EXOD5 Part of the insidious nature of greed is the need not only to have it, but also to show off one's wealth and accomplishments to others. Jacob was well aware of this and that how appearances matter. Therefore, even though he and his family were not particularly in need of food, when there was a famine in the land of Israel and almost all of the surrounding families required food from Egypt, Jacob nevertheless instructed his sons to go to Egypt to obtain food. Why? The Talmud explains that Jacob was careful that his family should not appear to be showing off its wealth by not requiring Egyptian food to survive. Genesis 41:57-58, 42:1-2, Ta'anit 10b Unfortunately, it appears that this message did not carry over to the next few generations. Two generations later, it says that the new Egyptian King did not know Joseph, i.e., he ignored all the Joseph had done to save Egyptian society, and he began to enslave the Jews. What caused this sudden change of attitude toward Joseph and the Jewish people? The verse immediately prior to this one about the new king says that as the Jewish people multiplied greatly, they became exceedingly eminent "Bime'od, Meo'd," which is usually translated as "mighty." But we know from the Talmud and the explanation of the Shema cited above that this word also signifies "wealth." Thus, some interpret this verse to signify that the Jewish people showed off their wealth to the Egyptians (rather than keep it private), which is one of the symptoms of greed. It was for this reason that the Egyptian king and the Egyptian people turned against the Jews, despite everything that Joseph had done to save and lead the country. Berachot 54a

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EXOD6 He acted as if he did not know him at all. (Sotah 11a)

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EXOD7 We are commanded not to hate Egypt [Deuteronomy 23:8], but never to forget Amalek [Deut. 25:17-19]. Why the difference? The simplest answer is to recall the rabbis' statement in Pirkei Avot: "If love depends on a specific cause, when the cause ends, so does the loves. If love does not depend on a specific cause, then it never ends" (Mishna Avot 5:16). The same applies to hate. When hate depends on a specific cause, it ends once the cause disappears. Causeless, baseless hate lasts forever. The Egyptians oppressed the Israelites because, in Pharaoh's words, "The Israelites are becoming too numerous and strong for us" [this verse]. Their hate, in other words, came from fear. It was not irrational. The Egyptians had been attacked and conquered before by a group known as the Hyksos, and the memory of that period was still a cute and painful. The Amelekites, however, were not being threatened by the Israelites. They attacked a people who was "weary and worn out," specifically those who were "lagging behind." In short: The Egyptians feared the Israelites because they were strong. The Amalekites attack the Israelites because they were weak. In today's terminology, the Egyptians were rational actors; the Amalekites were not. With rational actors there can be negotiated peace. People engaged in conflict and eventually realize that they are not only destroying their enemies, they are destroying themselves. That is what Pharoah's advisers said to him after seven plagues: "Do you not yet realize that Egypt is destroyed?" (Exodus 10:7) There comes a point at which rational actors understand that the pursuit of self-interest has become self-destructive, and they learn to cooperate. It is not so, however, with non-rational actors.

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EXOD8 Pharaoh is afraid the Jews will become too numerous and eventually rebel against the natives. This phenomenon continued as choose were always perceived as foreigners who may one day rebel against the government and cause difficulties. Non-Jews feared a loyalty to God or to the land of Israel and not to the country in which the Jews lived. That is why Napoleon made the Jews choose sign an oath of loyalty to him. Even today in the United States, the most tolerant country in history, Jews are accused of dual loyalty whenever any kind of friction occurs between United States and the State of Israel.

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EXOD9 Should it not be written: "and we will go up?" R. Chamma b. R. Chanina said. This is analogous to one's cursing himself and "hanging" his curse upon his neighbor. (Sotah 11a)

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EXOD10 You should feel another person's suffering as if it were your own. … the Talmud Sotah 11a states that Pharaoh held a council with three people before he reached a decision to persecute the Israelites: Bilaam, Eyov (Job), and Yisro. Bilaam, who advised Pharaoh to persecute them, was subsequently killed by the Israelites. Eyov, who remain silent, was punished with great suffering. Yisro, who fled, merited that his descendants were members of the Sanhedrin (highest rabbinical tribunal). At first glance it seems difficult to understand why Eyov was punished. Since Pharaoh was antagonistic toward the Children of Israel, even if Eyov would have spoken on their behalf, nothing would have been accomplished. The proof is that Yisro was rewarded for running away in protest. Had it been within Yisro's power to influence Pharaoh, his response would not have merited reward. The Brisker Rav, Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik, offered a classic explanation. True, Eyov knew that speaking out would not change Pharaoh's mind, but he should have protested nonetheless, as Yisro did by fleeing. When something hurts, a person screams (ven es tut vey, shreit men). If a person remains silent, it shows that he does not feel pain. Eyov was taught this lesson. He would suffer, and although shouting would not help, he would realize that when one suffers, one cries out. Previously, he should have felt the suffering of others; now he would feel his own. ... Rav Simcha Zissel wrote that frequently when people hear that someone is recuperating from an illness, they are happy and no longer feel for his pain and suffering. This is not proper. As long as another person still feels even slight pain, we must feel for his suffering, just as if the person himself feels the pain until he is entirely healed. We must work on acquiring the sensitivity as it does not come naturally. Chochmah Umussar, vol.1, p.11 This is the Chazon Ish's advice on how to acquire the attribute of feeling another's suffering:" For someone to be able to feel the suffering of others he must first train himself to do everything he can to help them and to save them from suffering. These actions will affect the emotions. Also, he should pray for the welfare of others even if at first he does not actually feel their anguish." Kovetz Igros Chazon Ish, vol. 1, 123.

