ויאמר אלהם מלך מצרים למשה ואהרן תפריעו את העם ממעשיו לכו לסבלתיכם (ה’ ד’)
The king of Egypt said to them, “Moshe and Aharon, why do you disturb the people from their work? Go to your own burdens!” (5:4)
Rashi explains that Pharaoh’s intention by saying, “Go to your own burdens” was that since the Levi’im were not required to participate in the physical labor, Pharaoh specifically said, “Go to your own burdens,” meaning, go take care of what you have to do in your house, but not the physical labor that all the other Jews were required to do.
The Zera Shimshon asks why it is that Shevet Levi was not included in the decree of the physical labor. After all, the passuk that describes the decree of the Egyptian exile does not differentiate between any of the shevatim. The passuk says (Bereishis 15:13), כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם ועבדום וענו אותם, “Your children will be strangers in a land that is not their own. They will serve them and oppress them.” From this passuk, it seems that everyone would be part of this decree of slavery. If so, why is it that the shevet of Levi was excluded?
The Zera Shimshon answers that the Medrash Rabba (1:10) says that when Yosef HaTzaddik passed away, the Jewish people stopped keeping the mitzvah of bris milah. They wanted to be similar to the Egyptians. When this happened, Hashem made the Egyptians hate them.
Here too, the Zera Shimshon asks that it seems that had the Jewish people kept the mitzvah of milah, they would not have been subjected to the slavery and backbreaking labor of the Egyptian exile. How does this conform to the passuk that seems to say that the Jewish people would have been subjected to this decree unconditionally?
The Zera Shimshon suggests that there were two parts to the decree of going down to Egypt. Originally, the decree was only that the Jewish people would be strangers in the land. If, however, they would not keep the symbol of Jewish people, the mitzvah of milah, they would be subjected to the additional decree of slave labor. Being that the shevet of Levi kept the mitzvah of milah, they remained strangers but were not subjected to the physical labor. All the other Jews, who gave up the mitzvah of milah, were subsequently subjected to second part of the decree, namely, the backbreaking slave labor.
This, the Zera Shimshon culls from the wording of the aforementioned passuk. The passuk says, “Your children will be strangers in a land that is not their own. They will serve them and oppress them.” The passuk could have said, “Your children will be oppressed in a land that is not their own.” As well, once the passuk said that they will strangers, there is no need to add “in a land that is not their own.”
The Zera Shimshon says that if the decree was indeed a two-part decree, this passuk is very well understood. The first part of the decree was that the Jewish people would be strangers in a foreign land. If they would be noticed and live as though it were not their own land by keeping their Jewish identity through the mitzvah of milah, the decree would end there. This is why the passuk adds “in a land that is not their own” – to emphasize that if they would live as if this were not their land and not try to integrate into the ways of the Egyptians. Then, all that the decree would entail would be living as strangers in Egypt.
If, however, they would not keep this difference, the passuk continues to tell what the second part of the decree would be: “They will serve them and oppress them.” This is why the passuk says the decree in two parts and doesn’t just say, “Your children will be oppressed in a land that is not theirs.”
ZERA SHIMSHON
ZERA SHIMSHON SHIUR BY RABBI SIMCHA BUNIM BURGER
