What happens in Goshen By Rabbi Ari Kahn

so we're starting a new book we're starting saot okay that's the easy part there is this I'll call it a general perception I don't know if that's the right word for this there's this General perception that for some reason somehow the situation of shall we call them do what do you want to call them the Jews the Israelites the Proto Jews I don't I don't know I don't know what to call them but there's this perception that we have that their religious situation has deteriorated tremendously so I want to be very careful right now I'm I'm not yet addressing the issues of the servitude the abdud and so on and so forth as of this moment I'm just talking about the religious state of the Jews and what and what I I also want you to appreciate is that when we talk about the religious date of the Jews we we're about to go down or we could maybe we'll stop it there's a potential rabbit hole that you can go down and that rabbit hole is what exactly was the state of a Jewish people prior to this point which means yes I know we wrot up on this idea that the a but and and by the way I would be very careful about that and I would say to note it doesn't say that they performed it they were M I think that the way to understand this is that I shouldn't think that because this morning I put on Fillin I'm on a higher level than ainu even though he never put on Fillin but a whatever spiritual religious mystical thing is supposed to take place when I put on Fillin I'm pretty sure that ainu got to that one without putting Onan and by the way you do realize or recognize how this concept could be potentially the the proper word to use now would be antinomian because then you would draw the conclusion and say well if one can reach this point without doing these actual mitzvot then what do I need all of the mitzvot for and uh and by the way and there are places within certain kic writings that almost gets you up to this point in terms of this antinomian thought and then you essentially will have a litvak reading theic thought and saying well these people are aicar and but but you just again have to realize it comes back to this exact point and that is spiritual fulfillment Sora I really truly believe this is not this is not just to make feminists happy I truly believe that the religious environment in s's tent was higher than any religious environment I've ever seen in my life and and I hope that this doesn't sound like some kind of radical thought it's not there's a reason that they are considered the aote and the imahot so now if we then go down a little bit and go down to the time of of of Y and Rifka you go down to Yakov and whatever complicated relationships we have there and then we go down to the time of the of the next generation of the of the tribes in the Next Generation which means by the time that they're in Egypt what is their spiritual identity so what I have then is on the one hand I could be influenced by this midrashic rinic tamic perspective well everybody kept everything and uh I I even saw if anybody really wants I can share it with them but a very nice cartoon kind of thing from I think it was a bser um Kish instruction manual which is showing Noah's kids all of them with pis and uh so so whether Noah's kids actually had pis or not I don't know I think is a really interesting no they didn't again again it's not an interesting question they they they they I'm saying if I would to send this to you you wouldn't even know what to do with it but it's essentially somebody saying well this is how we are today so it must be how they were yesterday and go backwards in time and therefore what is was but I'm going to say it again you go back to the time that the Jews were in Egypt and you start to contemplate start to think start to think critically so what exactly was their religious identity what was it based on what did they do what didn't they do what was expected of them which means again if we have this perception that there was deterioration what was the deterioration based on what so again if you'll tell me that the various mitzvot which are mitv no so then I think you're on very very firm ground say yeah no make a lot of sense there's actually a whole literature as to what was the identity of the of the Jews before Matan Torah are they considered to be like Jews are they considered to be like Ben Noah there's uh there's a book called parim that the whole first essay is on that so if you want to read more about that topic than you ever could possibly imagine that's that's that is the place to take a look at it so I'll say again what is it that they did or didn't do and what deteriorated so and now I want to be careful because our knowledge is probably based on a combination of three different things and it's going to be the third one which is most interesting to me today but the first one is kind of just general Jewish knowledge kind of stuff that we know and when I follow that path stuff that we know so then then there is this teaching that the Jews fell to the 49th level of Tuma and if there would have remained one more moment then they would have disappeared and again we we we know that so I I kind of wonder what would happen if I were to tell you that that teaching does not appear any place in kazal and I'll Define kazal as ancient ranic thought which means which means mishna tal Med that whole strata to and so on that whole strata of knowledge and I'll say it again that concept does not does does not exist within that whole strata which means it doesn't appear until as far as I know until around the 16th century the arisal and so on but it's interesting because again any of us who went to uh Yeshiva that's part of what we were taught that was just a and and you can and you know had we stayed one more moment we would have disappeared why because again we had deteriorated so much so I would just stop and say what was the deterioration and essentially you're going to have a very hard time getting to any kind of definition other than saying that they were over Dev Vora that they were guilty of idolatry because I'm going to say it again what else was it that they did but nonetheless I'll say it again but but that that that is in our heads but I do want to make a comment about this where did they get the number 49 to say that we fell to the 49th level of Tuma and the answer is very simple it is from the Omare Because by the Omare we climb up 49 or perhaps 50 level by the way not that I want to deal with obscure cabalistic teachings right now I'll I'll Fain complete ignorance but I can tell you that there is a serious argument between in the 18th century