The Exile in Egypt - Process or Punishment
INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA
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In loving memory of Channa Schreiber (Channa Rivka bat Yosef v' Yocheved) z"l,
with wishes for consolation and comfort to her dear children
Yossi and Mona, Yitzchak and Carmit, and their families,
along with all who mourn for Tzion and Yerushalayim.
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PARASHAT SHEMOT
The Exile in Egypt
Process or Punishment?
By Rav
Zvi Shimon
The central theme of the first half of the book of Shemot is the
enslavement of the Jews in Egypt and their miraculous salvation by the hand of
God. The captivating story of the
Exodus is one of the pivotal narratives of the Torah and is fundamental from
both national/historical and religious/theological perspectives. It is through the Exodus that the
people of Israel establish themselves both as an independent nation and as the
nation of God. The question which we
wish to grapple with this week is why did the history of the people unfold in
the manner in which it did? Why was
it necessary for the children of Israel to go into exile in Egypt and suffer
oppression and slavery? What
prevented their immediate inheritance of the land of Israel, as promised by God
to the forefathers?
To answer this question we must revert to the first mention of the exile
in Egypt, in the book of Genesis:
"As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark
dread descended upon him. And He
[God] said to Abram, "Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land
not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I
will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall
go free with great wealth ... And they shall return here in the fourth
generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:12-14,16).
God reveals to Abraham the future enslavement of his descendants and
eventual salvation. However, not
only are the facts concerning the future of his offspring revealed to him, but
their rationale as well, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete"
(v. 16). It is evident from this
verse that the Israelite experience in Egypt is not an accidental historical
development. Rather, it is part of a
greater divine plan. The purpose of
the Israelites' sojourn in Egypt is to delay their inheritance of the land of
Israel until the Amorites, the indigenous inhabitants of the land, sin
sufficiently to deserve having their land expropriated.
Does this stated rationale fully explain the Israelite experience in
Egypt? The Radak (Rabbi David
Kimchi, Provence, 1160-1235) believes it does not. He points out that the moral state of
the Amorites explains only why the Israelites could not immediately inherit the
land of Israel and had to reside temporarily in Egypt. It does not explain why the
Israelites were enslaved and oppressed while there.
"The slavery and oppression were PUNISHMENT for their [the Israelites'] bad
deeds and sins in Egypt as stated in the prophecy of Ezekiel: "They rebelled
against Me and did not want to obey Me.
None of them threw away the detestable things they saw, and they did not
abandon the idols of Egypt. I
decided to pour out My anger upon them and drain My wrath against them in the
land of Egypt" (Ezekiel 20:8).
According to the Radak, the enslavement of the Israelites by Egypt is a
result of sin. Their oppression is
not a coincidental historical occurrence but rather a divine punishment for
wrongdoing. What was the sin which
incurred the harsh retribution of slavery and oppression?
Our Sages (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nedarim 32a) offer three
explanations all of which attribute the sin for which the children of Israel
were enslaved to Abraham. We will
focus on one of these explanations, that of Shmuel (Babylonian sage, end of
second century to mid-third century).
"Why was our father Abraham punished and his children doomed to Egyptian
servitude? ... Shmuel said: Because he went too far in testing the attributes
[i.e., the promises] of the Lord as it is written, 'by what shall I know that I
shall inherit it?'" (Genesis 15:8).
Shmuel is of the opinion that the sin for which the Israelites were
enslaved in Egypt is Abraham's lack of faith in God. Abraham responds to God's promise of
bequeathing him the land of Israel by asking "by what shall I know that I shall
inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). He is
not satisfied with God's promises and so he requests guarantees, concrete
manifestations of his rights over the land.
Abraham's uncertainty regarding the fulfillment of God's promise incurs
the punishment of oppression of his offspring in Egypt.
This interpretation, like the others brought down by our Sages (see
Nedarim ibid.), is quite astounding.
