Skip to main content

Pharaoh's Plaint

 But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites. - Shemot /Exodus 1:12

All those, who throughout history sought power, wealth, and perceived security through the degradation, subjugation, and destruction of other humans have relied upon  two key sets of premises:

1.       Constant contempt and intrusive control over people’s lives and labor, causes them to lose a sense of agency. This then causes the oppressed to value their own selves less and internalize that contempt, so they no longer have the hopes, aspirations, and belief in their destiny flowing from a sense of self worth. 

2.       The oppressed become invisible: Part of the background, without influence.

In the case of the Children of Israel in Egypt neither was the case. They had as many children as possible and brought them up with a sense of pride and identity – rejecting the values of Egyptian society. Though slaves, they didn't embrace the value system of their oppressors but maintained pride and a sense of the superiority of their heritage. The Midrash writes “They did not change their names, clothing, or language”.

A close translation of the verse’s Hebrew

“As they were oppressed so they became greater  (in their self-worth as well as number) and so they broke out ( of their invisibility )”.

This defies the rules of oppression and power, confounding the Egyptians. This begins a pattern of G-d ensuring the Jewish people constantly negate the rules of history and the agendas of the worshipers of power and the enthusiasts of atrocity. And so it shall be again and again until “Evil passes from the Earth”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baseball and Elul

  As we enter the fall, and prepare for Tishrei – The High Holidays, Sukkot and Simchat Torah, we are also poised at a key moment of the great American sport - the climactic crescendo of the Baseball season. True, in the grand scheme of things this may seem trivial, yet - all happens by Divine Providence. As a result of this reality, Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov taught “Everything we hear and see must teach us a means of enhancing our Divine work”. Since this sporting milestones are always close to this most intense period of the Judaic year, they must teach us something important. One of the special characteristics of baseball is the need for thorough preparation outside the games themselves. The perfect strike, the brilliant at-bat, the towering homer, the gravity-defying leaping catch at the wall, the perfectly choreographed double (or triple!) play all are the products of intense preparation and practice over many hours, days, months, and years. The necessary development of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In Those Days at This Time - Chanukah Redux

  Our Chanukah Message, and for this year, and an announcement of new classes at Bnai Torah Boruch Hashem! “In those days at this time” So goes the Refrain of Al Hanisim – the additional prayer we add to the Amidah and the Grace after Meals During Chanukah and Purim. Chanukah is about the attempt to destroy Judaism and co-opt the Jews of the Land of Israel into the idolatrous, immoral, hedonistic and polytheistic Hellenist world. Our enemies, the Seleucids -with an empire centered in Syria, sought to use both the blandishments of societal acceptance and when that failed, force of arms and persecution to coerce us towards this goal. They desired that we bow to the prevailing values and beliefs held by the whole world -except for us Jews. In effect they said: “How can it be that you have the Chutzpah to believe the whole world is wrong and you are right?”. We responded that – “This is indeed the case, which is why empires, kingdoms, values and beliefs come and go, but our nation, ou...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Wonderful Article on Gazaa by David Harris of the AJC

Hypocrisy! by David A. Harris Executive Director American Jewish Committee January 26, 2009 Dear Ms. Trine Lilleng, You were an unknown Norwegian diplomat till this month. No longer. As first secretary in the Norwegian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, you recently sent out an email on your office account in which you declared: "The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany." Accompanying your text were photos, with an emphasis on children, seeking to juxtapose the Holocaust with the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza. Clearly, you are miscast in your role as a diplomat, all the more so of a nation that has sought to play a mediating role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In fact, you're desperately in need of some education. Let's begin with your current posting. You've been in Riyadh since 2007. If you're so anguished by human rights violations, perhaps you could have begun b...
2 comments
Read more