and 19th century whether there is in fact a 50th level of Tuma or only 49 levels of Tuma so you'll have people who will quote this teaching like the or who say that one more moment they would have fell to the 50th level of Tuma and then you have people like the vill goone saying there is no 50th level of Tuma there's there's only a positive 50th level and that 50th level is revelation at s at Sinai so therefore CI is the 50th level knowledge of God is the 50th level something which is again spir that level spiritual but there is no opposite which means that according to this teaching if we fail to 49 levels then during the Omare we have to each day counter it and climb up one level so therefore you climb up why do you have to climb up 49 levels because you're 49 levels deep so each day you climb up and then eventually you get to uh seni but could we all get biblical for a moment yes based upon actually based upon Parra the whole concept of the El has nothing to do with Egypt should I say that again the whole idea of om has nothing to do with Egypt the whole idea of the OM is something which is completely agricultural by the way look at the word om it has to do with an amount it's cultural it has to do with the springtime it has to do with bringing the Corban om it has to do with the Corban om getting up to the Borum it is all this agricultural aspect of Judaism which now to admit is completely foreign to most of us be well I hope not to us it's foreign to most Jews because they don't live in an Agricultural Society and therefore this whole agricultural aspect which includes things about sukot and things about pesak and things about I didn't the wrong sequence things about PES things about sh things about sukot and by the way when you look at it that way sukot is in fact at the end of the year not at the beginning of the year because suod is the end of the Agricultural year even though it's the beginning of the calendar year and that's why you have some confusion taking place because essentially we live in multi mul multic calendar existence but but pause there for a moment if you live in a non-agricultural world and nonetheless you still have this thing about Spa so look what the AR all did it's completely bril he either reveals unveils or creates I I I don't care right now this spiritual aspect to what the counting of the omr is about even though the shot level is completely agricultural he says no the agricultural is there to mirror something which actually took place in Egypt because when we were in Egypt we sunk to the 49th level of Tuma but I'm going to say it again if you actually read by Yik where this is it's not there it's it's it's absolutely unknown to any of the rishonim because it's something which has they said again doesn't exist so I think it's always fascinating when we give religious meaning to things that we don't necessarily understand or connect to but that's or again I I'll completely accept this uh possibility that Ral is not being in Innovative but rather he's revealing but either way it has nothing to do with with with shot so I'm going to say it again this idea that the Jews sunk to the 49th level of Tuma you're not going to find that in any classical place within Rabbi literature you only find it in later places and later sources and the only thing that I'm leaving at for my discussion is the Zohar because perhaps in the zor you will find things but I'm going to leave that out because that is essentially a uh a a a mystical book which one could debate how much was known not known or when it appeared or we're not we're not going down that path right now I will point out something which the rambam writes which to me is absolutely fascinating and he here is it's in H where he deals with which may according to him be a misnomer course he says he actually instead of all seven already was commanded of six which is all quite interesting that according to the rambam the Adam was commanded not to worship idolatry and not to curse God and not to murder and not to be guilty of G sexual sins that would really be other kinds of even though the rambam stresses that we The Authority that we have it is not because it's or or not because that God said anything in bid the ram says this inul it's the more famous place that he says it even though it's very clear over here in huland there's a chapter called peridan and there talks about guess what ganha so there the rambam writes that gasha was revealed to yakob was told to Yakov and it was accepted it says Alain B Israel in the future that we don't what we don't eat the gasha from Yakov onward and the ROM their rights but Judaism is based upon Sinai and based upon mosuo and based upon what mosuo received from God and therefore the reason we don't need get inha is not because of Yakov that's just a nice narrative within our family history the re but legally the reason we don't need it is because God commanded it to mosha now if you read this line again you realize he just now said the same thing over here he says that even though that I'm skipping a little bites the and therefore so all this is clear to us and that's the way the world world was spiritually now we're going to come back to because that's going to be very important the the radical change which we could argue again it goes back to this point when Judaism Begins the radical change takes place when a vinu is commanded on the Commandments of Brit Mila that's the game changer by the way that's a vinu's conversion why do I say that when somebody converts they have git me La why unless they're a woman why would I say that because his name has changed then as well ad become somebody new at that point by the way who who else gets a new name at that point SAR because there's this conversion for sah as well that's when Judaism begins at that point Judaism begins and I'm saying that right we have some kind of a ritual to mark this by and therefore the the Brit becomes very important another thing I want you to pay attention to because going to be coming right back to this that the term which we use for this is Brit and what does the word Brit mean it means a covenant that means that something new has taken place at this point so it's interesting right he's commanded but he prayed again not commanded did theah separating and prayed another prayer at the end of the day by the way there's a little bit of tension here because the gor tells us two reasons why we have theot one is because the aot did them and the other because of the Corban out the Corban the Corban which is the was actually brought much much earlier in the day so if you want to follow if you want to the way the