Today, we're diving deep into the story of Pharaoh and the Israelites in Egypt, a tale of manipulation, exploitation, and ultimately, resilience.
Imagine the scene: Egypt, a mighty empire, feeling threatened. The Israelites, a growing population within their borders, are perceived as a potential fifth column. "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are greater and mightier than we," Pharaoh's advisors warn him, as recounted in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews. They remember the Israelites' inherited strength; a few of them stood up against a people as numerous as the sand of the sea, and not one has fallen. The fear? That in a time of war, the Israelites would side with Egypt's enemies.
So, what's a pharaoh to do? Outright war? Too risky. Instead, Pharaoh, advised by his counselors, chooses deception. "Act cunningly against the children of Israel," he commands. His plan? A public works project: the construction of the cities Pithom and Raamses. He extends an offer of daily wages for any Israelite willing to help build and fortify the cities. Sounds generous. But here's the twist. It's a bait-and-switch. For a month, the Egyptians work alongside the Israelites, paying them as promised. But then, subtly, one by one, the Egyptians begin to disappear from the worksites. As we find in Legends of the Jews, they quietly transitioned from fellow laborers to taskmasters.
And the wages? They vanish. The Israelites, now essential to the project, are forced to work without pay. Resistance is met with violence. Can you imagine the frustration, the betrayal? They are now slaves. Only the tribe of Levi, recognizing the deception from the start, refuses to participate and is spared the harsh treatment.
The Israelites, in their bitterness, rename the king Malol as Maror, which means "Bitterness" in Hebrew. A small act of defiance, a way to name their pain.
But Pharaoh's trickery doesn't end there. He wants to appear as if he's in the trenches with his people, as we learn in Legends of the Jews. He even suspends a brick-press from his own neck and joins the construction effort, a propaganda stunt of epic proportions. "Look," he seems to say, "I'm working just as hard as you are!" And if any Israelite dares to complain about the grueling labor, the Egyptians are ready with the retort: "Dost thou mean to make us believe thou art more delicate than Pharaoh?"
Through gentle words and artifice, Pharaoh and the Egyptians overmaster the Israelites. In order to further diminish their population, they are forced to work at all times, preventing them from being with their wives.
But here's where the story takes a turn. God intervenes. Despite Pharaoh's schemes, the Israelites continue to multiply. As it says in (Exodus 1:12), "the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and spread." Talk about a divine plot twist!
Pharaoh, in his desperation, escalates his cruelty. He orders that Israelites who fail to meet their brick quotas be immured alive within the walls of the buildings. He even sanctions the sacrifice of Israelite children to Egyptian idols. What a chilling image.
The Zohar tells us that these atrocities did not go unnoticed by God. The idols, stained with the blood of innocents, would eventually be shattered as retribution for the Israelite children they caused the death of.
So, what do we take away from this? It's a potent reminder of the dangers of unchecked power, the insidious nature of deception, and the enduring strength of the human spirit – and divine protection – in the face of oppression. It's a story that resonates even today, urging us to be vigilant against injustice and to never underestimate the power of faith and resilience. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, about the unseen forces at play in our own lives and the world around us?
