מעשה אבות סימן לבנים

A theme of the Torah is מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that whatever happened to the fathers happens to the children.

The example from this week’s Parsha was Avraham Avinu’s visit to Egypt. There were many similarities between this incident and the slavery and exodus from Egypt by עם ישראל.

The first similarity is that Avraham went down to Egypt because of a famine as did Yakov Avinu.

A second similarity is that פרעה made a decree against the males and drowned Jewish babies. Avraham was afraid that פרעה would make a decree and kill him.

Ultimately, Avraham left Egypt with gold and silver and great wealth. The exodus was accompanied with great wealth as well.

A final similarity is that in both cases, פרעה hurriedly sent out both Avraham Avinu and עם ישראל.

So we see the principle of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים in action in this week’s Parsha. Shabbat Shalom