The Egyptians' Hatred of the Jews:
My grandfather, the Kretchnifer Rebbe zy”a (Gilyon Kol Emunah, Parshas Shemos 5736) asks why it is necessary to say that “the land became full of them.” Secondly, why did the Egyptians suspect that the Jews would join their enemies (ibid). At that time, the Jews were friends with them. Why did they think they would betray them?
He answers that the fact is that “Esav hates Yaakov” (Yalkut Shimoni, Bamidbor 9, Remez 723). Therefore, it was only natural for the Egyptians to hate the Jews.
During the lifetime of their patron, Yosef, they did not seek to harm the Jews. However, as soon as this era ended, their true hatred emerged.
The pasuk is saying that the Jews in Egypt did not assimilate with the locals. Even after they had been enslaved, they continued to be a distinct people who were fruitful and multiplied. They remained committed to their lifestyle were unconcerned with the ways of the Egyptians.
When it says that the land became full of them, the intent is that they felt as if they were the only ones in the land, as they were only concerned about maintaining their lifestyle. That wanted them to become immersed in the negative form of wisdom, which is questioning Hashem’s ways, as he knew that this would harm them.
וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ בִּמְאֹד וגו' וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם (א, ז)
And the children of Yisroel were fruitful and multiplied and became very strong... and the land became full of them. (1:7)
The Way Of Emunah is the only way the Jewish people could continue to exist in Mitzrayim.
הָבָה נִּתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ פֶּן יִרְבֶּה וְהָיָה כִּי תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם הוּא עַל שׂנְאֵינוּ וגו' (א, י)
Let us come up with a plan against them, lest they increase and it will be when a war occurs and they will also join with our enemies. (1:10)
The Schemes of the Yeitzer Hara:
Chazal (Yalkut Shimoni 163) ask why Pharaoh’s plan is described as “chochmah”. What wisdom did he use?
The answer is that Pharaoh wanted to enslave the Jews and force them to do hard labor. However, he knew that they would never willingly agree to do this. Therefore, he gathered the Jews and asked them, “Can you please do me a favor and help me today?” (Rash in Pesachim 39A says that he paid them for the work.) He himself picked up a tool and began to work. When they saw this, they joined him and worked that day. Thus, he started with “perach”, which can be translated to mean “peh rach”, a soft voice, as, at first, he spoke to them gently.
The Medrash adds that he took a millstone and placed it around his own neck. If anyone claimed they were too finnicky to work, they would be told, “Are you more finnicky than Pharaoh? He is working, so you should too!”
At the end of the day, the Egyptian overseers told them that they were now expected to do this every day. The Medrash adds that they made 600 bricks that day, and, from then on, were ordered to make that much every day.
Shevet Levi were the only ones that did not rush in to help. They weren’t impressed by Pharaoh’s words because they did not want to give up their time from learning Torah. Therefore, they never were enslaved. The Shach al Hatorah (Parshas Bamidbor) writes that when Pharaoh convinced the Jews to work, Shevet Levi was not there because they had accepted Avrohom’s command to sit and learn Torah and anyone who accepts the yoke of Torah has the yoke of the government removed from him.
The Chizkuni writes similarly that Levi and his offspring sat and learned in Egypt and did not do any work. Therefore, they were exempted from the slavery.
A Lessons from the Dogs of Rome:
Sefer Otzros Hatorah quotes Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l as explaining this with the following story that is found in the Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 22:12):
There were intelligent dogs who used to hand around the marketplace of Rome. One dog would lay down by the door of the bakery and pretend to be asleep. He would lay there, waiting for his chance to grab just one roll. As soon as the rolls were unwatched, he would run in cause a commotion, grab one and run off. Although the baker wasn’t happy about this, after the dog ran out and the commotion died down, he would take stock and realize that only one roll had been stolen and he would say that it wasn’t that bad.
This is the way of the yeitzer hara. It wants to convince a person to do a small sin so that it can catch him in its claws. Of course, no upright Jew would fall for it and allow himself to do an aveirah. However, the Chovos Halevavos (Shaar Yichud Hamaaseh, Perek 5) explains that the yeitzer hara is very patient. It waits for a time when the person is not paying attention and causes a commotion and completely discombobulates the person. By the time the commotion is over, the yeitzer hara has caused one sin to be committed...and the man is happy that only one “small” aveirah was done. He fails to realize that the yeitzer hara will be back for more.
