When G-d sent Pharaoh the very first warning before the Ten Plagues, He included an indication of the end purpose for which the Plagues would be brought upon Egypt: "Israel is My son, My firstborn."  

Obviously, G-d did not lack the means and the power to free the Jewish People in one fell swoop, rather than sending a series of ten different, gradually more severe blows to the people of Egypt and their sovereign.  Apparently, the purpose of the Plagues was not only to achieve the release of the Jewish People.  As stated, this could have been accomplished with one, solitary, powerful blow, such as the tenth plague in the series, the slaying of the firstborn throughout all of Egypt.

The firstborn sons, who became the object of the climax of the plagues, represent one of the foundations of human values, of the Torah, and of Judaism.  In order to bring home to the Egyptians the moral lessons of the firstborn son, and overhaul their value system, Heaven used an ongoing obstacle course of difficulties, one after the other.

If we assume that a Utopian society is one in which all are truly equal, it follows that no one will not show deference to another, neither the young to their elders, nor the elders toward the young, for everyone is equal, regardless of age. A society dedicated purely to materialism has no room for a G-d. It is a world with no beginning and no past.  Only the here and now are relevant.

This "ideal" world has no values or status symbols.  Parents are not deemed deserving of honor and respect, since the past is of no value.  No monuments to the past decorate its parks and city squares of such a state. There is no place for tradition, no room for heritage. 

This is the world described in detail by the Mishnah at the end of Tractate Sotah, which lists the phenomena which will characterize the generation immediately preceding the advent of the mashiach (messiah).  It is a classless world, without roots; a world doomed to wither and fade. 

Judaism offers us an entirely different sort of world as our ideal and our goal. The ideal society as pictured by Judaism has firm, deep roots, from which it continually draws strength and nourishment.  This is a society which cultivates a profound awareness of its past: how it came into being, and who was responsible for its foundation. 

The Torah stresses the special position of the firstborn of the family, the child who elevated a Jewish woman to the role of mother.  The Torah sanctifies the firstborn of domestic animals, for they, too, are the beginning of a new generation, and additional stratum in the means by which man provides a living for himself and his family.  Likewise, it sanctifies the first fruits to ripen – the product of man's cultivation of his property, given Heaven's blessing to make it prosper.

Being the first of a new generation, or a new season's produce, is a distinction which has significance to those who live their lives within a framework of time, with a past, present, and future.  It has meaning for one who is aware of the Source of all he possesses, who knows who is his father, and who is his Creator. 

The fact that an individual acknowledges these "firsts" is a guarantee that he will look forward, beyond his first-ling, to further growth in the future.  He who acknowledges the special status of his firstborn will also acknowledge the First, Prime Source of his blessings, the Creator of the Universe.

Cultivating this awareness is the task for which the Jewish People has been chosen and set aside from all other nations of the earth.  Our role is to constantly remember Who is the First Cause, Who has honored us by naming us "My son, My firstborn, Israel." One who does not show respect and gratitude to the Prime Source has cut himself off from his roots.  Like flowers after they are picked and cut off from their roots and soil, he will slowly fade and wither. 

A person has the option to ignore the past or to relate to it as a mere exhibit in a museum.  Such an individual will echo Pharaoh's cry: "Who is G-d, that I should hearken to His voice?" (Exodus)  He is destined to pay a heavy price for his reaction.  He is inviting Heaven to "enroll" him in a course of "lectures" – perhaps short and intensive, perhaps over a long period of time – on a topic essential to all men: "...in order that you will know that I am the L-rd in the midst of the land." (Exodus)

If the first "lectures", delivered with quiet reserve and dignity, do not achieve their end, the lessons that follow are likely to be accompanied by dire trials and afflictions of both the mind and man's conscience.  Such was the fate of Pharaoh and his nation; those who fail to heed the warnings given them are cultivating disaster. 

The way of Judaism is to consecrate all beginnings: "Sanctify unto Me every firstborn; whatsoever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is Mine..." (Exodus 13:2)

The Jew respects and appreciates the harbingers of new generations and the renewal which reveal the power of Him who stands behind them – the Creator, Who is the Prime Source of all that is new in the universe.

This is the reason we show such deference and respect for the Torah itself and to the Sages who have mastered it throughout the generations.  It is they who lead and guide the Jewish People and nurture their renewed faith in Him of whom it is declared: "He preceded all that was created; He is First, and nothing preceded Him" (Yigdal, in the Morning Prayer Service).