הכתב והקבלה — ואחרי כן יצאו ברכש גדול

Q — 'ואחרי כן יצאו ברכש גדול' looks like the *purpose* of the slavery — but how can material wealth be a tachlis worth centuries of suffering?

A — HaKtav VeHaKabbalah agrees it cannot. By any rational accounting, no person would accept 'עינוי ועבדות' just for the money that follows ('לא מעוקצך ולא מדובשך'), Hashem could deliver wealth by easier means, and gold and silver are 'הבל' anyway. So 'רכש גדול' must mean *spiritual* wealth. The שיעבוד served three combined purposes: to refine Yisrael 'כצרוף את הכסף' until they were spiritually pure; to generate the framework of אותות ומופתים that would publicize Hashem's existence ('למען תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ'); and to ready them to accept the Torah. The verse is read literally — there *was* a tachlis — but the 'wealth' it names is the entire formative achievement of yetziat Mitzrayim, not silver vessels.