A Small Mitzvah:
Sefer Otzros Hatorah goes on to quote Sefer Ish Chayil (Chelek 3, 20) which relates a parable of a large store that has many customers and which makes a large profit every day. A thief noticed how much money the store was making and decided to rob it. He surveilled the store and saw that every day, at exactly 12:15pm, a worker would be sent to the nearby bank to deposit the cash that had come in the previous day. At that time of day, the street was full of people and it would be impossible to rob the worker without being spotted.
The thief came up with a plan. He walked into a custom tailer’s shop on the same block as the store at 12oclock and told him, “My boss is a very wealthy man and he wants a new suit custom-made for him. He will pay any price but he is very busy and has no time to come in.”
The tailer asked, “If he can’t come in, how will measure him for the size of the suit?”
The thief said, “I will keep an eye on everyone who passes by, and when someone who is the same size as my boss walks by, I’ll let you know.”
At 12:15, when the worker walked out of the store, the thief said, “That young man is exactly the same size as my boss!”
The tailer walked out of his store, approached the worker, and said, “Can I please take your measurements for an expensive suit I have been hired to make?” The worker agreed. He walked into the tailer shop and took off his jacket, which had the money in its pocket. The tailer put an expensive jacket on him and began to size it up. At that moment, the thief quickly grabbed the money and ran off.
The worker yelled, “I’ve been robbed!” He started to run after the thief, but the tailer stopped him and said, “You aren’t going anywhere until you take off my jacket!”
In the meantime, the thief made his getaway.
The thief is an analogy to the yeitzer hara, which is lying in wait and trying to get us to sin. It knows, however, that most people will not allow themselves to be seduced by him. Therefore, it sits and waits until a person is on his way to the bais medrash to do the greatest mitzvah of learning Torah. It then approaches him with a small mitzvah or chesed that will take “just a few minutes”... In this way, he causes the person to sin by averting him from doing the great mitzvah he was planning on doing.
The Power of Observing Shabbos in Mitzrayim:
The Medrash (Otzar Hamedrashim, Chanukah) says that Pharaoh’s plan was to get the Jews to stop keeping Shabbos.
My father, the Kretchnifer Rebbe shlita (quoted in Gilyon Divrei Torah) explains this Medrash by citing the Tur (Orech Chaim 281), who says that the reason we recite the tefillah of “Yismach Moshe b’matnas chelko” on Shabbos is because Moshe saw that the bondage in Egypt was very difficult for the Jewish people, so he asked Pharaoh to give them one day off every week. Pharaoh agreed and said that they could have off on Shabbos. Moshe was very happy about this, and this is what is referred to in the tefillah of “Yismach Moshe b’matnas chelko.”
The Medrash (Shemos Rabbah 5:18) Describes what the Jews did on their Shabbosim, when they were free from work. It says that they had scrolls that said on them that Hashem would redeem them because they rested on Shabbos, and they read them each week. They would also gather in groups and say over stories of the Avos, which was a source of encouragement for them.
This is hinted to from the fact that the last letters of the words “es Yaakov ish” spell out the word “Shabbos.” This is a hint that every Shabbos in Egypt, the Jews would gather and relate stories of Yaakov and the other Avos as a source of chizuk.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians couldn’t understand it. How could the Jews be in such high spirits if they working so hard all day? They investigated until they came to the conclusion that the day of Shabbos was the source of their strength. Therefore, they decided to stop giving them off on Shabbos.
Accordingly, when the pasuk says that Pharaoh used wisdom to plot against the Jews, it means that he thought into the matter to determine the source of their strength. When he realized that it was Shabbos, he decided to force them not to observe it.
The Power of Gathering Together on Shabbos:
It is related that a neshama once came down to the Me’or Einayim zy”a from the Upper World to ask for a tikkun. The Me’or Einayim asked if he had ever taken part in a “farbrengen” on leil Shabbos with other chasidim, and the neshama replied that it had not. The Me’or Einayim then asked if he had ever eaten shalosh seudos with groups of Yidden, and, again, the answer was no.
The Me’or Einayim then said, “If you never joined together with other Yidden over the course of Shabbos, I have no tikkun for you.”
We can learn from this that gathering with other Yidden on Shabbos is a source of much reward and is a great tikkun.
