Pharaoh and the Blueprint of Antisemitism — :הבה נתחכמה לו

But, I'm going to tell you something even more interesting. It's also in the spirit of Shuta Shul Michra, #wedowhatwedo, but it's mamesh interesting, and it's a Ramban, a meforesh Ramban right here in the beginning of Parshas Shmois. You know, I think if you ask somebody, anybody, try to visualize the Yidden in Mitzrayim, what is going to come to mind is the Third Reich. What's going to come to mind is Nazi Germany in 1939. See, it's Mitzrayim is 1945, right? That's generally the visualization. The Jews are in concentration camps. That's usually the way you think about it. The truth is, read the psukim, there was no genocide taking place. I know that's a big word, but there was no genocide taking place when the Yidden were in Mitzrayim. Where is the genocide? They were forced to work hard, okay, that's not kashmak, it's very, very bad, vai yimoreru es chayeihem ba'avodah kashah, but nobody's being rounded up and killed, right? There's no Zyklon B, that's not what's going on over here. The only death that you find is va yomer be'alel es kol ha'asuyim ha'ivriyos, ki re'isenu al avonayim u'vein u'vamisenu. That you find, va'yitzav Par'oh lechol amo leimor, kol habein hayilod al ha'aretz tashlichuhu vechol habas techayun. That was a very, very nuanced gzeirah, which by the way, all the rishonim say lasted for a very, very short period of time. So, the bottom line is, there really was no genocide. That's not That's not what was going on over here. All right? It's clear. Now, the truth is, why did there have to be a genocide? Par'oh's motivation was not I hate the Jews and I just want to kill them. His motivation was Am Bnei Yisrael rav va'atzum mimenu, pen yirbeh. Okay, so, he didn't have to go ahead and just kill all of them. And by the way, he said, Am Bnei Yisrael rav va'atzum mimenu, so to the extent he meant what he said and he said what he meant, I'm not so sure he even wants to pick a fight with them right right But, the bottom line is, it wasn't even something that he needed to do. What he needed to do was curb the population growth. That's what he needed to do. This was not the Third Reich. This is more like the Chinese government's one-child policy. That's more what this is like. He's doing in a very barbaric way what they do in a very barbaric way, and that is to try to figure out a way to make sure that the Jews are not going to continue to grow in this incredible way. But I think that's partial. But it's even a it's even a step further. And that is if you take a look at the Ramban, the Ramban says that if really Pharaoh's motivation was to get the Jews to stop procreating, so why don't you just do that? Why don't you just make a gezeirah? He should have said, "This is the way it is." And you should be gozer on periyah u'riviyah, and that's going to be the beginning of the end of the whole story. You would think, right? So the Ramban says, "I'm going to tell you why Pharaoh didn't do that. The reason that Pharaoh didn't do that was Pharaoh did not want that the official policy of the Egyptian government should be that we don't like the Jews. We're somehow an anti-Semitic government, and we go and we impose these uh cruel gezeiros that don't allow the Jews to do what they do." No, Pharaoh was very proud of the fact that he was allowing the Jews to live their life. You know, there's an old cheshbon with Yosef. He knew about that, right? It was the Pharaoh of 100 years ago, or maybe even the same person, who had called the Yidden and had told them to go settle in the land of Goshen. He wasn't shifting to such a degree. To the contrary, Pharaoh believed in freedom of religion on some level. And if this is what you feel is the right thing to do, then you should go ahead and do it. Okay, so how do you explain everything that's going on? So says the Ramban, "You have to realize, once upon a time, it was not uncommon that if you had a group of foreigners that were living in your country to go ahead and to tax them, and to go ahead and to enslave them even on some level. In fact, the Ramban brings that Hamelech at some point took a few hundred thousand foreigners that were living in the land of Eretz Yisrael and he had them work for them. It was something that was actually considered sort of normal. Now, is it a nice thing? No, absolutely not. It's a very very bad thing. And the way the Egyptians chapped with the Yidden and the way they tortured them ultimately was the reason that they were going to have the downfall that they were going to have. But at the same time, it wasn't genocide. It was actually not even socially inappropriate. You see it's 1,000 years later Melech is doing the same thing. It's somewhat okay for a person to go ahead and do that when you're a king and you have foreigners living there. Now, the reason Paroh was able to pull this off is because the Jews kept to themselves and that living in Goshen and they have their own distinct culture. Oh, so you're foreigners living in my land. So new once upon a time we threw you a bone only because of Yosef and as a result now all of a sudden you're going to lose those benefits that you had and that's why now Paroh is turning on the Yidden and it's sort of okay. Says the Ramban that even when Paroh went and Paroh made the gezeirah about any little baby boy that's born should be killed, he did it in a very cunning way. He went to the meyaldos. He told the meyaldos, I want you to figure out a way to make sure the boys start dying. The meyaldos by the way never even told the yoldos what they were doing. This wasn't done at gunpoint. This was done in this chachme digway. We'll go ahead and wink wink when nobody's looking like tomorrow morning you're going to say the baby didn't make it, right? And as a result the baby's going to end up dying. He says even when Paroh doubled down on the gezeirah and he went ahead and he said that anyone that knows of a little baby boy that's born "How you going to tell and say you saw Paroh amoi?" This is so interesting. You know what he did? It wasn't the Egyptian government's policy says the Ramban. He told the oilam go ahead and do it. But the oilam said, "What do you mean? We're going to do it? We're going to get sued. We're going to be tried. They're going to hire lawyers. All the Jews are to are