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EXOD11 By their [Amram and Yoheved] listening to Miriam and then reuniting, the Torah is indicating to us that it is wrong not to have children, even in dire circumstances, even though the technical mitzvah was already fulfilled through Miriam and Aaron. Therefore, for those parents who do not want to bring babies into a cruel and immoral world, the Torah is indicating that this is not the Jewish way. There could be no more immoral world than was that of Egypt, and yet Miriam and her reasoning triumphed. Like the product of this union, Moses, that "unwanted" child, could indeed become the future leader of the people and holiest of prophets. In fact, as Pharaoh tried to limit the Jewish population by making conditions unbearable, the Torah tells us that God made sure that the Jewish population would continue to flourish nonetheless, even in these terrible physical and immoral conditions. This also reveals to us that God wanted the Jewish population to thrive. Despite all human attempts to limit Jews from being born, God continued to help the Jewish nation grow when the Jews themselves, like Amram and Yoheved, cooperated.

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EXOD12 The opening chapters of Exodus plunge us into the midst of epic events. Almost at a stroke the Israelites are transformed from protected minority to slaves. Moses passes from Prince of Egypt to Midianite shepherd to leader of the Israelites through a history-changing encounter at the burning bush. Yet it is one small episode that deserves to be seen as a turning point in the history of humanity. Its heroines are two remarkable women, Shifra and Puah. We do not know who they were. The Torah gives us no further information about them than that they were midwives, instructed by Pharaoh: "When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is if it isa girl, let her live" [this verse]. A Hebrew description of the two women as hameyaldot haIvriyot it could mean" the Hebrew midwives"; so most translations and commentaries read it. But it could equally mean, "the midwives to the Hebrews," in which case they may have been Egyptian. That is how Josephus [Antiquities of the Jews, 2.9.2], Abarbanel, and Samuel David Luzzatto understand it, arguing that it is simply implausible to suppose that Hebrew women would have been party to an act of genocide against their own people. What we do know, however, is that they refused to carry out the order: "The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told him to do; they let the boys live" (Exodus 1:17). This is the first recorded instance in history of civil disobedience: refusing to obey an order, given by the most powerful man in the most powerful empire of the ancient world, simply because it was immoral, unethical, inhuman. The Torah suggests that they did so without fuss or drama. Summoned by Pharaoh to explain their behavior, they simply replied: "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive" (Exodus 1:19). To this, Pharaoh had no reply. The matter-of-factness of the entire incident reminds us of one of the most salient findings about the courage of those who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. They had little in common except for the fact that they saw nothing remarkable in what they did. [See James Q. Wilson, The Moral Sense (New York: Free Press, 1993), 35-39, and the literature cited there]. Often the mark of real moral heroes is that they do not see themselves as moral heroes. They do what they do because that is what a human being is supposed to do. That is probably the meaning of the statement that they "feared God." It is the Torah's generic description of those who have a moral sense (See, for example, Gen. 20:11).

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EXOD13 The Bible offers examples both of heroes who refused to follow immoral orders and others who carried them out: Pharaoh ordered the midwives Shifra and Puah to kill all Israelite male babies at birth, but "the midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them" [this verse]. Had other Egyptians acted with the same courage, no evil would have ensued. Unfortunately, the other Egyptians cooperated in Pharaoh's plan to wipe out the Israelites Exodus 1:22.

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EXOD14 Torah study provides, and inspires, us with models of righteous behavior. This applies, of course, to all students of the Bible, Jews and non-Jews alike. Thus, in 1941, a Dutch minister known as Fritz "de Zwerver," an anti-Nazi organizer, arrived in the city of Eibergen, Holland, and walked to the podium of the Protestant church. At that time the Germans had taken over Holland, and were deporting Jews to concentration camps. The Reverend opened his Bible to Exodus 1:15 – 22 and read aloud the story of the Egyptian midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh's order to murder the newborn male Israelite babies, and saved them instead. Afterward, he said to the congregation, "Who is the Pharaoh today? The Nazis! Who are the babies who have to be hidden? The Jews! Who are the midwives today? We are! It is our job to outsmart the Pharaoh's, to have the courage of the midwives, and to protect the Jews and all those who need to be hidden." He then left the church, got on his bicycle, and went to the next village. During the war, seven families from this little church hid Jews and other anti-Nazi resistors. Cited in Zion and Dishon, A Different Night: The Leader's Guide 49, and their Different Night haggadah, 89.

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