Geulah in the Torah

(5) I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. (6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. (7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the LORD.”

(47) If a resident alien among you has prospered, and your kinsman being in straits, comes under his authority and gives himself over to the resident alien among you, or to an offshoot of an alien’s family, (48) he shall have the right of redemption even after he has given himself over. One of his kinsmen shall redeem him, (49) or his uncle or his uncle’s son shall redeem him, or anyone of his family who is of his own flesh shall redeem him; or, if he prospers, he may redeem himself.

(16) Anyone, however, who strikes another with an iron object so that death results is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. (17) If he struck him with a stone tool that could cause death, and death resulted, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. (18) Similarly, if the object with which he struck him was a wooden tool that could cause death, and death resulted, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. (19) The blood-avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; it is he who shall put him to death upon encounter. (20) So, too, if he pushed him in hate or hurled something at him on purpose and death resulted, (21) or if he struck him with his hand in enmity and death resulted, the assailant shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood-avenger shall put the murderer to death upon encounter. (22) But if he pushed him without malice aforethought or hurled any object at him unintentionally, (23) or inadvertently dropped upon him any deadly object of stone, and death resulted—though he was not an enemy of his and did not seek his harm— (24) in such cases the assembly shall decide between the slayer and the blood-avenger. (25) The assembly shall protect the manslayer from the blood-avenger, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and there he shall remain until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil. (26) But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled, (27) and the blood-avenger comes upon him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the blood-avenger kills the manslayer, there is no bloodguilt on his account.

...Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).

From where do we derive that we drink four cups of wine at the Pesach [seder]? Rabbi Yohanan said: It corresponds to the four redemptions: 'I will take you out;' 'I will save you;' 'I will redeem you;' 'I will take you to me.' Three of these are found in this verse, and one in the verse immediately following. In all of the decisors and commentators and books of legends that bring this saying, it is brought using the language, "It corresponds to the four languages of redemption." But if we look in the Palestinian Talmud from which the phrase is quoted, the word "languages" is missing. Rather it says, "four redemptions." In my view, this is a very significant distinction. For if we understand it according to its plain meaning, the notion of four languages of redemption is not a reason to establish four cups of thanksgiving, since there is but one redemption, whether we speak of it using one word or four. But if there are four redemptions, then that explains the matter much better, for when we examine it well we find that there are four different ideas expressed in these four terms, and each one is its own complete idea unto itself and deserving of its own thanksgiving. In the first statement ("I will take you out"), we see that the Holy Blessed One took them out from under the labors of the Egyptians, which is to say that God lightened their labors--but they were not freed completely. Then God added to this, "And I will save you from their servitude," which means that they did not serve them at all. But even after these two promises, they were still servants to Pharaoh and had not achieved full redemption. Thus God added, "And I will redeem you," but even so they were not yet made a special acquisition of the Holy Blessed One, and so God added, "And I will take you to me to be a people, and I will be God to you." We see that within these sayings are included separate notions of redemption. The verses continue in a "not only this, but also this" fashion--that is to say, not only will I do this, but I will also do this, and not only that, but also this, etc. As such, the simple meaning is revealed: We are obligated to give thanks for each individual act that increased the redemption. And that is why [the Sages] established the four cups of thanksgiving. And why did they not establish a cup for the phrase "and I will bring you to the land?" We cannot say that it is because that language is unrelated to the redemption, since they established a cup for "and I will take you to me to be a people," which is likewise not specifically an aspect of redemption. Rather, the simple answer is that since we are still in exile, and the land is in the hands of foreigners, it is impossible to raise a glass of wine for this. And perhaps, in recognition of this, they established a special cup in the name of Elijah, as a remembrance and hint that we hope for his coming and for the resurrection of the nation and the land speedily in our days.

All those occupied with Torah and acts of kindness and who pray, etc. These three are the three pillars of the world, that we taught in a mishna "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the Service, and on acts of kindness" (Pirkei Avot 1:2). And this was at the time that the Temple stood, but now that the Temple is not standing, communal prayer is in the place of communal [sacrificial] service, i.e. the Tamid offerings which were brought every day. And the Holy Blessed One says, [this person has] redeemed Me and My children, etc. (Berachot 8a) -- for God's Presence is in exile, as it was written "I will be with him in distress" (Psalms 91:15). ...