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The Torah begins the story of the Jewish nation’s slavery and subsequent departure from the land of Egypt.

Our Parsha starts off by giving us some context to the Jewish people’s situation at that time. Yosef and all his brothers had passed on, and a new Pharaoh became king over Egypt who did not want to acknowledge Yosef and his accomplishments. As the Jewish people began to flourish and prosper, the new ruler became fearful of their growing numbers and resolved to find a solution to his “Jewish problem.”

His strategy was to burden the Jewish people with so much work that they would have no time to have more children. However, Hashem had a different plan for the Jewish nation, as the Pasuk says, (1:12) “As much as the Egyptians would afflict them, so did they multiply and grow in strength.”

We find out why Pharaoh differentiates Moshe and Aaron’s work with the Jewish people’s labor.

We learn the consequential concept of “Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Bazeh,” that all Jews are responsible for each other.