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January 8, 1999/ 20 Tevet 5759, Vol. 51, No. 15
Kindness of strangers
Torah Study
RABBI ISMAR SCHORSCH
Parashat Shmot/Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
Jeffrey Katzenberg's "Prince of Egypt" is a midrash (commentary) on the exodus story, a specimen of reader participation in the recounting of ancient Israel's foundation epic. The film infuses the story with a distinctly contemporary sensibility, most imaginatively in the portrayal of Moses and Ramses as having been raised as brothers and childhood friends.
Where the Torah is silent on Moses' long years in the pharaoh's palace, the film introduces a human subtext to the well-known cosmic contest between the God of the patriarchs and the gods of Egypt. It has us imagine that Moses not only assimilated the mores of the Egyptian aristocracy, but also became the closest friend of Ramses, who would become the next ruler of Egypt. The early scenes of the film are devoted to the escapades of this carefree and destructive twosome, with Moses the dominant figure.
Though destiny will soon pit these "brothers" as mortal enemies, their regard and affection for each other never disappear completely. Their frequent confrontations as national leaders are tempered by their memories of a more carefree time. In a poignant denouement, Ramses, the only Egyptian to survive the surging waters of the Sea of Reeds, fills the air with plaintive calls for Moses, tempering the Israelites' triumphant rendition of "The Song of Moses" in Hebrew. A note of sadness commingles with the joy of redemption.
The humanization of this ancient conflict reflects not just the war-weary sentiment of American culture at the end of the most bloody century in human history. It echoes also the sacred texts of those redeemed from Egypt.
Katzenberg's midrash is authentically Jewish. As we begin the Book of Exodus, we might recall a legislative fragment that embodies an unexpected measure of compassion. Deuteronomy takes up the subject of who may be allowed to join the nation of Israel once it is settled in its own land. Ammonites and Moabites are excluded forever, because they treated Israel with unrelieved hostility in the wilderness. But Edomites and Egyptians are to be admitted in the third generation, because the former is descended from Esau, Jacob's brother, and the latter at one time dealt kindly with Israel. "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land" (Deuteronomy 23:8). Egypt rescued Jacob and his family from famine and allowed them to multiply and flourish. Israel is indebted to Egypt for this act of genuine human kindness to strangers.
The Talmud preserves a Babylonian saying in Babylonia that captures the full force of this magnanimous verse: "You should not throw stones into a well from which you have drunk." What I find particularly noteworthy is that this adage does not originate in the learned circle of the rabbis. They rather justify its thrust by associating it with our scriptural verse. The Torah's openness to the inclusion of Egyptians into Israel's body politic is surely informed by this common spirit of human decency, first expressed in folk wisdom.
Elsewhere the rabbis voice the same noble idea on their own. Their conception of God does not envision any divine joy at the sight of justice meted out to the wicked. God takes no pleasure in the suffering of the sinner. In the Talmud when the Egyptians drown in the Reed Sea, the rabbis imagine the angels on high breaking into jubilation, only to be sternly rebuked by God: "The works of my hands are sinking into the sea and you want to sing." The moral force of this searing reprimand asserts that God cares deeply for all the children of Adam and Eve. They are uniformly endowed with God's imprint even when they deviate from the paths of justice and righteousness.
Katzenberg's empathetic spirit not only rests on strong Jewish precedents; it also is a timely message for a world wracked by the pathology of victimhood.
Rabbi Ismar Schorsch is chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. Additional commentaries may be found on the Internet at www.jtsa.edu/pubs/schorsch.
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