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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”

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