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Shemot
(All rights reserved to Keren Yishai)
Parashat Shemot “From Rav M. Elon The beginning
of Sefer Shemot is in fact the direct continuation of Parashat Va’yigash in Sefer Bereshit. Parashat Va’yechi
which is recorded in the interim forms an intermission of sorts, whereby the
Torah deals with Ya’akov’s blessings to his children,
each blessing embodying the expression of the unique character of each tribe. The connection
between the end of Parashat Va’yigash and the
beginning of Shemot can be seen from the language of the verses. There, in Parashat Va’yigash,
we find a description as to the manner in which Bnei Yisra’el descended to “And Yisra’el settled in the (Bereshit 47:27) Whereas in
Shemot we read the following description: “These are the names of Yisra’el’s
sons (“Bnei Yisra’el”) who came to Egypt with Ya’akov, each coming with his
family: Re’uven, Shim’on, Levi, and Yehuda; Yissachar, Zevulun, and Binyamin;
Dan, Naftali, Gad, and Asher. The number of all of Ya’akov’s
direct descendants was seventy, (including) Yosef who was (already) in (Shemot 1:1-6) Until this point there does not seem to be anything unusual or
innovative. The true novelty appears in the
next verse: “And Bnei Yisra’el were
fertile and prolific, and they increased, and they became extremely numerous;
and the land was filled with them.” (ibid. v. 7) Let us note
the great might that the verse ascribes to Am Yisra’el. Bnei Yisra’el were “fertile,” and “va’yishretzu” - “they were prolific.” This is the first occasion that this term is
used with reference to humans, indicating that this great proliferation and
reproductive rate was unique to Bnei Yisra’el.
[Which is in fact hinted at in the words of our Sages
that “there were six in every pregnancy.”] However it
does not end here, “and they increased,” and then we find the key expression “va’ya’atzmu bim’od me’od” – “and they became extremely numerous.” The expression
“va’ya’atzmu” stems from the word “otzma” – “might” – and indicates that Bnei Yisra’el
possessed real power in “And a new king arose over (ibid. v. 8) What are the
origins of this new king? From what
position did he arise over In fact the
period of time between the verse with which we opened our shi’ur,
the verse at the end of Parashat Va’yigash, and the
opening verses of Sefer Shemot, is a time-frame spanning more than one-hundred
years – a period about which little is recorded in the Torah. The obvious question is why is it that
nothing is recorded of the origins of the first attempt in history of a “Final
Solution” to the Jewish problem? Perhaps there
is a record of this period, yet we overlook it… we will soon ascertain this
point. In any event,
this “new king,” Pharaoh, offers a proposal that the Torah itself terms “wise,”
or more accurately “hitchakmut” – “an act of cunning.” “And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the
nation of Bnei Yisra’el are more and mightier than we; Come on, let us deal
wisely (“nitchakma”) with him; lest he multiply, and
it may come to pass, that, when there would be a war, he should also join our
enemies, and fight against us; and (thus) ascend from the land.’” (ibid. v. 9,10) Pharaoh
identifies that he is not simply faced with the Children of Israel, Bnei
Yisra’el, but rather with “the nation of Bnei Yisra’el” – the people
have become a nation. [In a similar
fashion to Haman who termed the dispersed and
scattered Jews a nation – “There is a nation, scattered and dispersed among the
(other) nations,” (Esther 3:8.)] Then follows
the ‘wise plan,’ “And
they set taskmasters over him to afflict him with their burdens. And he built
treasure cities for Pharaoh, Pit’om and Ra’amses. But the
more they afflicted him, the more he multiplied and grew. And they were mortified
because of Bnei Yisra’el. And the
Egyptians made Bnei Yisra’el serve with rigor; And
they made their lives bitter with hard slavery, in mortar, and in brick, and in
all kinds of service in the field; all their service, which they made them
serve, was with rigor.” (ibid. v. 11-14) We must
question the p’shat (literal meaning) of these
verses. Firstly, how
does Pharaoh succeed in turning the simple Egyptian who has lived all these
years in peace with his Jewish neighbor into an oppressive soldier who harshly
persecutes the Jews in work camps?