the lawyers. The next thing you know, we're going to be defendants. We're never going to make it out. You know, Paro says, "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. You do it. I promise you that when this comes to my desk, I'm going to make sure everything is going to be okay." The Ramban has a fuel of shin'as. One of the shin'as he says is, he says that when Paro went ahead and he made this gzeira, he knew the Jews were going to complain. He said, "If Yitzchak Avia Yala the Melech, he said if one of the fathers would come complain to the king, oil sar air, you know what he would say? Yai mushi ya, the aidim fi asif in the kama fakat. Due process. App you I I you're 100% right. You're 100% right. Now, you have to understand, they have first amendment rights. They have a right to protest. They have a right to scream death to the Jews. They have a right to say from the river to the sea. They could say these things. I I can't stop them. But no, we're going to put out a press release and we're going to say that we stand with the people of Goshen and we support them 100%. But let's be honest, he didn't support them. This was all his cunning, clever way for him to be able to maintain his dignity as a Melech Mitzrayim for it not to look like he turned on the Jews in such a disgraceful way. Also, to get the Jews to maybe even believe him, right? So like this, they're not going to go and they're going to not rebel against him. But the bottom line is, says the Ramban, that the whole atza of Paro was done in this way. He didn't just go out and say just gas the Jews. No, what he did. So it's not the Third Reich. What he did was he did it with some level of cunningness. That's what he did. And he goes ahead and he imposes these decrees in a way where it doesn't even look like it's coming from him. To the contrary, I'm a good friend. I tweet out Happy Hanukkah. I do all the right things. I'm there with you. What are you talking about? We're going to make sure this never happens again. We absolutely abhor what took place, right? This is not something our government stands for. That was the Egyptian government's Mahala over here and this is the Avia voice of anti-Semitism. It's amazing. The first blatant anti-Semitism of all time again, when we're a nation is Mitzrayim and it wasn't so overt. It wasn't. Forget no. We we totally disagree what's to do. You know, they have they have freedom of speech. They can yell and scream whatever they want to do. We You're right. We have to try to stop them. And Hanami, this is the way it is. Now, the reality is Paro was behind this the entire time, but he did it in a way where it didn't look that way. And the Ramban says that's the oimek of the words hovan nischak miloy. Nischakma means let's do this not even in a clever way, in a cunning way. Nischakma miloshan cunning, right? The nachash was arum mikol achayas. That's what this was. It was being done in a very conniving clever way which shouldn't even look like It shouldn't even look like this is something that Paro is that Paro is behind. But again, again, we know the story. We know all the midrashin. We know how terrible it was for the Yidden. But at the same time in mikraos u'midrashim and you read the psukim, it's obvious. The Torah says bok tzeina rochav bidchak tana level. Paro's concern was one thing. Paro's concern was hinei am bnei Yisrael rav otzmu mimenu. That's what his concern was. Pen yirbeh. And as was the when I need to do is I need to stunt their growth somehow. The way I'm going to stunt their growth is by making them work hard. Which by the way, you want to keep as a nation on your own? So no no because 100 years ago you had it so good doesn't mean you have to have it so good right now. Vayasimun alav sarei misim. What's the tachlis? Lo manatz noysai. Vayar es onyeinu like we say in the Haggadah shel Pesach, zu prishus derech eretz. That's what's going on over here. Additionally, we have to make sure that any baby that's going to be born moving forward, any boy at the very least, we have to take out. See, he hires the meyaldos and he tells them in this again cunning way to make sure any little baby boy that's born shouldn't see the day of light. When that didn't work, it was by itself Paro Am Yisrael Amon. He himself was never behind it. One of the Rias to this that the Ramban brings is that at the end of Parshas Shmois, so when spoke with Moshe and Aaron to go into Paro, he says, "Let my people go." So the possuk says that Moshe and Aaron walked out of the palace and it says when they walked out, so they saw the Jews there. Right? The Yidden that was standing there and the Yidden started giving Moshe and Aaron a very hard time. Right? The possuk says, "You must mention Aaron and Yidden across from Paro." By Yidden this is the Jews talking. "Yeah, Shimon the Yishbite I shall have washed them as we came in the Paro will be in a Yidden lost his head and be all the Yidden so what are you doing? You're going to Paro? You're telling him let my people go. You're accusing Paro." What what do you Of course, what do you mean? What do you mean the Yidden Jews? They're gassing us. They're They're not gassing anybody. They're kidding. Paro was saying all the right things. Every press release he had the perfect response to everything. But Moshe and Aaron knew the Emes cuz they were told him what's really going on. But the Jews were falling for it hook, line, and sinker. Right? And they believed 100%. No, what do you mean? This is the Medina that's saying all the right things and doing all the right things. They felt that by Moshe and Aaron going to Paro and accusing him of playing a role in what's going on and not being a friend to the Jews. They're kidding. Now all of a sudden he washed them as we came in the Paro and Yidden. Now he's going to really go after us. The Jews mommies believed it says the Ramban. And that's the time that they have to Moshe Rabbeinu at the end of Parshas Shmois. But in reality, in reality says the Ramban, of course of course of course Paro was behind everything and that's why ultimately Paro is going to have to pay the price. But in terms of the way it played itself out, the way it was manifest, it was manifest in this hub on this hack maloy digger oiphan. And this really concludes the very, very first part of safer shamois.