way that they did the corote you would always if you want to do the way that did it you would always do it at the end of the day which means here you actually have a contradiction not a contradiction but you have a tension between the two sources it's the same same time frame but the corbon is always done as soon as possible so that's the earliest part of the time frame but it say right before sunset at the end of the day so as I said spiritually whatever you connect to but it's it's interesting that there are these two different sources and the way he stresses that D and another one it's interesting yov yeah yov had uh had a nocturnal experience whereby it may have been a dream or a nightmare and somebody attacks some and he wakes up limping and uh and that's and he said no we're not Evena getting us anymore and that's what it says state so all of that was an introduction it's the next couple of words that I don't begin to know how to how to interpret but but we'll see what to do with them ah now you realize why we're here was commanded with other mitzvot which means instead of our perceived deterioration of the religious life in Egypt the rambam just now told us oh in fact we received more Commandments in Egypt by the way not by Moshe Moshe itself would have been much more interesting no Moshe would be less interesting it would be more intuitive right if it were mosha we say yeah of course mosha right mosha told them to do things amam how did amam get into the story who in the world is amam well apparently amram is somebody quite important there are various midashim which tell us about the stature of amam but the RAM just in his history of Mitzvah his history of just now introduced into the story and the Torah was completed based upon Him umam is this most interesting thing in the middle and now I go back to my question so what exactly was the nature of Judaism if that's what we can call it during the time that they were in Egypt especially keeping in mind that there's this other comment over here having to do with uh with amam and again if you if we were studying this we can read all the commentaries we can go searching down all the leads which they give us we can or or we can do what others do and that simply guess what in the world is going on here what in the world is he talking about but don't you love the rambam who can say this with all the confidence and not and not bringing in a it's not the mo of this is his Mish and he tells you yes this is the history of H in Egypt the Jews had more by the way there is a wonderful midash which says that in Egypt the Jews started to keep Shabbat where do you get Shabbat from and then it gives credit to Moshe rabenu it says says that mosenu is wandering around and he sees the slaves and then he turns around to his uh what do you want to call him his uh surrogate uh grandfather is that who it would be Sur right because he's adopted by batro so then parro would be Sur s grandfather and he says to him you know I've been uh I've been studying efficiency in the universities of Egypt and uh we get greater work efficiency from workers if you were to give them some type of rest so then he says well what do the studies show well the studies show that if you give them one day off in seven then they will be more efficient he goes which day do you think is best to give them off he goes probably Saturday is the best day to give them off and mosha fools parro into ordering that the Jews rest Ona on Shabbat in order again by the way this whole midash is so wonderful but according to this m first of all mosha knows about creation and he knows and and by the I have no problem with any of that he knows about creation he knows that God rests on the day he knows that one day God is going to command Shabbat and and especially thinking if you think about the scene by the snab by the burning bush where Moshe is very reticent and he doesn't want to get involved and who am I and what are you talking about and now you say mosha the lawgiver mosha is the one at CI God's going to give the Torah to and now you find out that there's this wonderful midash that mosha already it's not that he gave them the law it's that the first time that chabbat becomes a possibility for this generation of slaves and by the way this changes everything in terms of how you understand Shabbat but it's such a beautiful midash so there you have mosha already giving them Shabbat while they're in Egypt but he built an if they built an a if it was a re we should have robbed him it depends how they P we should have Robb him so one second I told you that there were three different things in order that that we would keep in mind one is our like our general Consciousness which really is very much impacted by the Aral and by this mystical teaching and again I don't know why it's very interesting to me why certain mystical teachings have absolutely entered into all the day schools into into all the high schools and all of the again the consciousness of the Jewish people start looking for where do you get this from and it's not in the gamar it's not in the mides where' you get from NOP that's in our head and that's the 49th level of Tuma one more moment we would have disappeared good the second thing which exists which I now started to get to is this world of midash and the world of midash is really fascinating and it tells us various things and we're going to look at some of them but then at this point I'm holding off a little bit and then there's something else and that something else is probably why you came and that is what does the Torah actually say so what intrigues me then is how exactly do we match up various midrashic Traditions with what it actually says in the Torah and that is really going to be our uh our challenge for today so at least I hope now that I've uh given us some kind of a framework to what it is that we're looking for and let's start to look okay that's we have to stop the problem is the the problem is the V what does the V tell you yes this is a new book but it's a continuation the there there is some connection right now just in case you think that you could have skipped all of bad and understand Schmo what's the answer no you can't this is a continuation the is now I skipped all the names one of the problems that the midash is going to address is that all the names were already said back in in Vash same exact verses so why do need the names to be said again we'll keep that in mind so now we're told Okay so forget about y forget about the brothers forget about all of them you know what I would say right now if they one of them is look how the Jews are doing what they're