The Bondage in Egypt and Anti-Semitism Today

E-mail to the Editor from Patricia Stone:

How and why did Jews happen to come under the bondage of Egypt? Also, why the century after century of persecution? What started the whole thing and why does it continue to this day; this whole anti-Semitism thing?

Answer from the Editor:

Your enquiry consists of two questions – the bondage in Egypt and anti-Semitism.

THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT

The River Nile provided Egypt with a more or less reliable source of irrigation but it needed labourers to bring the water up from the river. Canaan, on the other hand, was mainly irrigated by rainwater which was not labour-intensive but the trouble there was the droughts that occurred from time to time.

In years of famine many people migrated from Canaan to Egypt where there was a sizeable migrant community in the Delta, in the north of the country. When Jacob and his tribes went to Egypt in a period of famine they too settled in Goshen in the Delta region. At that time Jacob’s son, Joseph, was the Viceroy of Egypt. It was he who turned the Hebrews and the rest of the population into slaves of Pharaoh! Whenever Jews attain high office they become plus royalistes que le roi – more royalist than the king. And so it was that Joseph hatched up his 14 year plan to corner the grain market, filling up the stores in the 7 years of plenty, and selling the grain at exorbitant prices in the 7 years of famine. Such an activity is illegal nowadays but in those days it was deemed to be very clever. At the end of the 14 years all the people of Egypt had sold first their cattle, then their land, then themselves, in order to get sustenance.

After Joseph’s period was past, a new nationalist Pharaoh (Ramesis I) who started the 19th dynasty came to the throne. He released all the Egyptians from slavery but kept the Jews in bondage for many years until the end of the long reign of Ramesis II and the coming to the throne of his son, Mer Nephta, when Moses returned to Egypt and demanded from Pharaoh “Let my people go”. The rest is history.

PERSECUTION AND ANTI-SEMITISM

“How odd of God to choose the Jews” goes the rhyme, and some answer by saying it is not so odd as those who choose a Jewish God and spurn the Jews.

Jews liked to believe that the Holy One, Blessed Be He chose us from amongst all the nations just like that, and this is reflected in all our blessings. However the Talmudic Rabbis who became more mature in Babylon, did not like the idea that the Jews were chosen as an act of favouritism without any merit, and they advanced the theory that the Torah was first offered to the nations of the world who rejected it when they read the small print! It was only then that the Almighty turned to the fledgling nation of Israelites and offered them the Torah. They asked how much it cost and when told it was free they all said together, we will take it, without bothering to read the small print.

What was then in the small print? It was the conditions that as Chosen People we have to suffer for God, the wickedness of mankind . For mankind is wicked. We are in paradise and we have made a mess of it. But who can blame us, who are created in God’s image? It is as simple as that and the result is that the sufferings we undergo from anti-Semitism is no doubt the result of the wickedness of mankind.

What is the evidence that the Torah was first offered to the Gentiles? At one time Pharaoh Akhenaton, influenced by the tradition of Joseph, introduced monotheism into Egypt by making the sun disc, which is the undisputed visible source of all life, as the one God but he was overthrown by the powerful Egyptian priesthood. However, it appears that Mer Nephta was himself inclined to monotheism. That is why he saw Moses several times and it appears that at these meetings Moses tried to convince the King to accept monotheism but he was again ruled out by the powerful priesthood. When Moses finally said goodbye to the King telling him we are going to worship our God, the King told Moses “Bless me also”.

How odd of God to choose the Jews?
It is not so odd.
The Jews chose God.

Slaves we were to Pharoah in Egypt and slaves we remain, albeit to a Higher Authority.