SHEMOT: The Beginning of the Jewish People and the Beginnings of Antisemitism

We have just finished the book of Bereshit, Genesis. Bereshit is not a book of laws. It is a book that tells us how humanity began and particularly how the “family” of Israel (Bene Israel) was formed. And in Shemot, in the first chapter, we see that the “family” of Israel was transformed into the “people” of Israel. In our Parasha we find for the first time the word, עם ‘am: people, nation, to define “Israel”.

These words הנה עם בני ישראל “here is a people, the children of Israel” is mentioned for the first time by Pharaoh, and in a very particular context. Pharaoh refers to the people of Israel in a negative, hostile tone. Today we would say in an “anti-Semitic” way. Pharaoh speaks to his people convincing them that the Jewish people are a great threat to Egypt, and presents them with a plan for the elimination of the Jews. Is it not ironic, and incredible, that the anti-Semitic message of the “final solution” appears in the first and same scene in which “the Jewish people” is born?

How did anti-Semitism start in Egypt? What did the Yehudim do wrong to deserve this treatment from Pharaoh?

There are several and diverse answers to this question. Following one of these interpretations, we could say that this is a fairly common political phenomenon.

In Shemot 1:8 the Tora gives us the first clues: “And a new Pharaoh arose in Egypt, who did not know [=deliberately ignored] Yosef.” Who was this new Pharaoh, and why would he choose to ignore Yosef and his enormous contribution to saving Egypt? When a new government, say “the opposition,” assumes the presidency, it is natural that all allies of the previous government automatically become antagonistic to the new government. Example: In a few hours the United States will have a new president, Donald Trump, and it is possible that the countries that President Obama privileged, for example: Iran, will not enjoy the same privileges with President Trump. Something similar, but in the opposite direction, I believe, will take place with Israel, BH.

Back to our Parasha. Imagine that a new Pharaonic dynasty emerged in Egypt, or as some commentators such as Rabbi Shemuel D. Luzzato (Shadal) said: the Egyptians regained the power that had been usurped by the Hyksos two centuries before. In any of these cases, it would be logical that the Jewish people, loved by the previous government, would now be seen with animosity and suspicion by the new government. This hypothesis allows us to learn an enormous lesson about anti-Semitism. Hatred toward Jews does not necessarily happen because of something wrong that we Jews have done. The causes of anti-Semitism are not always the same. For Hitler י”ש, Jews were the worst because we were communists; for Stalin because we were capitalists, etc. Anti-Semitism arises for reasons that are far beyond what Jews are, were, do or avoid doing. When we are in exile, and a government treats us well, it does not mean that the next government will automatically treat us well, even if we do not do anything wrong to deserve to be mistreated. This happened hundreds of times in the history of the Jewish people in exile. We lived in peace, tranquility and relative prosperity in Spain until 1492. Something similar happened in Germany before 1938. Until a new Pharaoh emerged in Spain, Germany, England, France, etc.
It is also interesting to see (and compare with the present) how anti-Semitic propaganda is developed, that is, how the tyrant justifies his desire to eliminate the Jewish people.
The Tora tells us that the new Pharaoh לא ידע את יוסף “did not know [= chose to ignore] Yosef”: The first thing the tyrant does to justify his animosity is to ignore the contributions of the Jewish people. And the more important these contributions have been, the more effort the sovereign will make to ignore them. The Nazi government ignored the participation and loyalty of the Jews who fought for the “motherland” Germany during the First World War. They ignored the contribution of Jewish scientists and doctors and other men of science and the arts who contributed greatly to the pre-Nazi Germany being one of the most advanced countries in Europe. The Spanish kings ignored the contribution of the Jews in the medical fields, think of Lorenzo Badoz, the doctor who saved the life of Queen Isabel, astronomy and navigation, the studies and inventions of Rabbi Abraham Zacuto, which allowed Columbus to reach America, etc.  Today, the world systematically ignores the enormous contributions of the state of Israel to the modern world. Israel stands out in the fields of medicine, technology, agriculture, computing, optics, irrigation, etc., as you can see in this chart:

And instead of Israel being the most admired country in the world, for its incredible contributions to mankind despite being a country in constant war, and the only country in the world whose existence is threatened, Israel – the Jew among the nations – was considered by the BBC in 2016 as the country that most “threatens world peace.”

