Means and End

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.                                                       Exodus 29:46

Our verse stresses that the exodus from Egypt was goal oriented; its purpose was not merely to take the Israelites from Egypt, but to bring them to the situation where God will dwell among them.

This verse does not stand independently, but must be understood in connection with God’s second charge to Moses concerning the redemption from Egyptian bondage:

Therefore say to the Children of Israel: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be for you a God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the Land which I lifted up my hand to give to Abraham Isaac and Jacob, and it will be a heritage for you. I am the Lord.    Exodus 6:6-8

These verses clearly state that the purpose of the exodus was to bring Israel into its Land, while our verse adds the dimension which conveys the significance of the Land: it is within the Land that the nation of Israel will be able to bring the Shechina into its midst, as our Sages taught that the Holy Land is the land of the Shechina.

In essence, the exodus was not a goal but a means to bring Israel to its own Land. Yet entering the Land is not the final goal, rather the means to allow God to dwell among His people.

For Israel to dwell in its Land without striving to bring the Shechina into the nation is to confuse the means and the goal.