Secondly, a question that has echoed throughout our contemporary age
over the past seventy years, how did the Jews remain silent, and why did they
go “as sheep to the slaughter?” Over and
above these two questions, there is the question answer of which will serve as
the key to understanding all the difficulties we have raised with the verses –
what exactly is the nature of Pharaoh’s “dealing wisely” with Bnei Yisra’el? What was
Pharaoh’s plan? Firstly “they set
taskmasters over him,” and then afterwards “and he built treasure cities for
Pharaoh,” and then “they made their lives bitter with hard slavery,” indicating
that the Egyptians bitterly enslaved the Jews with back-breaking labor. The question
which must be asked is what great wisdom is there in Phaaoh’s
cruel plan? Would one claim that a
tyrant’s cruelty should be considered as a positive quality and an indication
of his wisdom? For all we have before us
is a cruel dictator who harshly oppresses his subjects! The Or ha’Chayim discusses theses
issues, placing them in the mouth of the son who questions his father on the seder night as to the “wisdom” of Pharaoh’s actions. The Or ha’Chayim writes: “‘They set taskmasters over him’ – here the
son asks: ‘What great wisdom was there in this, this is not wisdom, rather it is wickedness and brazenness?’ (Or ha’Chayim, ibid. v. 11) Let us
consider the issues step by step. At the start
of the shi’ur we noted that the description recorded
at the opening of Sefer Shemot seems to be inconsequential repetition. However, in truth, this is not the case. “These are the names of Bnei Yisra’el who
came to The Egyptians
desire to eradicate individual identity.
They enslave Bnei Yisra’el with rigor, an act which our Sages explained
as follows: “Rabi Yishma’el
the son of Nachmani said in the name of Rabi Yonatan: ‘They would switch (the
natural roles, giving) men’s tasks to women, and women’s tasks to men.” (Sotah 11a) In other words one’s identity – even that of gender – was obliterated. The person, the slave, would be involved in
labors that had no relationship to his person – he is a slave, not a human
being rather a serial number in The first
question that Moshe asks God when the revelation occurs at the burning bush is:
when Bnei Yisra’el ask what God’s name is – what is Moshe to say? In other words, when Yisra’el desire to
experience Divine Revelation, to sense the hidden God, what is Moshe to say to
them. Therefore, in
Sefer Shemot we see the distinction between the eternal nation and the empire
of harsh labor, between the nation of people who bear names, and the empire of
numbers. And through all this the eternal
nation desires to reveal that everything in the world has its particular name,
the nation desires to reach Sinai where it will hear “I am the Lord your God,”
(Shemot 20:2.) In fact this
was Adam’s responsibility in the Garden of Eden – to name every animal and
object. This is also the nature of
Shabbat. Shabbat provides the week with
its content, establishing that the counting will begin anew every Sunday, and
that one week does not simply follow the previous one in an endless, pointless
flow of days. And Pharaoh? Pharaoh battles eternity, for
the eternal is the revelation of the Divine in the world, and he is unwilling
to recognize such revelation – for he sees himself as divine. Therefore he declares to Moshe and Aharon: “Who is God… I do
not know God, nor will I send forth Yisra’el.” (ibid. 5:2) Thus the
solution to such dreams of freedom, true freedom must be: “Let more labor be laid upon the men… and
let them not pay attention to false words.” (ibid. v. 9) This approach,
this ideology, is painted as democratic and fair by the cruel despot, turning
to his nation as follows: “And he said
to his people,” (ibid. 1:9,) what an intimate and direct approach Pharaoh uses
to disguise his plan of enslaving and obliterating an entire people. “Behold, the people of the children of However we
must still question the origins of such a crazed madman. The unpleasant answer lies in the concluding
sections of Sefer Bereshit, in the verse we have
already brought: “And Yisra’el settled in the (Bereshit 47:27) This verse
appears against the backdrop of the great transfer that Yosef had perpetrated
among the citizens of This verse is
in fact an indictment against Bnei Yisra’el, in the words of the Kli Yakar, which we have
mentioned before [Cf. shi’ur on Parashat Vayechi, 5765.] “‘And Yisra’el settled… in the region of
Goshen’ – this entire verse speaks of the guilt of Bnei Yisra’el, for God
decreed ‘For your seed will be a foreigner,’ (Bereshit
15:13,) and they desired to be residents in a locale wherein it was decreed
that they should suffer foreignness, similar to the manner which (our Sages)
expounded regarding Ya’akov: ‘And Ya’akov dwelled,’ (ibid 37:1) – ‘He desired