Anti-Semitic propaganda did not change. In any case, it became more sophisticated.

שבת שלום

 



The beginnings of Antisemitism: DEMONIZATION

The origins of anti-Semitism can be traced back to Ancient Egypt. The anti-Jewish attitude of Pharaoh was not directly related to something the people of Israel had done wrong. Pharaoh’s antagonism to Jews had to do with a new political situation: Pharaoh’s opposition to the previous government, which was friendly to the Jews, especially because of Yosef. 
This is the first example of an incredible paradox that repeated itself numberless times in Jewish history. Being loyal to a present local government leaves Jews exposed to the whims of a new government, coming from the opposition. Let me explain: In exile, Jews were always very loyal to the local government. And thus, for example, when the son of the previous king succeeded his father,  Jews were respected by the new monarch, for the loyalty Jews had shown towards his father. But if the previous King was not succeeded by his son, if the previous King, for example,  was dethroned or overthrown by the opposition, now the Jews would have to pay for their loyalty to the previous government.
Is this what happened in Egypt when a new Pharaoh came to power? Everything seems to indicate so. And based on the plain narrative of the Biblical text (peshat) now the new Egyptian King inspired in the heart of the masses a new antagonism to the Jews.  And this when, for the first time, we will find a very distinctive element of anti-Semitism: anti-Semitic propaganda. 
In Parashat Ki-Tabo the Tora refers in one word, to this type of anti-Semitism. It tells us that before torturing us with hard labor the Egyptians  yare’u otanu (וירעו אותנו המצרים ויענונו). This sophisticated Hebrew word vayare’u is usually translated as “damaged us” or “they did bad to us” .  But there is another possible reading of this word, without forcing the delicate semantics of this term. Rather than translating “they did bad to us” this verse might be telling us something deeper: the Egyptians “made us bad”, i.e., “made us look bad” or in one word, “demonized us.” They spoke ill of us and falsely accused us of horrible acts. Pharaoh demonized us suggesting that Jews became rich by robbing the Egyptians. Or that because Jews are a separate people, their loyalty to Egypt is questionable…. This fake propaganda was necessary to justify their case for persecuting, killing and destroying us.     
The demonization of the Jews was, and unfortunately still is, the first step in any Antisemitic campaign. For centuries Jews were falsely blamed for the most heinous crimes: poisoning  wells of water (in the time of the Bubonic plague, 1350), killing a god, killing children to eat their blood in the Matza, etc. Some of these ridiculous allegations, incredibly, are still spread until today. The “demonization” of the Jews was, is and will remain a prerequisite to pursue and condemn the Jews. 
Pharaoh continues his inflammatory speech:
הבה נתחכמה לו: “The Jews are smart, let us outsmart them” The Jews had a reputation for being smart, studious, a people who appreciate the value of education. Pharaoh does not deny this. But in his anti-Semitic rhetoric Pharaoh “demonize” the intelligence of the Jews and presents it as a kind of negative and evil “cunning” which will eventually lead them to betrayal.
ונוסף גם הוא על שונאניו ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ
“They will join our enemies, they will fight against us and abandon the land”.   Pharaoh’s speech is a typical demagogic discourse of a dictator. Note that Pharaoh does not address his court or his cabinet (‘abadav) as he does when threatened by the plagues. He speaks directly to the people (on national TV).
Pharaoh ends his speech with the most popular, harmful and unfounded anti-Semitic accusation. “The Jews will betray us, they will join our enemies and take our wealth with them.” Pharaoh is trying to sow fear in the Egyptian population, and like many other tyrants he used the essential characteristic of the Jewish people, their sense of community and unity, to demonize them. The greatest strength of the Jewish people is used by the anti-Semite as their greatest vulnerability. Thus, even it is a lie, it is credible to accuse of disloyalty a people that resists assimilation ….


