Sefer Shemos begins with the Bnei
Yisrael transitioning from an extended family of 70 people into a great and
mighty nation, almost taking over Mitzrayim. Fearing this great nation, Paroh
tricked the Bnei Yisrael and they became his slaves. The slavery lasted 210
years until they were redeemed.
It is strange why Paroh enslaved the
Bnei Yisrael at all as they had shown no ill will towards the Egyptians. More importantly,
the Egyptians had benefited greatly from the Jews being there. Yaakov’s arrival
ended the deadly famine, and Yosef in his role as viceroy turned Egypt into the
wealthiest and most powerful country in the world! Why would Paroh deceive their
descendants in this way?
The answer is written clearly in the
pasuk. “וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם
אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף” “And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know about
Yosef”. (Shemos 1:8). Since he had no knowledge of all the good Yosef had
done for his country, Paroh had no issue seeing the Bnei Yisrael as a threat
and acting accordingly. But this doesn’t make sense either; it was only a few
years since the last of the Shevatim had died, how could the entire country,
new king or not, not have any recollection of the man who had turned them into
a world power?
Rashi explains very simply, Paroh
pretended as if he didn’t remember Yosef so he could enslave the Jews. Rav
Hirsch builds on this point and explains that whenever the pasuk uses the
phrase “קום על”, it refers to a hostile takeover.
Sometime after the Shevatim died, Mitzrayim was taken over by a foreign power
who, in order to insure his rule was secure, wanted to eradicate all memory of
the good Yosef had done for the Egyptian people, further solidifying his
position of power. That’s why the pasuk says specifically that the King didn’t know
who Yosef was, because the nation certainly did.
The final explanation
is from the Kli Yakar. He explains that this pasuk doesn’t explain how Paroh was
able to enslave the Jews, but was instead a warning to him. The Shevatim did
all they could to stop Yosef’s dreams of being a ruler from coming true. They threw
him in a pit full of dangerous animals. They sold him into slavery in
Mitzrayim, where no one had ever been heard from again. And yet, he eventually
rose to second in command of the country, and turned it into a world power. No
matter what they tried, it was Hashem’s desire that Yosef reach that position
and no power anywhere could stop him from getting there.
Paroh was attempting
the same thing. He wanted to push down the Bnei Yisrael, he tried to stop them
from having children, he tried to kill their sons, he tried to place them in a
servitude from which they would never recover. However, it was the will of Hashem
that Bnei Yisrael survive and thrive and become a great nation, one that would eventually
receive the Torah and become His nation. There was nothing Paroh could do to
stop that, regardless of his will and schemes. The pasuk informs us that Paroh
had not learned the lesson of Yosef; he didn’t realize that he couldn’t stop
what was meant to be. And he eventually learned this the hard way, as we see in
the continuation of the Sefer.
Shabbat Shalom!
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email us at AIMeMTorah@gmail.com.
Please Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @aimemtorah
Don't forget to check out hashkafahandbook.com to learn about my book,Reality Check. And Like it on Facebook.
The Dvar Torah is now available on parshasheets.com! Check out the site for links to Divrei Torah in both Hebrew and English, written by people around the world
Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!
AIMeM
No comments:
Post a Comment