Pesah 5786 - 3338 Years Since the Exodus

We know that Pesah and Tish'a Be'av are compared and contrasted in numerous ways.   The Kinot called אש תוקד בקרבי and אליכם עדה קדושה come to mind as the clearest examples.  But there are others.  The first night of Pesah always falls out the same night of the week as the next Tish'a Be'av that year. Some say that the reason why some eat an egg at the seder is for that reason.

As we are in the year 5786 and the Exodus from Egypt occurred in the year 2448, it comes out that it took place 3338 years ago.  But the year 3338 was the year of the Hurban Bayit Rishon - the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash.

Perhaps, we can say that it relates to this verse (Tehillim 90:15):

טו  שַׂמְּחֵנוּ, כִּימוֹת עִנִּיתָנוּ:    שְׁנוֹת, רָאִינוּ רָעָה.

15 Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, according to the years wherein we have seen evil.

Perhaps, "the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us" and "the years wherein we have seen evil" isn't referring the number of years of affliction, but rather the actual year of 3338, which is the number of years from Creation until we were afflicted with the loss of our Holy Temple.  Take that number of years and add it to the year of our first Redemption, and that is an appropriate time to "make us glad".

Sod1820 adds to this that the following verse has the gematria of 3338:

יד  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה; וַיֹּאמֶר, כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶהְיֶה, שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם.

14 And God said unto Moses: 'I AM THAT I AM'; and He said: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you.'

Before the first Redemption, as Rashi points out quoting the gemara, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu that He will be with us in that exile and all future exiles.  Perhaps, this is a hint that we need to use the gematria of the verse to count the years from the end of the first exile until the end of the last exile: 3338 years.

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Regarding the US airman who was rescued on a mountain in Iran in a daring mission aided by Israel, there were a couple of interesting points made.

Matzav:

According to Trump, the downed weapons systems officer, who had been “injured quite seriously,” managed to climb more than a mile up a mountainside and tend to his own injuries while hiding in a crevice in an area “teeming with terrorists.”

Interestingly, he was found in a crevice on a mountain on the day when we read in the Torah reading for Shabbat Hol Hamo'ed Pesah:

כב  וְהָיָה בַּעֲבֹר כְּבֹדִי, וְשַׂמְתִּיךָ בְּנִקְרַת הַצּוּר; וְשַׂכֹּתִי כַפִּי עָלֶיךָ, עַד-עָבְרִי.

22 And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I have passed by.

See also this video (h/t Neshama) where I first saw this mentioned.

“When he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple and it was powerful. He sent a message, ‘God is good,’ ” Hegseth recounted.

See Rabbi Glatstein's take on that (also h/t Neshama).

Perhaps, this incident is a fulfillment of Yoma 10b where one opinion (consisting of Tannaim and Amoraim) holds עתידה רומי שתפול ביד פרס - Rome is destined to fall at the hands of Persia.  Perhaps, the US airmen and their airplane (Rome) literally fell into Iranian (Persian) territory and the whole world knew about it.  The fact that they were rescued doesn't matter.  We are waiting for the fulfillment of the other opinion, who holds עתידה פרס ליפול ביד רומי - Persia is destined to fall at the hands of Rome.  Hopefully, that will be a complete fulfillment and will happen soon.