"ובאו האובדים בארץ אשור והנדחים בארץ מצרים"
“And the ones who were lost in the land of Ashur will come and those cast away in the land of Mitzrayim.”

QUESTION: Why will the kibutz gali’ot — ingathering of the exiles — consist of Jews only from these two locations?

ANSWER: Jews become alienated or are lost to Yiddishkeit because of two reasons — affluence or poverty. Some affluent Jews live in “sophisticated” environments where the observance of Torah is unpopular and ultimately drift away from Yiddishkeit. The Torah says about them, “Yeshurun became fat and kicked” (Devarim 32:15).

On the other hand, there are those who disappeared from the Jewish scene because of poverty. Unfortunately, they were not shomer Shabbat out of financial need or did not receive a Jewish education due to their parents’ inability to pay tuition. As the Gemara (Eiruvin 41b) says, “Poverty can cause a person to violate his own will and the will of his creator.”

The word “Ashur” is not just the name of a country, but can also mean “pleasure and good fortune” (see Bereishit 30:13). Likewise, “Mitzrayim” is not just the Hebrew name for Egypt, but can be read as “meitzarim” — “limitations and boundaries.” Thus, the prophet is saying that on that day there will be a major awakening and all those who are “lost” in the land of Ashur — affluence i.e. — pleasure and good fortune — and those who are cast away in the land of Mitzrayim — i.e. they abandoned Yiddishkeit because of financial hardships and limitations — will bow down to Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

(לקוטי תורה – ר"ה, ספר המאמרים אידיש)