The Jews’ becoming wealthy was a promise that G-d made Abraham. G-d told Abraham that his descendents would be exiled and enslaved, but that eventually they would be freed amidst great riches. Receiving the Egyptians’ treasures was the fulfillment of G-d’s promise. The Midrash says that G-d told Moses, “I know the Jews just want to leave already, with or without riches, but tell them to please humor me by emptying Egypt of all its wealth. I don’t want Abraham to say, ‘the four hundred years of slavery were realized, but the promised riches...that they never received!’”¹

Jewish mysticism teaches that the wealth that the Jewish people acquired was spiritually important, too. Egypt of that era was a veritable pit of spiritual anarchy where idolatry, immorality, sorcery, and injustice were all condoned. And yet, buried in this evil societal framework were numerous lofty holy ‘sparks’ of G-dliness. The mystical reasons why the Jewish people languished in slavery was in order to “dig up” these buried sparks and elevate them back to their G-dly source. Taking the Egyptian “wealth” hints to the Jewish people’s successful recovery of these holy sparks. The Jewish people left no spark unturned, completely depleting Egypt’s supply.