If anything, Abraham is, to the contrary, the major source of merit for the
nation of Israel. It is by virtue of
Abraham's faith as evinced throughout his life, that the people of Israel are
chosen and the land of Israel promised to them.
Why, then, is Abraham, of all people, blamed for the misery experienced
in Egypt?
The answer to our question is textual.
As stated above, God reveals to Abraham the future enslavement of the
people of Israel. Our Sages
interpret that this revelation is not only to inform Abraham of future events
but a punishment, an outcome of Abraham's faults.
God's revelation of the future (Genesis 15:13 ff.) immediately follows
Abraham's inquiry "by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (Genesis
15:8). Shmuel infers from the
juxtaposition of the verses that the future of the people is a consequence of
Abraham's behavior. [Although the
other Sages cited in Tractate Nedarim agree that the slavery was a punishment
for Abraham's behavior, they do not deem Abraham's inquiry to be the sin for
which the Israelites were enslaved.
Instead, they locate the sins in the preceding chapter, chapter 14, in Abraham's
conduct in the war against the four kings.]
We now understand the textual source for our Sages' interpretations. However there remains a philosophical
question regarding their position.
How could future generations suffer for the sins of previous generations? Why do Abraham's descendants suffer
for his sins while he remains unscathed?
The key to answering this question lies in a deeper understanding of the
Sages' interpretations. I believe it
is a mistake to think that our Sages considered an isolated sin of Abraham to be
the cause for the oppression of the whole nation of Israel many years later. The Sages' intention is to point out
the sin which incurs the punishment in Egypt.
They turn to Abraham, as the father of the nation, in attempting to
detect the existence of certain tendencies within the nation. The sins ascribed to Abraham are not
evaluated so, in Scripture, and seem trivial to us. In truth, the Sages point to them as
the root of future transgressions among the descendants of Abraham. The people are punished for their own
sins. It is they who, while in
Egypt, evince deficiencies in faith.
According to Shmuel, the roots of these are to be found in Abraham the
patriarch.
The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain, 1194-1274) takes a similar
approach to that of our Sages, stating that Abraham's actions led to the
enslavement in Egypt. However, he
pinpoints a different sin perpetrated by Abraham.
"His [Abraham's] leaving the land concerning which he had been commanded from
the beginning (see Genesis 12:1), on account of the famine, was also a sin he
committed, for in the famine God would redeem him from death. It was because of this deed that the
exile in the land of Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh was decreed for his children"
(Ramban on Genesis 12:10)
Like Shmuel, the Ramban considers Abraham's sin to be that of lack of
faith. However, this deficiency
expresses itself not in Abraham's words (or request) but rather in his actions. The Ramban critiques Abraham for
leaving Israel and moving to Egypt during the famine. Abraham should have had faith in
God's providing for his needs. This
lack of faith is apparently what also leads Jacob's family to go down to Egypt
during the famine of their period.
Shortcomings in faith which lead to the abandoning of the land of Israel in
times of distress have their seeds in Abraham and continue with his descendants
and eventually incur the punishment of oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
The Abrabanel
(Don Isaac Abrabanel, Spain, 1437-1508)
expresses reservations regarding the above interpretations of our Sages and of
the Ramban:
"These interpretations are not only problematic, each, in and of itself, but
they also share one common flaw; Abraham who perpetrated the sin was not
punished as is written: "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you
shall be buried at a ripe old age" (Genesis 15:15)
Although the Abrabanel does not elaborate on the individual drawbacks of
each interpretation, I would venture to guess that he questions whether the
examples construed by our Sages to be sins should be viewed in such a light. The major difficulty in our Sages'
interpretations is that Scripture does not intimate any negative evaluation of
Abraham's behavior in the examples cited.
If anything, the opposite is the case (see Genesis 15:1,18). The Abrabanel then offers his own
novel explanation for the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt:
"If we should hold that the exile in Egypt came about as a result of sin, it is
improper that we should blame our father Abraham; God forbid that he would sin. It is much more plausible to
attribute the sin to the sons of Jacob.