The counsellors and elders of Egypt came to Pharaoh, and spake unto him, saying: "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are greater and mightier than we. Thou hast seen their strong power, which they have inherited from their fathers, for a few of them stood up against a people as many as the sand of the sea, and not one hath fallen. Now, therefore, give us counsel what to do with them, until we shall gradually destroy them from among us, lest they become too numerous in the land, for if they multiply, and there falleth out any war, they will also join themselves with their great strength unto our enemies, and fight against us, destroy us from the land, and get them up out of the land." The king answered the elders, saying: "This is the plan advised by me against Israel, from which we will not depart. Behold, Pithom and Raamses are cities not fortified against battle. It behooves us to fortify them. Now, go ye and act cunningly against the children of Israel, and proclaim in Egypt and in Goshen, saying: 'All ye men of Egypt, Goshen, and Pathros! The king has commanded us to build Pithom and Raamses and fortify them against battle. Those amongst you in all Egypt, of the children of Israel and of all the inhabitants of the cities, who are willing to build with us, shall have their wages given to them daily at the king's order.' "Then go ye first, and begin to build Pithom and Raamses, and cause the king's proclamation to be made daily, and when some of the children of Israel come to build, do ye give them their wages daily, and after they shall have built with you for their daily wages, draw yourselves away from them day by day, and one by one, in secret. Then you shall rise up and become their taskmasters and their officers, and you shall have them afterward to build without wages. And should they refuse, then force them with all your might to build. If you do this, it will go well with us, for we shall cause our land to be fortified after this manner, and with the children of Israel it will go ill, for they will decrease in number on account of the work, because you will prevent them from being with their wives." The elders, the counsellors, and the whole of Egypt did according to the word of the king. For a month the servants of Pharaoh built with Israel, then they withdrew themselves gradually, while the children of Israel continued to work, receiving their daily wages, for some men of Egypt were still carrying on the work with them. After a time all the Egyptians had withdrawn, and they had turned to become the officers and taskmasters of the Israelites. Then they refrained from giving them any pay, and when some of the Hebrews refused to work without wages, their taskmasters smote them, and made them return by force to labor with their brethren. And the children of Israel were greatly afraid of the Egyptians, and they came again and worked without pay, all except the tribe of Levi, who were not employed in the work with their brethren. The children of Levi knew that the proclamation of the king was made to deceive Israel, therefore they refrained from listening to it, and the Egyptians did not molest them later, since they had not been with their brethren at the beginning, and though the Egyptians embittered the lives of the other Israelites with servile labor, they did not disturb the children of Levi. The Israelites called Malol, the king of Egypt, Maror, "Bitterness," because in his days the Egyptians embittered their lives with all manner of rigorous service. But Pharaoh did not rest satisfied with his proclamation and the affliction it imposed upon the Israelites. He suspended a brick-press from his own neck, and himself took part in the work at Pithom and Raamses. After this, whenever a Hebrew refused to come and help with the building, alleging that he was not fit for such hard service, the Egyptians would retort, saying, "Dost thou mean to make us believe thou art more delicate than Pharaoh?" The king himself urged the Israelites on with gentle words, saying, "My children, I beg you to do this work and erect these little buildings for me. I will give you great reward therefor." By means of such artifices and wily words the Egyptians succeeded in overmastering the Israelites, and once they had them in their power, they treated them with undisguised brutality. Women were forced to perform men's work, and men women's work. The building of Pithom and Raamses turned out of no advantage to the Egyptians, for scarcely were the structures completed, when they collapsed, or they were swallowed by the earth, and the Hebrew workmen, besides having to suffer hardships during their erection, lost their lives by being precipitated from enormous heights, when the buildings fell in a heap. But the Egyptians were little concerned whether or not they derived profit from the forced labor of the children of Israel. Their main object was to hinder their increase, and Pharaoh therefore issued an order, that they were not to be permitted to sleep at their own homes, that so they might be deprived of the opportunity of having intercourse with their wives. The officers executed the will of the king, telling the Hebrews that the reason was the loss of too much time in going to and fro, which would prevent them from completing the required tale of bricks. Thus the Hebrew husbands were kept apart from their wives, and they were compelled to sleep on the ground, away from their habitations. But God spake, saying: "Unto their father Abraham I gave the promise, that I would make his children to be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and you contrive plans to prevent them from multiplying. We shall see whose word will stand, Mine or yours." And it came to pass that the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad. And they continued to increase in spite of Pharaoh's command, that those who did not complete the required tale of bricks were to be immured in the buildings between the layers of bricks, and great was the number of the Israelites that lost their lives in this way. Many of their children were, besides, slaughtered as sacrifices to the idols of the Egyptians. For this reason God visited retribution upon the idols at the time of the going forth of the Israelites from Egypt. They had caused the death of the Hebrew children, and in turn they were shattered, and they crumbled into dust."