SHEMOT: The Nature Of Antisemitism

We just finished reading the book of Bereshit, Genesis. Bereshit is not a book of laws. It is a book about the origins of humanity and particularly about the beginning of “Israel”. The book of Bereshit, however, does not mention the “people of Israel”, only the “children of Israel”. In the book of Shemot, Exodus, the family of Ya’aqob is transformed into a people, a nation. It is here, in our Parasha, where we find for the first time the word ‘am: people, nation, to define “Israel”.
The words עם בני ישראל, “the nation of the children of Israel” is first mentioned by none other than Pharaoh, and in a very particular context. Pharaoh refers to the people of Israel in a negative, hostile, today we would say “anti-Semitic” tone. Pharaoh speaks directly to his people warning them about the threat posed to Egypt by the Jewish people and presents a plan for getting rid of them. Isn’t ironic, and incredible, that in the first scene in which “the Jewish people” appears the “final solution” appears for the first time as well ?
In the coming days I would like to take a more profound look on the speech of Pharaoh, his evil plan and its execution. I think that this exercise will help us understand better the deep roots of anti-Semitism.
How did antisemitism begin in Egypt?
In Shemot pasuq 1:8 the Tora presents the events that led to it.
 “And a new Pharaoh arose in Egypt, who did not know Yosef”
Why would a new Pharaoh ignore the contributions of Yosef and wish to destroy the Jewish people? The Tora only mentions explicitly the surging of a new King. Following one of several interpretations I would say that we are dealing here with a very common political phenomenon. When a new government, say the “opposition”, takes over, it is natural that the allies of the former government would automatically become the enemies of the new government. Example: In a 180 degrees change from the previous government, the new Argentinian government does not consider Venezuela, Cuba and Iran as allies.
If in Egypt a new pharaonic dynasty surged, or as some historians suggest, if the native Egyptians regained the power that the Hyksos usurped two centuries earlier,  in either case, it would be nothing but expected that, if the former government was friendly with the Jewish people, the new government won’t.
Following this assumption we can learn a great lesson about the nature of antisemitism. The hatred toward Jews is not necessarily the effect of something bad Jews have done to the non Jews. Sometimes, many times, antisemitism arises for reasons that are far beyond what Jews can do or avoid doing. When Jews live in exile, and a government is friendly with us, it does not mean that the next government will treat us well too. Even though we would do nothing wrong to deserve being mistreated. This phenomena happened hundreds of times in the history of the Jewish people in exile. For centuries the Jews lived in peace, tranquility and relative prosperity in Spain until 1492. Something similar happened in Germany before 1938. But when a new Pharaoh arose in Spain, Germany, England, France, etc. things turned very bad for the Jews, without deserving it….
Accordingly, anti-Semitism had nothing to do with what Jews did toward the non-Jew. For Hitler the Jews were Communists, for Stalin we were capitalists. When the antisemitic tyrant wants to hurt us , the only thing that changes is the excuse.
What we are going to explore now is the anti-Semitic propaganda by which the tyrant justified his determination to hurt, expel or eliminate the Jewish people.
אשר לא ידע את יוסף  “A new Pharaoh who did not know [that is, who chose to ignore] Yosef”. The first thing an antisemitic tyrant in power would do is to ignore the contributions of the Jewish people. The more important or impressive those contributions were, the bigger the effort to conceal them (revisionism, demonization, etc.). The Nazi government ignored the participation and loyalty of the Jews who fought for the “motherland” Germany during the First World War. Nazi Germany chose to ignore the contribution of Jews in medicine, science, arts, etc. Men and women who contributed greatly to make from pre-Nazi Germany one of the most advanced countries in Europe.
The Spanish kings ignored the contribution of the Jews in the fields of medicine (think of Lorenzo Badoz, the physician to Queen Isabel), astronomy and navigation (think about Rabbi Abraham Zacuto) and especially in the area of trade and commerce, the main profession of Jews in pre expulsion Spain. .
Today we experience a similar phenomena. The world systematically ignores the enormous contributions of the State of Israel to the modern world. Israel excels in the fields of medicine, technology, agriculture, optical, irrigation, etc, etc. (see below). But instead of considering Israel as the most amazing country in the world, for their incredible contributions to humanity despite being the only country whose existence is threatened, Israel -the Jew among the nations- is according to a BBC poll, the country “that threatens world peace more than any other country”
Anti-Semitic propaganda did not change. In any case, it became more sophisticated.