The Torah testifies to the fact that they sinned a horrible sin in their
unjustified hatred towards their brother Joseph and in their plot to kill him
upon his visiting them, and in their throwing him into a pit and in their
selling him to the Egyptians ... and since they sinned they deserved to be
punished, and since they sinned in Egypt by selling their brother as a slave
there, it was only appropriate that they should also be punished in Egypt and be
slaves there, they and their offspring for many years. And just as they threw Joseph into
the pit, all their newborn males were thrown into the Nile, and just as they
caused Joseph to be brought down to Egypt, Joseph caused them to move to Egypt
...."
According to the Abrabanel, it is not Abraham, but rather, the sons of
Jacob, who are responsible for the nation's suffering in Egypt. The Abrabanel buttresses his position
with many examples of poetic justice, of punishment which parallels the sin
which was committed. This
explanation sheds new light on the significance of the final chapters of the
book of Genesis. The conflict
between Joseph and his brothers does not just describe HOW the Israelites
arrived in Egypt but also WHY. The
lengthy narrative of Joseph illustrates the moral depravity for which the family
was exiled and eventually oppressed by the Egyptians. The relationship between the end of
the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus is not just one of chronology but
also of crime and punishment.
Our Sages, as cited in Shemot Rabba (a compilation of homiletical
interpretations of our Sages on the book of Exodus) have a different
understanding of the sin for which the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt:
"When Joseph died, they [the Israelites] abolished the covenant of circumcision,
saying: 'Let us become like the Egyptians.'
You can infer this from the fact that Moses had to circumcise them on
their departure from Egypt. As soon
as they had done so, God converted the love with which the Egyptians loved them
[the Israelites] into hatred."
A similar idea is echoed in a different interpretation of our Sages on
the verse "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly
... and the land WAS FILLED WITH THEM" (Exodus 1:7):
"The amphitheaters and circuses were full of them" (Yalkut Shimoni, an anthology
of homiletical interpretations of our Sages on the whole Bible, dated to the
13th century).
Upon settling in their new abode in Egypt, the Israelites began to
conceal their Jewishness. They
wished to obscure any physical manifestations of their being different from the
Egyptians and therefore did not circumcise their boys. In addition, they were immersed in
Egyptian culture, enthusiastically attending Egyptian cultural events and
adopting their modes of entertainment.
Egyptian sports and theater were popular pastimes amongst the new Jewish
immigrants.
The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, Lithuania, 1817-1893) adds
another dimension to the Israelites' assimilation:
"And the land WAS FILLED WITH THEM" (Exodus 1:7) - They settled not only in the
land of Goshen which had been set aside for them and was predominantly
Israelite, but in the whole of Egypt even in the areas populated by Egyptians
.... Wherever they were able to acquire a dwelling, there they resided. This is attested to in the plague of
the firstborn where Scripture states that God passed over the door-posts of the
Israelites in Egypt implying that many Israelites dwelled amongst the Egyptians
... Scripture informs us of the reason for the Egyptians' hatred and the royal
decrees against them [the Israelites] ... All this came about because they
violated Jacob's wish that they should live apart from the Egyptians in Goshen
... and this is the reason why we suffer persecution in every generation,
because we do not desire to keep apart from the nations."
The Israelites assimilated both culturally and physically. They left the Jewish neighborhoods
and preferred to dwell in Egyptian ones.
Although their father Jacob was wise enough to foresee the dangers and
therefore requested that they dwell separately in Goshen, they did not comply
with their father's wish and settled in all sections of Egypt. According to our Sages the reason for
the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians is their turning their backs
on their Jewish heritage and their desire to ape Egyptian culture. The Netziv adds that this is the
reason for our persecution not only in Egypt but also throughout all of Jewish
history.
We have so far seen several different rationales offered for the
persecution of the Israelites in Egypt.
Shmuel the Sage and the Ramban believe that the enslavement of the
Israelites is rooted in Abraham's sin.
