There is an interesting question that was once asked. How did Yisro know where to find the B地ei Yisroel? There are two answers that are given. The first answer is that Tzippora, Moshe痴 wife told her father that the Jews would be going to serve Hashem on the Mountain of God. Thus, Yisro went to the mountain in order to find the B地ei Yisroel there. The second answer is more practical. After all, if Balak himself later describes the Jews as "covering the land痴 surface," how hard could they be to find?
The Mechilta, commenting on when the Torah says "And Israel camped there," says that over here it is singular to teach us that it was as one man, with one heart. That there was achdus in Klal Yisroel. Common ancestry is not necessarily the birth of a nation. There have been numerous times when brothers split up and formed different nations. The B地ei Avraham and Yitzchok both split up and formed their own nations. Even the B地ei Yaakov were split up into B地ei Leah and the B地ei Rochel. Why then did the B地ei Yisroel not split up into different nations?
When Yaakov blessed his sons before he died, his sons responded "Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad." It is this singularity that enabled the Jews throughout history . While in Mitzrayim, strife and lashon hora were rampant among the Jews. Nevertheless, once the B地ei Yisroel were standing before Hashem for the first time, once they said "Na誕seh V地ishma" as one people, the distortions of the people were gone. For the first time, the B地ei Yisroel were truly "Ish Echad B鱈eiv Echad."
In Perek 19; Passuk 4, Hashem says "And that I have carried you on the wings of eagles." This refers to the state of kedusha the B地ei Yisroel so rapidly attained. When a person strays off the derech Hashem, it is very hard for him to return. Descent is so much easier and quicker then ascent.
If this is true of an individual, kal v団homer of an entire nation. Seemingly overnight, the B地ei Yisroel transformed from a nation of idolaters, to a nation which believed and trusted in Hashem. And more so, the heights of holiness they reached enabled even a maidservant to receive nevuos which the Navi Yechezkel did not receive.
The phrase "wings of eagles" does not only refer to the speed with which the B地ei Yisroel reached their unbelievable level of kedusha. It also refers to the heights they attained. This height of spirituality enabled the B地ei Yisroel to receive the Torah and to receive nevuos at the Kriyas Yam Suf. Indeed, just as an eagle is able to fly higher then other birds, so too are the B地ei Yisroel able to fly higher then other nations.
Hashem tells the B地ei Yisroel they will be a "Kingdom of Ministers," implying that the B地ei Yisroel must now disperse over the globe, and teach the nations of the world the Torah, in order to let everyone know the Emes of Hashem and His Torah. But, if the goyim did not wish to receive the Torah from Hashem, surely they would not accept it from mere humans?
The answer to this can be found in the words of Hashem. The reason it says "kingdom," and not just "ministers," teaches us a lesson. We do not have to disperse over the globe. Rather. we will have our own kingdom. But in that kingdom, there must be a level of kedusha not found in other nations. The laws of that kingdom, laws which are so upright and fair would be the rules by which the nation lives by. And then, the B地ei Yisroel would not have to teach the goyim about the Torah. Rather, the goyim will learn from us. It is they who will want to copy our rules, and thereby elevate themselves to our standard of living.
If the B地ei Yisroel were only originally supposed to leave Mitzrayim for three days, and during those three days they were to have received the Torah, why did it take them seven weeks to get to Har Sinai?
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