hour Israel sang the song, as it is said, "Then Moses sang..." (Exodus 15:1). It was the fifth day of the week, and it was the last festival day of Passover. From the Sea of Reeds they traveled to Marah, as it is said, "They came to Marah..." (Exodus 15:23), and Scripture says, "There He set for him a statute and a judgment" (Exodus 15:25). There ten commandments were given to Israel. Seven were among those that the children of Noah had already been commanded, as it is written, "The LORD God commanded the man, saying: From every tree of the garden you may surely eat" (Genesis 2:16). "Commanded" refers to laws, and so it says, "For I have known him, so that he will command..." (Genesis 18:19), and it is written, "to do righteousness and judgment" (Genesis 18:19). "The LORD" refers to blessing the Name, as it is said, "Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD..." (Leviticus 24:16). "God" refers to idolatry, as it is said, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). "The man" refers to bloodshed, as it is said, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed" (Genesis 9:6). "Saying" refers to sexual immorality, as it is said, "Saying: If a man sends away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man's, shall he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many companions; yet return to Me, says the LORD" (Jeremiah 3:1). "From every tree of the garden" refers to robbery, as it is said, "or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall restore it in full, and add a fifth to it" (Leviticus 5:24). Rabbi Hiyya taught: That which is guarded on a roof is forbidden because of robbery, and that which is not guarded on a roof is permitted with respect to robbery. "You may surely eat" refers to a limb from a living animal, as it is said, "But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat" (Genesis 9:4). At that time Israel added three commandments to those seven: Shabbat, laws, and honoring father and mother. From Marah they traveled to Elim, as it is said, "They traveled from Marah and came to Elim..." (Numbers 33:9). From this we learn that Israel camped only by water. From Elim they traveled to Alush, as it is said, "They traveled from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin" (Exodus 16:1). This is Alush. It was "on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt" (Exodus 16:1), and it was the first day of the week. From this we learn that the new moon of Iyar fell on the first day of the week. We also learn that Israel ate from the cake they had brought out in their hands from Egypt for thirty full days. On that day it ran out. In the evening they ate the quail, and in the morning they gathered the manna. At Alush the Shabbat was given to them, and there they kept the first Shabbat, as it is said, "The people rested on the seventh day" (Exodus 16:30). On the first day of the week, the twenty-third of Iyar, they traveled from Alush and came to Rephidim. There the well was given to them, they fought with Amalek, and there they kept the second Shabbat. They traveled from Rephidim and came to the Wilderness of Sinai, where they found the clouds of glory. During all five days Moses would go up to the top of the mountain and come down, telling the people the words of the Omnipresent and bringing their words back before the Omnipresent. In the third month, on the sixth day of the month, the Ten Commandments were given to them, and it was Shabbat.