'Remember' and 'guard' our ancestors

Torah Study

RABBI DANIEL MOSKOVITZ
Sh'mot, Exodus 1:1-6:1

The Union of American Hebrew Congregations has made its Torah Commentary informal, changing it from an essay to a question-answer format designed to facilitate discussion.

Portion overview:

The new king of Egypt makes slaves of the Hebrews and orders their male children to be drowned in the Nile River.
A Levite woman places her son, Moses, in a basket on the Nile, where he is found by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised in Pharaoh's house.
Moses flees to Midian after killing an Egyptian.
Moses marries the priest of Midian's daughter, Zipporah. They have a son named Gershom.
God calls Moses from a burning bush and commissions him to free the Israelites from Egypt.
Moses and Aaron request permission from Pharaoh for the Israelites to celebrate a festival in the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses and makes life even harder for the Israelites.

Focal point:

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war, they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground." So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the (Egyptians) came to dread the Israelites. (Exodus 1:8-12)

Shabbat discussion:

Does the text mean to suggest that it was the memory of Joseph that had kept the Israelites safe from oppression in Egypt? In other words, was the hatred always there just below the surface, waiting for the opportunity to arise?
How were the Egyptian people complicit in Pharaoh's evil scheme?
At what point does a stranger or immigrant become an inclusive member of society, no longer seen as an outsider?
What is it about the historical experience of the Jewish people that would cause them to harden and become resilient in the face of oppression?

D'var Torah:

In the Ten Commandments we find two statements of the commandment concerning Shabbat. Shamor, "guard," and Zachor, "remember" the Sabbath Day. While this commandment refers to Shabbat, it may be understood with regard to the blessed memory of those who came before us.

In the case of Joseph, how might things have gone differently had the Israelites better guarded and remembered him and his contribution? Nowhere in the text do we read of how they expended their political capital to fend off Pharaoh's harsh decree. The community had not woven themselves into the fabric of society beyond being a labor force; it was therefore ripe for exploitation.

It is a reminder for every generation of the commandment al tifrosh min hatzibor ("Don't separate yourself from the community.") This is not only a commandment to the individual Jew with regard to the Jewish community but also to the Jewish community as a whole.

Daniel J. Moskovitz is the assistant rabbi of Temple Judea on Tarzana, Calif. Torat Hayim, produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.

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