Posted Friday, January 13, 2012, 11:03 AM
The text of the reading for tonight and tomorrow day (when Jews should be observing Shabbas, including by not being on their computers) is Exodus 5:1-6:1. In this reading (below, and also available also via links to the Jewish version and King James Bible version: Chapter 5 here and Chapter 6 here), Moses, who has accepted his God-appointed responsibility to lead the Hebrews, has his famous confrontation with Pharaoh.
Chapter 5
1. And afterwards, Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, "So said the Lord God of Israel, 'Send out My people, and let them sacrifice to Me in the desert.' "
2. And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel out? I do not know the Lord, neither will I let Israel out."
3. And they said, "The God of the Hebrews has happened upon us. Now let us go on a three day journey in the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He strike us with a plague or with the sword."
4. But the king of Egypt said to them, "Why, Moses and Aaron, do you disturb the people from their work? Go to your own labors."
5. And Pharaoh said, "Behold, now the people of the land are many, and you are stopping them from their labors."
6. So, on that day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
7. "You shall not continue to give stubble to the people to make the bricks like yesterday and the day before yesterday. Let them go and gather stubble for themselves.
8. But the number of bricks they have been making yesterday and the day before yesterday you shall impose upon them; you shall not reduce it, for they are lax. Therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
9. Let the labor fall heavy upon the men and let them work at it, and let them not talk about false matters."
10. So the taskmasters of the people and their officers came out and spoke to the people, saying, "So said Pharaoh, 'I am not giving you stubble.
11. You go take for yourselves stubble from wherever you find [it], because nothing will be reduced from your work.' "
12. So the people scattered throughout the entire land of Egypt, to gather a gleaning for stubble.
13. And the taskmasters were pressing [them], saying, "Finish your work, the requirement of each day in its day, just as when there was stubble."
14. And the officers of the children of Israel whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had appointed over them were beaten, saying, "Why have you not completed your quota to make bricks like the day before yesterday, neither yesterday nor today?"
15. So the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you do this to your servants?
16. Stubble is not given to your servants, but they tell us, 'Make bricks,' and behold, your servants are beaten, and your people are sinning."
17. But he said, "You are lax, just lax. Therefore, you say, 'Let us go, let us sacrifice to the Lord.'
18. And now, go and work, but you will not be given stubble. Nevertheless, the [same] number of bricks you must give."
19. The officers of the children of Israel saw them in distress, saying, "Do not reduce [the number] of your bricks, the requirement of each day in its day."
20. They met Moses and Aaron standing before them when they came out from Pharaoh's presence.
21. And they said to them, "May the Lord look upon you and judge, for you have brought us into foul odor in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to place a sword into their hand[s] to kill us."
22. So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord! Why have You harmed this people? Why have You sent me?
23. Since I have come to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You have not saved Your people."
Chapter 6
1. And the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand he will send them out, and with a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land."
Regarding Pharaoh’s overall mindset regarding breaking down the will of the Hebrews, Rabbi Lazar Gurkow has written a column "Rejecting the Enemy's Narrative." Rabbi Gurkow wrote this column in the midst of Israel’s 2008-9 Gaza War, and the column which should have obvious meaning by those of us keenly aware of the effort by Barack Obama and leftist quislings to break down the will of patriotic Americans, both Jewish and Christian. The most worthwhile passages of Rabbi Gurkow’s piece, at least in the opinion of Jewish Culture Examiner, are:
Like a multi-headed snake that grows two new heads every time one is chopped off, they seem able to withstand all attacks and respond with ever growing tenacity. Confidence in our eventual victory slowly erodes as we repeatedly ask: Can we win?
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This was a battle for Jewish hearts and minds. Pharaoh sought to undermine the faith Jews had in their eventual liberation; he wanted them to forget the prophecy of redemption. If confidence in their future redemption could be sapped, their will to fight would be drained. They would finally surrender their independence and assimilate into Egyptian society.
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Pharaoh almost achieved his objective. Our sages taught that Jewish men despaired in Egypt and sought to divorce their wives because they refused to bring children into the cruel world of enslavement and execution.3 Had the Jewish women acquiesced to this way of thinking, Pharaoh would have won. Destiny, however, planned it differently. The women did not despair and coaxed their husbands back into marriage. They gave birth to an entirely new generation of Jews, who survived the cruel decrees and experienced the Exodus from Egypt.
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Pharaoh succeeded in foisting slavery upon our ancestors by convincing them to accept his narrative. Once they accepted his narrative they were prepared to view themselves as second class citizens and finally as slaves. By believing the enemy's anti-Semitic propaganda, they provided their enemy with the key to victory.
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The lesson to us today could not be clearer. Terror groups cannot win wars on the field of battle so they shift the war to the field of psychology. They seek to convince us of two main points. They want us to question the righteousness of our cause – while accepting the righteousness of theirs – and they want to drain our confidence in our ability to win. We are fortunate to receive guidance in this area from the Biblical narrative and from the history of our people.
The enemy's propaganda can only be accepted at our peril. To overcome terror, we must remain firmly committed to the righteousness of our cause and to the certainty of our victory. Ceding control of these two most important tools allows, G‑d forbid, the terrorists to win.
Rabbi Gurkow’s full column, “Rejecting the Enemy's Narrative,” can be accessed via this link.
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