Kommentar zu Dewarim 16:12

וזכרת כי עבד היית וגו׳ AND THOU SHALT REMEMBER THAT THOU WAST A SERVANT [IN EGYPT] — Only on this condition did I deliver you from Egypt: that you keep and do these statutes.

AND THOU SHALT REMEMBER THAT THOU WAST A BONDMAN IN EGYPT. Rabbi Abraham [ibn Ezra] said that this phrase is connected with the expression and thy manservant, and thy maidservant³⁶³Verse 11. [mentioned in the first part of the preceding verse]. The correct interpretation is according to the plain meaning thereof, that you are to observe these statutes³⁶⁴In Verse 12 before us. which the Lord Who redeemed thee out of the house of bondage³⁶⁵Above, 13:6. commanded you. We also proclaim in the Kiddush of that [festival] day, “It is a memorial of the exodus from Egypt.” He stated these statutes³⁶⁴In Verse 12 before us. with reference to the Festival of Weeks [an expression not used with reference to the other festivals] because the reason for the counting of seven weeks, and the observing of only the fiftieth day as the only solemn assembly is not mentioned in the Torah [and hence they are accounted as chukim — “statutes,” commandments for which we do not know the reasons, and therefore he warned us to observe and do these statutes]. I have already mentioned their secret.³⁶⁶Leviticus 23:36.
Shoftim

וזכרת כי עבד היית, where you did not own any money of your own, seeing that whatever is in the hands of a slave is owned by his master. (Pessachim 88)

ושמרת ועשית את כל החוקים האלה, “You shall observe and perform all these decrees.” Nachmanides says that the reason why Moses applied the term חוקה, decree, to these festivals, is because the Torah did not offer a rationale for the observance of the festival of Shavuot, and it did not offer a rationale why this festival is to be observed 50 days after the offering of the Paschal lamb. Some commentators answer the question simply by saying that seeing this is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, and its observance does not depend on G’d offering His reasons for the legislation, it deserves to be described as a חוקה, legislation by decree.

V. 12. וזכרת וגו׳ (siehe zum vorigen Verse). In dieser durchs Gesetz den überall sonst Verlassenen gesicherten Lebensfreude spricht sich am hervorragendsten der Charakter der dem aus der Knechtschaft erlösten Gottesvolke erteilten Bestimmung aus (siehe zu Wajikra 23, 22).

וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים, “you are to remember that you used to be a slave in Egypt.” It is noteworthy that this festival, as opposed to Passover, New Year’s Day fasting on the day of Atonement, and Sukkot, is not accompanied by specific rituals which are to serve as such reminders. This is why it was necessary for the Torah here to tell us that we must remember the significance of this day without visible reminders of its significance.

ושמרת ועשית את החקים האלה, by leaving behind gleanings, the peyah, etc., as a goodwill gesture for your G’d Who has taken you out from there and given you wealth and landed property.

כי עבד היית במצרים; “the Torah reminds you that your preoccupation with bringing in the wheat harvest at this time is not to be considered as more important than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for if the Lord had not taken you out of bondage in Egypt you would not have a crop to harvest. While you had been in Egypt you did not have an opportunity to rest and enjoy a festival, so doing once you have taken up residence in your own country is by itself a fitting reminder of how your status has changed.