The Torah records that the Israelites "journeyed from Refidim and came to the desert of Sinai" (Exodus 19:2). But the Mekhilta notices a problem. The previous verse already stated "they came to the desert of Sinai." Why repeat it? If we already know they arrived, why tell us again?
The answer lies in a fundamental principle of rabbinic interpretation: when the Torah seems to repeat itself, it is teaching something new. The second mention is not redundant. It creates a comparison. Their journeying from Refidim is being likened to their coming to the desert of Sinai. Just as the latter was in a state of repentance, so too was the former.
This is a remarkable claim about the inner life of the Israelite nation. Refidim was the place where the people had quarreled with Moses over the lack of water, where they had tested God by asking "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7). It was also where Amalek attacked — and the rabbis taught that Amalek's assault was a direct consequence of Israel's doubt. Refidim was a place of spiritual failure.
But by the time they left Refidim, something had changed. The people had repented. And when they arrived at Sinai — where they would receive the Torah — they arrived in that same state of repentance. The journey between the two locations was not merely physical. It was spiritual. They departed as penitents and arrived as penitents, ready to stand before God and accept His covenant.