A new week brings a new theme. This week brings a whole new book from the Bible. We are beginning Shemot, or Exodus, and the story of slavery and bondage leading to freedom and redemption begins with this week’s Torah reading.
“And the land was filled with them,” Exodus 1:7.
The Jewish population was growing in leaps and bounds. From a mere 70 souls, Jacob’s progeny was being very fruitful and multiplying exponentially. The Israelites were growing at such a fast pace that the Egyptians were afraid they might become a fifth column, a powerful force that would overthrow the government.
There is a rather obvious question that not many commentators focus on. Has this ever happened in Jewish history? We are generally good, respectful and law-abiding citizens in whichever country we may reside. Have the Jews ever overthrown the government of the day? Even when a government was oppressive and antisemitic, we still recited prayers for the government in synagogue on Shabbat. (After all, who knows if the next government won’t be worse!)
So why did the Egyptians feel the need to oppress the Jews and enslave them? The Jews were never really a credible threat to them.
The midrash Yalkut Shimoni comments on the sentence “And the land was filled with them,” saying it means that “the amphitheaters and circuses were filled with them.”
It appears that the Israelites began assimilating into Egyptian culture. They started attending their arts and entertainment events. Egyptian sports arenas and cultural pastimes became popular attractions among the Israelites.
When the Egyptians saw how their entertainment centers became “infested” with Jews, they said that’s far enough. We have to do something to stop this invasion of Egyptian society. We must curtail the Jews’ rights. Slowly but surely it led to their complete state of servitude.
Apparently, the Egyptians were fine with the Israelites so long as they stayed in Goshen, the area that Joseph had earmarked for their families when they first arrived. But now, the Jews were moving into other neighborhoods, mingling with the general populace, mixing and becoming more integrated into their social clubs, and the Egyptians didn’t like it one bit.
And so it has been throughout the centuries of our people’s history. Our host countries may have been able to handle our existence and presence, but not our becoming their peers and mixing in their social circles.
I remember some years back reading about a community in Florida that was upper-class, very posh and non-Jewish. Surprisingly, when several religious Jewish families moved into their neighborhood, it didn’t seem to worry them at all. Why? Because they knew that these religious Jews were not interested in mixing with them socially, nor were they looking to marry their daughters. It didn’t bother them if they lived nearby. They didn’t threaten the social status quo or make them feel uncomfortable. They were not applying for membership in their golf clubs or attending their parties at the beer hall.
But when affluent Jews who are not religious and are, in fact, looking to assimilate into the non-Jewish, genteel higher class, then the locals may resent that and resist in one way or another. A Jewish presence upsets non-Jews when they get too involved, too intimate. As long as we know our parameters, we are welcome. But cross those boundaries and we may be made to feel very uncomfortable indeed.
The story is told of one such Jew who was a wannabee gentile, and he changed his name and his nose hoping to gain admittance to the prestigious local country club. When his application was declined, he called the manager demanding an explanation. He was successful, wealthy and lived in the neighborhood. Why was he not accepted? The manager told him it was his religion.
“But what’s wrong with my religion?” the applicant asked.
“Sir, on your application form, under ‘Religion,’ you wrote Goy. ”
Of course, this is no justification for Jews to be herded into ghettos as the Nazis and others throughout history have done. We have every right to live where we want, as well as be treated as equals anywhere and everywhere. If we prefer to live in predominantly Jewish areas, that is our choice. It should never be an obligation imposed upon us by others.
Wherever we live, we ought to be proud of who we are and never deny our heritage nor seek to abandon it by mixing in other circles. If we have business obligations and find ourselves in non-Jewish environments, we can remain dignified and proud of who we are in every situation. We have nothing whatsoever to be ashamed of.
As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks famously said: “Non-Jews respect Jews who respect themselves.”