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Pesach 2016 – A Lesson from Pharaoh

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Pharaoh outwitted the Israelites by ensnaring them into a trap. He appealed to their sense of patriotism. According to one source in the Talmud, he called the Israelites and bid them to assist him in a project. He took a basket and a rake and started to make mortar for bricks. Whoever saw the king followed suit, and immediately all the Israelites zealously set about making bricks.
French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte broke down ghetto walls and offered Jews emancipation, but then demanded assimilation
The King of Portugal, Manuel initially accepted Jews fleeing neighboring Spain following the expulsion of 1492, only to order their expulsion five years later, along with the eventual imposition of their own inquisition.

The book of Exodus states, “The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites with cruel harshness” 1:13 How did the Israelites who lived in a climate of relative tolerance within Egypt suddenly become slaves to their Egyptian hosts?

In Exodus 1:9, Pharaoh noted with alarm the increasing numbers of Israelites. “Behold the Israelites are more numerous and stronger than we.” He sought a solution to what he perceived as Egypt’s Jewish Problem; to impose slavery. However, it would be logistically difficult to force an entire nation into servitude. Not only were they numerous, but many were spread out over the country. (See Exodus 1:5) Pharaoh understood that it would be very difficult to simply pursue and place chains upon the Israelites. They could flee or resist, making the task extremely difficult. He sought a different approach.

Pharaoh stated, “Come let us outsmart them, lest they become numerous and join with our enemies, wage war against us and flee the land.” (Exodus 1:10) Pharaoh outwitted the Israelites by ensnaring them into a trap. He appealed to their sense of patriotism. According to one source in the Talmud, he called the Israelites and bid them to assist him in a project. He took a basket and a rake and started to make mortar for bricks. Whoever saw the king followed suit, and immediately all the Israelites zealously set about making bricks. As the day progressed, the Pharaoh suddenly set taskmasters over them and commanded them to count the bricks. Then he ordered them to produce the same quota every day. (Sota 11: A)

Pharaoh sought to draw in the Israelites was by playing upon their desire for acceptance. Furthermore, they had been targeted and maligned in a recent propaganda campaign against them initiated by the Pharaoh who claimed that the Jews were too powerful and were going to join their enemies and leave the land. (See Exodus 1:9, 10) The Pharaoh needed a pretext to enslave those who were the descendants of the beloved Joseph whose memory was still revered. To the Israelites, this could be their chance to debunk the propaganda and claims of disloyalty.

The Talmudic sage Rabbi Elazar states that the biblical word used in reference to the bitter persecution of the Israelites ‘B’Farech’, (Exodus 1:13) should also be read as –B’feh Rach, meaning a ‘soft approach’(Sota 11:A) implying the tact of the cunning Egyptian king was to lure the Israelites, not force them into subjugation.

Sometimes, the greatest dangers to the Jews are not those who brandish swords, but those who lure the Jews into a false sense of security. When one knows from where the enemy is coming, one can be alert to the dangers and prepare. But a foe who poses as a friend can catch his adversary off guard.

The Hebrew existence in Egypt is a paradigm for the history of the Jews.

History is full of examples of leaders and nations whose policies are well received by some Jews, but in the long run, they posed tangible threats to Jewish survival. A few examples: It was Achashverosh who invited the Jews of Shushan to his feast which eventually lead to the Purim saga. The Roman Emperor Hadrian initially promised to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, but eventually persecuted the Jews and provoked the Bar Kochba revolt. The King of Portugal, Manuel initially accepted Jews fleeing neighboring Spain following the expulsion of 1492, only to order their expulsion five years later, along with the eventual imposition of their own inquisition.

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte broke down ghetto walls and offered Jews emancipation, but then demanded assimilation. The German Kaiser addressed his Jewish citizens as ‘My dear Jews” in 1914, at the onset of the first world war, and after the war’s end was blaming them for Germany’s defeat. The March 1917 Russian Revolution promised freedom but the November revolution of that same year brought Russian Jewry a new nightmare Soviet communist anti-Semitism. In the 1920’s, Wiemar Germany offered democracy, but in the long run provided grounds for false hopes as Nazi Germany had already taken root.

Today, as world leaders offer advice to the Israel on how to manage its affairs, it would do some of Jewry’s leaders well to heed the lessons of the Pharaohs of the past.

Larry Domnitch

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