to dwell in tranquility – (specifically then) the travails of Yosef pounced on
him.’ The verse charges them with this
inhabitation for they desired to gain possession of land in a country that was
not theirs – did they not tell Pharaoh ‘We have come to sojourn in the land?’ (ibid 47:4.) This
indicates that originally they did not descend to (Kli Yakar, ibid.) Moreover, Bnei
Yisra’el’s inhabitation of “And they became so engrained there that
they did not desire to leave Egypt, to the point that God had to take them from
there with ‘a mighty hand,’ (Shemot 6:1,) and those who did not want to leave
died during the three days of darkness.” (ibid.) [It is
important to note the extraordinary intensity of the Kli
Yakar’s innovation – that
the “mighty hand” with which God took Bnei Yisra’el out of Bnei Yisra’el,
who return from burying Ya’akov to Egypt, do not ‘tie up’ their affairs in Egypt
and then return to Canaan, rather they prefer the lively communal life in the
enlightened, cultured Egyptian Empire which protects their rights and offers
them so much more... This, then, is
the historical chain of events prior to our topic of discussion. However,
despite this, how can such a Pharaoh arise? The Ramban
answers this point in a beautiful manner that relates to all the questions that
we have raised thus far. “‘Let us deal wisely with him’ – Pharaoh and
the wisest of his advisors did not deem it fit to smite them with the sword,
for it would be the greatest act of treachery to smite a nation who had come to
the country at the previous king’s behest without cause, and also the populace
would not allow the king to perpetrate such evil, for he would take counsel
with them.” (Ramban, Shemot 1:9) Pharaoh is not
a fool, he knows that smiting the nation which had come at the command of his
predecessor without due cause would be the “greatest act of treachery.” And also the “populace” – the simple Egyptian
– “would not allow the king to perpetrate such evil.” And moreover, Bnei Yisra’el would not willing
go “as sheep to the slaughter;” “And also since Bnei Yisra’el were a
numerous and mighty nation, and they would wage a great war with them.” (ibid.) Therefore
Pharaoh and his advisors propose an extremely cunning plan: “Rather (Pharaoh) said that it should be
done in a wise fashion that Yisra’el would not discern that they are being
dealt with in hatred, and therefore he imposed a tax on them for it was common
for residents of a land to offer taxes to the king, as with (ibid.) Then, on to
the next stage: “And afterwards he secretly commanded the
midwives to kill the males as they are born, and even the mothers themselves
would not realize their act.” (ibid.) Subsequently
Pharaoh then allows the murder of Bnei Yisra’el on a national scale: “Afterwards he commanded all
his nation: ‘Every male child shall be thrown into the (ibid.) This being a
very wise step, whereby Pharaoh releases the restraining limits of the Egyptian
people to do as they see fit with the Jews, all the while refraining from
ordering his soldiers to engage in the murder of the Jews: “And the issue was that he did not want to
command his murderous mercenaries to murder them by the royal sword, or that
they should cast them into the Nile, rather he told the nation: ‘Whoever comes
across a Jewish child must throw him into the Nile, and if the child’s father
will cry out to the king or the city’s rulers – they will say: ‘Let him bring
witnesses and revenge will be taken out on him.’’” (ibid.) Pharaoh
maintains the pretense of upholding the law and order structures of society –
if one of the Jews is to protest the murder of his son, then the Egyptian
authorities responsible for law and order will inform him “bring witnesses and
revenge will be taken out” on the murderer, when in fact it was those same
authorities that removed the restraints, allowing for the murders to occur… Slowly but
surely Pharaoh conditions the Egyptian people into
thinking that the Jews’ blood is ownerless, and then: “And once the king’s restraints were removed
the Egyptians would search the (Jews’) houses and enter them at night, disguising
themselves, and then remove the children from the houses, for this is why the
verse states: ‘For she could hide him no longer,’ (Shemot 2:3.)” (ibid.) The Ramban
also answers another issue, as to the reaction of the nation to Moshe and
Aharon when they stood before Pharaoh, saying, “You have destroyed our
reputation in Pharaoh’s eyes,” (Shemot “This is the rationale of those who told
Moshe: ‘You have destroyed our reputation placing the sword in their hands, for
now their hatred for us will increase and they will charge us with treason
against the king, and they will openly smite us by the sword, no longer
requiring to do it furtively.’” (ibid.) There is a
large measure of irony in these words.