The Abrabanel suggests that it was a punishment for the brothers'
treatment of Joseph, while our Sages and the Netziv considered it a punishment
for the nation's assimilation in Egypt.
The common denominator of all these interpretations is that they consider
the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt a punishment.
However, the Abrabanel, citing Rabbi Crescas (Rabbi Chisdai Crescas,
Spain, d. 1412?) raises a totally different possibility of understanding the
Israelite experience in Egypt. The
enslavement may be understood not as a punishment but rather a stage in the
development of the people of Israel.
God desired that the formation of the nation as His chosen people include their
sojourn in Egypt and eventual divine salvation.
The experience of the people in Egypt is a preparation for receiving the
Torah and inheriting the land of Israel.
According to Rabbi Crescas, God desired to save the people in a
supernatural manner thereby revealing Himself and His might so that the people
could have no doubt in His existence.
The people's enslavement set the stage for God saving them with His
"outstretched arm," by displaying the awesome ten plagues and other mighty
miracles. Only after witnessing
these miracles, are the people ready to become the people of God and commit
themselves to the performance of God's commands.
This conception of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt is intimated by
Scripture:
"I have hardened his [Pharaoh's] heart and the hearts of his advisors in order
that I may display these miraculous signs among them, and that you may recount
to your sons and your sons' sons how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I
performed miraculous signs among them - in order that you may know that I am the
Lord" (Exodus 10:1,2).
Indeed, the first of the ten commandments, the obligation to believe in
God, is based on God's having taken the nation out of Egypt: "I am God your
Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage" (Exodus
20:2).
The Abrabanel adds that the sojourn in Egypt was not only aimed at the
Israelites but also at the Egyptians.
Egypt was the center of idolatry and witchcraft. God wished to impress upon Pharaoh
and the Egyptians that He is the only God and destroy their skewed idolatrous
beliefs. The exile of the people of
Israel in Egypt aims at impressing upon both the Israelites and the Egyptians
the existence and supremacy of God.
Support for this position may also be found in Scripture:
"And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand
over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst" (Exodus 7:5).
This approach considers the oppression a tool for setting the stage for
God's miraculous intervention. The
purpose of the Israelites' sojourn in Egypt is their eventual salvation. This position attaches no inherent
importance in the actual enslavement.
I believe that if we wish to adopt a position which does not view the
enslavement as a punishment but rather part of a divine plan for the creation of
the people of Israel, we must search for an explanation which attaches
significance not only to the salvation of the people but also to their
enslavement.
The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt is indeed part of God's plan to
create a chosen people. However, the
enslavement is as important as the salvation.
The enslavement infuses God's deliverance of the people with added
significance. It defines the
relationship between God and the people of Israel after they are delivered. By freeing the Israelites from their
taskmasters God acquires rights over them; the delivered become the "slaves" of
God. This idea is expressed in the
following verse:
"For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants: they are My servants, whom I
freed from the land of Egypt, I am God your Lord" (Leviticus 25:55).
The exile of the Israelites in Egypt is part of a divine plan for the
establishment of the nation of Israel, the nation of God. It is in part to stall the
inheritance of the land of Israel till the indigenous population loses its
rights to the land. However, it is
also internally motivated. The
nation must be deserving of inheriting the promised land. The right of the people to the land
rests in its covenantal relationship with God.
The nature and character of this relationship is forged in God's
deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage.
The people of Israel are now the servants of God. Just as a slave's existence is
totally directed towards the fulfillment of tasks determined by his owner, so
too is the people's existence completely dedicated to the fulfillment of the
divine will. However, while Egyptian
slavery was characterized by hard physical labor, oppression and degradation,
the servitude of God is one of spiritual growth and refinement. Obedience and commitment to the
performance of God's commandments, of His moral code, free every individual and
the nation, as a whole, from servitude of one's fellow man. Paradoxically, once Israel commits
itself to total servitude of God, it acquires its liberty and independence.