But the more [the Egyptians] oppressed him, the more [the B’nei Yisrael] increased and spread. [The Egyptians] came to loathe the B’nei Yisrael. (Shmos 1:12)
It defied logic. The Jews were being beaten and enslaved, yet somehow, they were thriving. They were being worked to the bone, and decrees were made to separate husbands and wives, yet the Jewish nation grew.
What seemed impossible was possible because this was all part of Hashem’s plan. Though to the Jews it seemed like the worst thing, their enslavement actually helped them. Because they were hated for being Jews, their numbers swelled. It’s Hashem’s sense of humor perhaps.
The Torah says the Jews were like thorns in the eyes of the Egyptians. Why did they have to hate us? We’d done nothing to them! On the contrary, we did so much FOR them! Why couldn’t we get along?
The Chasam Sofer says something unbelievable. Do you know why Hashem made the Egyptians hate us, be disgusted by us, and want nothing to do with us? So that they would leave our women alone! The Torah tells us that only one Jewish woman was ever assaulted by an Egyptian. (Can you imagine if the Hamas terrorists on October 7 would not have wanted to even touch a Jewish woman?)
Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss has suggested that the enmity between Israelis and Arabs these days is also for the purpose of preventing intermarriage. Hashem has His reasons and plans for us, no matter how it seems to us.
We don’t see things with as much clarity as there is, only Hashem sees all and understands all. It’s an important message to gain from the Torah – there’s always more to learn and more ways to see the world around us.
Through a Torah Lens: Understanding our Enemies.
When Pharaoh made his decree that baby boys should be cast into the Nile, Amram, the leading sage at the time, divorced his wife. He said, “Why should we bring children into this world for naught?” The populace followed suit and divorced their wives.
His young daughter, Miriam, said to him, “Your decision is worse than Pharaoh’s. He decreed only against the boys, but you also against the girls. He denies them this world, but you deny them the world to come.” (Sotah 12a)
Heeding her advice, he remarried his wife Yocheved, and they gave birth to a baby named Moshe, the same one who would lead the Jews out of Egypt, to accept the Torah, and until the Promised Land. Once again, the Jews followed his lead and remarried their wives.
What Miriam did was redirect Amram’s thinking by reframing it. He saw the futility of their sons being killed. She pointed to the survival of their daughters. He saw a brief and brutal life; she showed him a glorious eternal life with Hashem.
