Adapted from: Beis HaLevi on Anavah by Rabbi David Sutton

Although Hashem told Avraham that his descendants would be in galus for 400 years, Klal Yisrael actually spent only 210 years in Egypt.

One explanation for this is that Hashem never said that the entire 400 years would be spent in Egypt specifically. Rather, the period of exile began earlier — with Yitzchak Avinu’s experience living as a stranger in a foreign land — and unfolded as a multi-step process spanning 400 years in total. 

However, we are still left with a question. If Yitzchak’s life counted as galus, why couldn’t we have spent all 400 years in Eretz Yisrael like Yitzchak Avinu did, in relative calm? 

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky (Emes L’Yaakov, Shemos 1:1) gives an impactful answer. Galus, he states, is in the eye of the beholder. If the purpose of galus is for us to humble ourselves, then it’s up to us to become humbled by the situation. 

Yitzchak Avinu was humbled just by being in Eretz Yisrael. He was a lone man. There was no, so to say, Jewish nation. He was a stranger, and he felt it. And that was enough. Yitzchak fulfilled the words, ki ger yi’hiyeh zaracha — Your children shall be aliens, right there in Eretz Yisrael.

Then, as time went on, he gave birth to Yaakov, and Yaakov Avinu’s family grew. The setup of the family, with Yaakov surrounded by his twelve tribes, could be compared to the arrangement of the Mishkan in the Desert. There was a certain sense of belonging. They no longer felt like strangers. And so, they had to go down to Mitzrayim. They had to be b’eretz lo lahem— in a land not their own, in order to feel the galus, in order to be humbled. Initially, that was enough for them. Goshen, where they lived, was like a ghetto.

Then, as time went on, that, too, was no longer sufficient. They became too comfortable. The Jews began feeling like citizens. They were born there; their parents and grandparents had been born there. And that was when the hard work started, to fulfill the words: va’avadum— And they will serve them. At that point in time, they were sent to labor camps, where they had to work hard building pyramids.

When that was not enough to keep them humble, v’inu osam — and they will oppress them. The Egyptians tortured and tormented the Jews to humble them. 

Becoming too comfortable and not being humbled can be dangerous for our spiritual and physical existence. Decades before the Holocaust, Rav Meir Simchah of Dvinsk (Meshech Chochmah, Vayikra 26:44) wrote about the cycle of the history of the Jews, which has been recurring through the centuries. 

First, a Jew comes to a new country and feels like an immigrant. Then, slowly, he acclimates and becomes secure and comfortable until he forgets where he came from, thinks of himself as a very comfortable citizen, and starts to forget his religion. 

Speaking about the German Jews in his day, who were extremely cultured, Rav Meir Simchah declared, “They will think that Berlin is Yerushalayim.”

When that happens, he predicted: יָבוֹא רוּחַ סֹעָה וָסָעַר, יַעֲקֹר אוֹתוֹ מִגִּזְעוֹ — A gusty wind and a storm will come, uprooting him from his trunk.

As we know, history repeats itself. And this is the story of galus. As was once said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 

It’s been this way throughout the generations. Whenever we forget that we are strangers, that we are sojourners, the non-Jews come along and remind us of that fact. 

We must view ourselves as strangers, keeping a low profile, not making demands. Once we start demanding, What about my rights? I must have xyz… it’s a problem. 

Of course, we live in a democratic country, and we want to have rights, but we have to understand that deep down, this is not where we belong. As long as we have that understanding, then, until the coming of Mashiach, we can go back to a quiet, serene galus — like Yitzchak Avinu’s galus. But once we start feeling, Hey, this is mine, we are in trouble.

If we don’t want the non-Jews to remind us of our status, we must remember it on our own. We must remain in our space.

Because the purpose of galus is to make us humble.