When Am Yisra’el are being enslaved and slaughtered, with the rule of
law being completely disregarded, Am Yisra’el still maintains its faith in the
Egyptian authorities, and therefore the people chastise Moshe and Aharon for
‘having ruined their reputation.’ The Or ha’Chayim too deals with the
questions we have raised, as well as adding further questions: “How did they come to the decision to place
taskmasters over them at the beginning of the enslavement? Also, how did Bnei Yisra’el commit themselves
to the foreign industry of cement and brick-work?” (Or ha’Chayim, Shemot He answers: “Indeed it would seem that they were very
cunning with them in order to enslave them in this manner, for Pharaoh probably
had civil construction teams as well as many other tradesmen of Egyptian and
other nationalities that were required in the kingdom, and those people would
be termed ‘a tax,’ ‘mas,’ as the verse states: ‘And
king Sh’lomo raised a tax from all of Yisra’el,’ (Melachim I 5:27.)
And he conceived a plan to charge Yisra’el with the responsibility of
taskmasters, [‘sarei misim’
– literally ‘tax officers’] signifying that they would supervise those
performing the royal tasks. This is
neither undignified nor degrading for Yisra’el, and thus they could not refuse
it; the intention being to cunningly afflict Am Yisra’el in the difficult
labors of the enslaved tradesmen when they would be incapable of discharging
the greatly increased quota of labor placed upon them – the taskmasters would
have to join them in their labor in order to meet the quotas, for it was the
taskmasters responsibility to ensure that the quotas were met. This was their wisdom, that through this sly
plan they forced them into the slave workforce, and this is in accordance with
our Sages’ saying that in the beginning with a soft word they become ministers,
and then afterwards they became slaves, (as it states) ‘And they built
store-cities,’ (Shemot 1:11.)’” (ibid.) The Or ha’Chayim explains, then, that the Egyptians first
appointed Am Yisra’el to be their taskmasters or tax officers, supervising the
slaves, and thus the Egyptian hatred of the Jews would soar to great heights,
and multitudes of Egyptian citizens would be united in hatred of the Jewish
taskmasters. Furthermore the absorption
into Egyptian society of those taskmasters brought them too to become as slaves
in the endeavor to meet the daily quotas, and thus the grip of slavery fed by
the poisonous hatred grew tighter and tighter around the necks of
Yisra’el. Therefore “and they set
taskmasters over him” indicates that Am Yisra’el were made into taskmasters “to
afflict him with their burdens” – to afflict Yisra’el with the burdens of the
Egyptians. Therefore it
becomes apparent that Pharaoh was not foolish, indeed he was very wise. Yet in
truth there is none so foolish as he, for he wages war
against the Eternal One of Israel. And
Am Yisra’el is very wise, for Yisra’el relies on God, albeit that when Am
Yisra’el tarries in perceiving the Divine message and recurring omens, the
result is difficult manual labor with bricks and mortar, and millions of fatalities. In fact each
and every one of us has a wise Pharaoh inside of us, an internal Pharaoh who
desires to subjugate man under the heavy hand of the Egyptian Empire, an empire
of money and aristocracy, a slave empire that forces man to forget his God, his
family, and his own self. This is the
daily test that each person experiences, to what degree will he become
subservient to that Pharaoh who desires to have him forget his own name, his
own self. The Chassidim
explain that the word “ There is a
wondrous Midrash that Tosfot mention in relation to a
purely Halachik topic: “…I heard from Rav
Meir that the Midrash states: ‘For
in (Tosfot Pesachim
117a, s.v. lema’an tizkor) Tosfot explains as follows: Why are there thirty-nine categories of Melacha (constructive “work”) which are forbidden on
Shabbat? Since the word “farech” in the At-bash method of Gematria
results in the letters vav, gimmel,
and lamed, which together have the numerical value of thirty-nine. [“At-bash” is
a method whereby the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are set to coincide in such
a manner that the first letter, alef, corresponds to
the last letter, tav, and the second letter, bet,
corresponds to the second-last letter, shin, and so on. In such a manner, where alef
and tav (“at”) and bet and shin (“bash,”) correspond,
all letters and Gematri’ot can be transformed to the
At-bash equivalent.] This seems
very peculiar. However an
extremely deep insight lies within this concept. On Shabbat,
when we refrain from engaging in the thirty-nine categories of prohibited work
– we liberate ourselves from the slavery of This is the
exodus from “In order that you shall remember the day you
exited the (Devarim 16:3) Every day –
even today! Translated by Sholem Hurwitz Copyright by Keren Yishai/Rav M. Elon