Da'at

The nature of the Egyptian exile was that the people lacked da'at1 - the ability to conclude2 that there is One Creator, "who in His goodness, constantly renews the act of creation" 3 - until Moses came, and through the miracles he performed, showed that there is One Creator who constantly renews the world.

However, the aspect of da'at that was revealed in the Exodus was Feminine4; whereas the da'at that will be revealed in the future, in the days of the Messiah, will be Masculine.5 Thus, the verse says: "Your eyes will behold your Master" (Isaiah 30:20). Then, everyone will see with their eyes the letters of Torah and prayers that they are studying and praying, for these are the purified worlds.6 This is what the Sages said: "[Know what is above you,] an eye sees, and an ear hears."7

This is also what is written in the Passover Hagadah: "Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, Though I am like a man of seventy years, I did not merit to mention the Exodus from Egypt in the nights." 8 That is, to make known the renewal of the world - called "the exodus from Egypt" - in the night, when the lights and supernal worlds are hidden. This is because the darkness of the impure shells, called "nights," makes it impossible to mention the Exodus from Egypt, which is the revelation of the renewal of the worlds.

"Not until Ben Zoma expounded. . .." For exposition has the power to break the shells.9 Then it was possible to show the presence of the Exodus from Egypt, which would otherwise be impossible until the future, when we will see "eye to eye."10 And this is what the Sages said, that this goal will be reached in the days of the Moshiach.

1Da'at refers to a direct, spiritual perception of G·d. See the Torah portion VaYetze, fn. 7.
2The Baal Shem Tov uses a uncommon word to describe this lack of da'at: l'hachria which means decide between multiple options and reach a conclusion. The nature of the da'at consciousness is the reconciliation of opposites (as in the unified, mystical experience). The lack of da'at, therefore, would mean that a person is trapped between opposites, unable to come to any singular conclusion.
3From the daily, morning prayers.
4Da'at d'nukba, in the Aramaic of the Zohar.
5Da'at ded'chura. To briefly explain this complex idea, according to the Sages, there are two levels of prophecy: through a clear lens, and through an unclear lens - aspaklaria d'me'ira and aspaklaria d'eina me'ira. Feminine da'at, that was revealed at the Exodus, means that the Jewish people had a perception of G·d that was filtered through the emotions (and possibly, the imaginatively faculty, following Maimonidies definition of "unclear" prophecy). Only Moses merited perceiving G·d through a clear lens, which means a direct, intellectual perception of Divinity, and the workings of the supernal worlds. All Israel did briefly attain this level at the revelation at Sinai, although they lost it soon afterward. However, in the World to Come, this level of spiritual perception will be regained.
6According to R. Yitzchok Isaac of Komarno (Otzar HaChaim, Behar), this is not merely a visual experience of the letters, but a perception of the absolute Oneness and Providence of G·d: ". . . . each person will feel and see that the entire world is filled with His glory, for the darkness of the impure shells causes concealment and illusion, until the future time, when the glory of His kingdom will be revealed. And the entire world will see that everything is His simple Will, and that all that happened was through His direction, down to the smallest detail, and that the Master of the World was in each and every gesture, for the essence of the craftsman is in the object he creates, and the creation is like a snail, whose garment is itself."
7Pirkei Avos 2:1.
8I.e., in the evening prayers, in the last passage of the Shema, that speaks of the commandment of tzitzit. This passage was included in the evening prayers because it mentions the Exodus, not because of the mitzvah of tzitzit, which does not apply at night.
9The process of expounding upon the Torah, derush, brings to light previously unrecognized details of the text or clarifies issues that were difficult to understand. In both cased, it is as though a "shell" that covers the meaning of the Torah has been cracked. When Ben Zoma expounded upon the verse, he not only broke the shell of the Torah, he broke the "impure shells" that prevent the consciousness from experiencing a perception of G·d. Thus R. Elazar was able to make mention of the Exodus from Egypt in the night; that is, to reveal the presence of G·d even in exile - a foretaste of the revelation of the World to Come.
10Isaiah 52:8: "Hark, your watchmen! They lift up the voice, together they sing; for they shall see eye to eye the return of the L·rd to Zion."
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, VaYishlach