MUSSAR D’ORAISA

 

Parshas Shemos 5764

 

 

“The children of Israel were fruitful, teemed, increased, and became strong—very, very much so; and the land became filled with them. A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef. He said to his people… Come let us deal wisely with it, lest it become numerous…” (Shemos 1:7-10)

 

Rav and Shmuel, one says it was actually a new king, and one says that he simply enacted new laws. (Sotah 11a)

 

            In either case, the workings of the government in Mitzrayim changed and new laws were issued against Bnei Yisroel that had not been issued during the lifetime of Yaakov or the generation of his sons. During the earlier generation, Bnei Yisroel had been respected. That generation was considered to be a wise group of people, an honored asset to Egyptian society. What changed about Bnei Yisroel that caused a decline in the eyes of the Egyptians? It would make sense that if a society has a group of people living there who it respects and honors, then their descendents should also be honored. Bnei Yisroel multiplying seems like something that would please the Egyptians—there would be even more of these higher-class, well-mannered people living there to make Mitzrayim an even greater nation. But the opposite occurred. When Bnei Yisroel became bigger and stronger, the Mitzrim became scared. The king of Egypt was worried that should they become a more powerful force in Egypt and a war should break out, that Bnei Yisroel would join Egypt’s enemies. But why would Bnei Yisroel do that? What was different about the people now from the previous generation? The answer is apparent from the verse itself. Bnei Yisroel began to assimilate into Egyptian society in a way that they had not during the time of Yaakov and his sons. The pasuk says that they were fruitful, teemed, and became strong. They became rich and powerful and plentiful. But then it tells us that the land became filled with them. Chazal say that tbey were found throughout Mitzrayim. This means that they walked throughout the cities, had Egyptian friends, went to Egyptian theatres, and permeated Egyptian society. They tried to assimilate themselves with the Egyptian people and in all matters of Egyptian culture. Sure, they kept their Jewish names and they wouldn’t, chas v’shalom, intermarry. But every other aspect of their lives was becoming more Egyptian. During the generation of Yaakov and his sons, they were held in high esteem. They did not seek to assimilate into Egyptian life, rather they lived as a respected, law-abiding sub-culture of society, albeit separate in ideology. They knew how to act in galus, exile. But Pharaoh knew that when they started to assimilate, it would be dangerous. They would no longer live separately but completely take over in Egypt. Their vast riches and numbers alone would be enough to conquer Egypt. So it was only then, when the assimilation began, that the hardships began.

            This has happened throughout our history in every country where we have sojourned throughout this long galus. When we keep Hashem’s laws, not walking in the ways of the goyim around us, not casting aside a completely Jewish lifestyle, then we are successful and respected, free to live our lives as Jews. But when we try to assimilate, resentment quickly follows. We saw this in Egypt, in Persia, in Spain, in Germany, and in every other stop along this galus. When we break away from Hashem’s Torah, we pay the price.

            There are Jews in America who have completely assimilated. We don’t even know who they are. There are those who still hold onto the idea of not intermarrying, but the rest of their lives are all-American, not too Jewish. Still, there are others who live a pretty religious Jewish lifestyle. They keep shabbos, kashrus, taharas hamishpocha, they learn Torah, they daaven 3 times daily, etc. But they also enjoy an occasional baseball game or a trip to the theatre, goyish-sounding music (even with Jewish lyrics), and above all—an obscene focus on materialism, the new idolatry of America. We are all guilty of assimilation on different levels. How long can this last before Hashem’s answer to assimilation repeats itself? We must all dedicate more time to learning Torah and Avodas Hashem, the antidote to assimilation, and less time in the conquest for more gauche materialism, the idolatry that so quickly corrupted American Jewry. America has been relatively good to the Jewish people thus far, bli ayin hara, but how long can that possibly continue when we continue to “fill the land”, her theatres and government and halls of academia? The Torah gives us fair warning of what will happen when we assimilate. How long can we fail to heed Hashem’s voice before He sends us another Pharaoh, Haman, or Hitler to end the assimilation once and for all? In the merit of returning to Hashem’s path in the face of the temptations of galus, may this long bitter exile soon come to an end.

 

 

Yitzchok Pinkus

Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim