Rabbi Eliezer Eisikovits
The paintings accompanying the Passover Haggadah depict the enslavement of Egypt in the form of the Israelites dragging chunks of enormous rocks while the Egyptian oppressors whip them fiercely. These paintings depict only one aspect of bondage and not necessarily its longest and deepest aspect.
The bondage accompanying harsh decrees lasts for a limited period of time 86 years [Song of Songs Rabbah Parsha B'] but it was preceded by a process of servitude of a different nature.
Regarding the inscription, "Veleh shmos bnai yisrael habaim mitzrimah et yakov ish vebitho bauh” Rabbi Ovadia Seforno explains; We say that we describe here stages in the spiritual descent of the Israelites in Egypt. In the first generation the tribes are mentioned by their first names, as each of them was an important personality who spreads light on its surroundings. Also, in the second generation the spiritual influence of the previous generation is still felt.
But after Joseph dies and all the members of that generation. A new generation described in the words: "Ubnei yisrael paru vayisretzu; The Seforno explains that these words, which are described along the way the plurality of animals implies a spiritual descent: "They would run to a hay well." The descent is also implied in the sequel words: "And the earth shall fill them." The Israelites no longer shut themselves up in the land of Goshen, where they were separated from Egyptian culture, but fill the land in a geographical and cultural sense. They fill key positions and intervening in local politics, following in the footsteps of Grandpa Yosef, who was viceroy. But while Joseph he knew how to separate his public pursuits from his spiritual world, but in them the blurring prevails [HaEmek Devar Exodus 1:39;].
The Seforno interprets in this way "And a new king arose who did not know Joseph." The new king knew of Joseph's existence but he did not connect him to the Israelites who now fill the land.
Joseph and his family were known as "Hebrews" – as ones whom the name of hashem is common on their tongues and they carefully guard their spiritual identity and distance themselves from the ways of the Egyptians. But the Israelites of the present generation were already a different breed that Pharaoh does not associate with Joseph's Hebrews.
The Hidden Bondage
Next, the Egyptians begin to feel threatened by the strengthening of the Israelites. Instead of colliding head-on with the Israelites, who had important positions and therefore might have fought back and won the sympathy of some of the Egyptian people, they choose an indirect anti-Israel campaign of "let us be wise to him" designed to make the Israelites understand that they are unwanted guests in Egypt.
But here is the tragedy: the Egyptian regime offers the Israelites the option of leaving, and they refuse to choose that option. It’s good for them in Egypt. They feel connected to its culture and identify with its world. They want to be part of a glorious empire rather than as non-inhabitants in a remote Canaanite province [Seforno 1:13].
The Israelites choose to ignore the signals of danger and accept discrimination and harassment, as long as they allow them to stay in Egypt. As far as they are concerned, the decrees are a tolerable price for their continued stay in Egypt, especially since the decrees the first ones to leave Pharaoh's house are wrapped in rational arguments and one can always hope that they will change Regime. Only after the Egyptians discovered to their surprise that the Israelites were willing to accept the decrees did the pressure begin. After all, if the Jews are willing to let The Egyptian take advantage of them, then why not?...
Stockholm syndrome
The gradual enslavement accustoms the Israelites to enslavement and accustoms the Egyptians to the permissible abuse of the Israelites.
"And the Egyptians shepherded us" - they made us evil, presented us as negative people in order to justify to the masses Their persecution of us. This is how anti-Semites have behaved throughout the generations, cheering the Israelites, highlighting every flaw and everything wrong to justify their persecution [Beit Halevi on the Torah according to Deuteronomy 61].
The words "they shepherded us" also have a meaning that fits in with the process of spiritual deterioration of increasing decline in idolatry Egyptian and its culture. Because of the Egyptians, we got worse. What began as assimilation by choice was done, stemming from brutal oppression in the style of the "Stockholm Syndrome" - the tendency to disconnect from the identity of the oppressed people and connect with the strong and dominant people. Thus, enslavement in Egypt combined the bondage of the body and the soul. The climax of this process is described by the prophet Ezekiel: "And they disobeyed me, and no one cast off the thorns of their eyes” [Ezekiel 20:8].
The process of redemption from Egypt will also have to take place on two parallel levels: to break the physical strength of Pharaoh but also to free the souls of the Israelites and return them to their spiritual home, "until the day they return to their place and to the virtue of their forefathers they shall return" [Ramban's introduction to the Pentateuch of Exodus].
Come home
Lately, there have been ruminations of regret among Jewish intellectuals in America and Israel. These who for years saw themselves as part of the humane leftist alliance, discovered to their astonishment that their "partners".
They react with complete indifference when the blood of Israel is spilled like water. Reputable academic institutions are not even capable to unequivocally condemn calls for the murder of Jews. Suddenly it became clear to assimilated Jews that the "brotherhood of nations" they imagined to create among all civilized people was nothing but an illusion.
The resulting spiritual upheaval is only just beginning, but when the process matures and Jews understand that instead of broken illusions, it would be better if they returned to the seminars that would wait them and mark for them the way home.
