Netzach Yisrael, Introduction

Therefore, the Sages maintain that there is a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt even in the days of the Messiah, for how could there not be a memory of the cause together with its effect? For from the spiritual level that Israel acquired when they left Egypt, they will acquire a still more supreme level, and if He had not taken us out of Egypt and taken Israel to Himself as a people, they would not have merited that supreme level that they will acquire in the future, for the Exodus from Egypt is the essential cause of the future redemption. This is why when Ben Zoma responded to the words of the Sages, asking, "Will the Exodus from Egypt be mentioned in the future? Does it not state, 'Behold, days are coming, etc.'?"—from which it could be proven that the Exodus from Egypt will not be recalled in the future—the Sages answered him that it is not that the Exodus will be primary, but rather that the subjugation of the kingdoms will be primary and the Exodus from Egypt secondary to it. All of this is because it is impossible for the effect to exist without the cause, and therefore it is fitting that along with the memory of the subjugation of the kingdoms, there should be a memory of the thing that is its cause, namely the Exodus from Egypt. This is also why the Talmud brings proof from the names "Jacob" and "Israel," for the name "Jacob" was not uprooted because the name "Jacob" is also the cause of the name "Israel." For the name "Jacob" is so called from the expression that Jacob made himself small like a heel (ekev), and there is nothing lowlier than the heel, and this very thing was the cause for the Lord, may He be blessed, elevating him until he was called "Israel," alluding to "you have striven with God and with men" (Genesis 32:28), for "whoever abases himself, the Holy One, blessed be He, elevates him" (Eruvin 13b). For this reason, Israel is also called by these two names, because it is for the reason that they make themselves small that the Holy One, blessed be He, elevates them. And due to this, these two redemptions are joined together as if they were a single redemption.