Dvar Torah by Joshua Saupin
Shabbat Shalom
Sometimes I think about if I could go to any country, where would I go? I always decided that I wanted to stay in the United States though. Even when things are harsh, like right now.
My Torah portion is Exodus, Chapter 1 - 4. It is about another time when things are harsh.
My Torah portion is Exodus, Chapter 1 - 4. In these chapters it is explained that Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews while the Hebrews were in Egypt, at the beginning of “Exodus Chapter 1.” It is explained that the Hebrews have been at peace with the Egyptians for a while. However Joseph died and a new Pharaoh arose in Egypt. Because of the numerous Hebrews, the new Pharaoh decided to deal with them to prevent their numbers from multiplying. The Egyptians abused the Hebrews, enforcing labor on them. “If it’s a boy, kill him, if it is a girl, let her live”. In Chapter 2, the daughter of Pharaoh is to go down the Nile river and is to find a baby boy, crying. “She took pity on it” and said, “this must be a Hebrew child”. When this child grew up, “She named him Moses , explaining that she drew him out of the water.”
This child grew up to be one who was against slavery. “He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.” “He struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”. Because of this, Moses had to flee Egypt and go into the desert. In the following chapter, Moses stumbled upon a bush that had been lit on fire, the bush not being consumed by the flame. Moses was curious and had to see this sight. “Why doesn’t the bush burn up?” The Eternal called out Moses, “Do not come closer!” “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place you stand on is holy ground!”. “I am the God of your father’s house , the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob''. This signified that the bush was important. The Eternal explained that the Hebrews had been suffering. However The Eternal wanted to help the Hebrews to leave Egypt and travel to a land of Milk and Honey. So The Eternal told Moses to go to Pharaoh to free the Israelites from Egypt. Moses, who wasn’t confident, asked God questions. “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me”. So the Eternal proved to Moses that he could do this. Moses returned to Egypt and met with the Israelites, convincing the Israelites that God had heard their cries for help.
My question from my Torah portion is “Why did Pharaoh enslave the Hebrews”?
The Torah explains why Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews very clearly. One notable reason from exodus chapter 1 verse 9; when the Hebrews have grown in population in Egypt, because of the increase in population the pharaoh decided to enslave the Hebrews as a way of protecting his people because of the huge threat they posed despite the past actions of the Hebrews.
Many commentators explain why Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews. I am going to discuss three of these commentators. The first comes from a midrash, or rabbinic interpretation, which said that. “The Israelites bear some responsibility for their suffering, because they abandoned Jewish practices and tried to become like Egyptians.” Because of this Pharaoh took advantage of this in different ways such as tricking the Jews to enslave themselves by making them like the “Egyptians” who worked on his building projects. This slowly allowed Pharaoh to enslave them. This is like giving up what you have for something else of less value. It’s like giving a quarter for a penny. This is similar to giving up their freedom to fit in with another group of people, which is setting up themselves for loss of rights. It’s like wanting to look cool to fit in with a group but in reality you are being laughed at behind your back, the group not wanting you.
Another commentator was named Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. He was a German rabbi who lived in the 19th century. Rabbi Hirsch said, “Pharaoh felt weak and afraid, and wanted to keep power by becoming popular. So he allowed masses of people to act violently against the Israelites.” Looking at this quote tells me that Pharaoh allowed his people to act violently, likely because the people wanted to get rid of the Israelites. By doing this Pharaoh could keep popularity by letting his people do what they want. It’s like people protesting to get what they want and finally getting what they want. If people do not want to wear masks and get what they asked for, endangering many people. This is leaders giving what the people want in turn for more power and popularity which people might wind up to eventually regret.
The third commentary comes from Nehama Leibowitz, who lived in Israel in the 20th century. She explained that the Hebrews never protested and no leader stood up to pharaoh and nobody fought for their rights. This meant that because the Hebrews never protested, the Hebrews were easily enslaved. If you have no rights or freedom you will either remain slaves or revolt in a violent way.
Rabbi Hirsch explains that Pharaoh could’ve also slowly taken the Jews rights away so the Hebrews wouldn’t notice or really care for an extended period of time. This is basically like a cup of water slowly dripping until there is nothing left. You won’t notice until you have close to nothing left of what you had before. This meant that the Hebrews couldn’t protest because they had no rights to. It’s like being arrested and being brought to court not being allowed to prove your innocence because you don’t have the right to. "Without rights you cannot fight."
The Egyptians paid a price for enslaving the Israelites. This price was losing what they already had. The Egyptians ended up losing their workforce of slaves. This is like how, in the world I live today, people refuse to wear masks. When people refuse to wear masks then people are dying from the pandemic because of others not wearing a mask. Not wearing a mask has a price to pay similar to how the Egyptians ended up losing their workforce. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that Pharaoh allowed his people to act violently against the Israelites, so Pharaoh could gain popularity. This is like how leaders allow people to act violently so they do not have to wear masks. But in the end a price is still paid. Not wanting to do something has caused pain in the life of others. Enslaving the Israelites was a way of causing pain, not wearing a mask has caused people to die or suffer. Leaders should ask for people to wear masks to protect themselves and others. Leaders who have the courage to ask the people to sacrifice something to protect others is a way of being a leader, a good leader.
Remember, my question is why did Pharaoh enslave the Israelites? To me, a leader isn’t somebody who bosses people around, doing so for their own personal gain. A leader is somebody I can depend on to take care of his/her people even if it comes to a personal cost to them. Some “leaders” try to do things out of weakness, to feel stronger. In a leader I look for somebody who doesn’t harm others while making decisions, somebody who will not betray his/her people and will not cower away from the position as a leader.
During the writing of my Dvar Torah. I have grown to be thankful for the ability to read Hebrew, be here, be able to write this, and to be able to talk to everybody
I am grateful for everybody who has helped me prepare for today.
Thank you to my sister, Sarah who has played with me and has helped me when I needed help.
Thank you to my other sister Reynah who had helped me find things as she was all over the place.
Thank you to my father for giving me clothing, a computer and a house to live in.
Thank you to my mom for giving me food to eat, clothing, and getting me cake for my birthday.
Thank you to my tutor Missie for helping me learn Hebrew, giving me the motivation to learn Hebrew and speak Hebrew.
Thank you to Josh who had helped me write this and had given me many ideas and helped me in many ways.
Thank you to the Rabbi for giving me a chance here and helping me even be here.
And thank you for all of you who came here today.
Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!!