"The Exodus from Egypt is not only a manifestation of the power of God, but also, and more profoundly, it expresses the love of God.
Only when the greatness of God is realized can one understand what it means for Him to go down to Egypt and take us out from there.
There is a story of a man who had committed a sin.
He came to one of the Tzadikim (saintly men) and asked for remission, for repentance.
He thought that, as was customary, he would be given certain penances and fasts to perform, but the teacher told him that he did not wish to impose any ascetic practices on him.
Instead, he made the man sit with him every day and study, irrespective of subject matter.
They pored over those items dealing with the greatness of the Creator and those belonging to the degrada tion of sin.
Until finally the man reached such a level of contrition and self-dislike that the others in the group took pity on him and made the teacher release him to go off and fast a bit and rest from these torments."
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From The Sustaining Utterance by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