supposed to be doing again just just following through are they doing are they doing what they're supposed to do yes they're doing what they're supposed to do and that's our first indication of of what the text actually says by the way if I had to pause right now what would I now say but again I know nothing else what would I right now say about them they're sadikin why look at the percentage of positive mitzah that they have that they're keeping and what's and what percentage is that it's right it's really really good percentage so at this point I would stop and say that this generation or generation of sikim by this way we still have to get back to our possible deterioration now if I were inclined today to go a little bit more mystical Yosef is actually connected to the previous Pak of pro Vu if you don't know this then you don't know this and that's fine but the name of God which is used throughout parate Whenever there is going to be talk I don't want to overstate this the major name which is used in connection to having children is the name shakai shind sh that's the name which is used that name is more connected with yose than everybody than anyone else um yoseph receives When when aam is anded regarding the Brit that's going to be very important the name which is used in that context will be Shai later on y Yakov will receive the braa he'll give it over to yosf and he's going to give it in terms of fertility and having children and then y yosf receives the strongest blessing of fertility when he receives blessing of the breast son of the womb it's it's it is absolutely blessings of fertility that's what Yosef receives and the name Shai may actually also be connected to breasts which means it's a question of flow of milk from a from a mother to a child and a flow of life and so on so again Y is absolutely connected so therefore even though the and the word Y is actually much more interesting because and again this is a continuation of the previous book don't forget that book there's there's a lot of interesting things over there but but the people seem to not just remember y say they seem to be beneficiaries of this blessing they seem to be involved in the mid of Pur Vu now really simple without getting deeper what is parro trying to do he's trying to absolutely frustrate that he's trying to destroy that and he's trying to stop them from from multiplying so again just read the next verse what's the first thing which is interesting about this so you could just yeah you correct you could just focus on the fact oh they're so numerous it's not it's not that they're so is that they are so numerous this is a separate people which means the description over here of a separate um the reason why this is going to be so so important and so interesting is the perception of the Egyptian leadership is this is a separate people and now my question is but what is the self-perception of the Jews in Egypt do they see themselves as a separate people or do they see themselves as part of this other people which means what is going on over here I'm not even calling this a subtext right now I'm asking a really simple question and of course you realize that in a world where it seems to be that anti-Semitism is the they say the oldest hatred it's the oldest custom right it's a custom what else can I say it's this ingrain custom which people have been passing on from uh from from parents to child nro was the first time they yeah yeah it it it really it really is uh strange there was this Canadian singer um moriset who found that recently that she was in fact from Jewish stock that there were Holocaust Survivors who never told that they were Jewish and she said that she always felt comfortable with the Jews and uh and her parent her mother was always very positive about Jews but I think that's exactly it do you inherit this hatred have you heard all kinds of comments has been passed on from generation to generation or have you heard positive things or even power of things which means it's a completely irrational hatred over here the first key is is that these are a separate people they're not the same people and that claim that this is a separate people I'm sure you hear Echoes going on with Hon as well right um right these are a separate people so it's as much as perhaps the Jewish fantasy is that we are good citizens and we're going to fit in and we're going to be part of this larger country that adopts us or allows us to live there and then the question is I don't want to be overly pessimistic with the exile that how how long does this last until we get this message that no that's just not the case and over here the first thing is the core of the issue is that that's a really interesting World let word let's act wisely with them that they increase more and if a war begins they will join our enemies that means that the Jews are considered to be what's the term a fifth column the Jews are considered to be not part of everyone else the Jews cannot be trusted because the winds blow the other way they'll be joining the other side because they are not truly Patriots they're not truly part of us that they that that it goes down to tribalism and they're not part of our tribe they are part of something else and they are different and and then he says which is really interesting so it sounds like the the fear is that they're going to leave so then what's the consideration I want to try to keep them but why do you want to keep them let them go you know be be be gone with them so go kick them all out Exile which and by the way you know Jewish history or world history that that's happened a few times but I want you to read really carefully and I'm going to tell you exactly what it is we're looking for if I tell you what we're looking for it's going to make it too easy so you want me to make it easy y should I dumb down things for you yeah who said yes so this part will dumb down for you because we had some people asking for dumb if you read Source number two that's the Brit ofarim by the way keep in mind what word is important in Brit Brit which means this is the Covenant this is this is now now of course you can be clever and question me and say hold it it's not the same as the Brit Mila first of all say calm down secondly let's read this now if I ask myself okay so where does that actually come to fruition in seot well that happened pretty quickly over here that's exactly what par was saying menu they are a separate people and this next pic again that they're going to join our enemies that means they are they are a g now what their own personal perception is you can guess I have no idea each person may be different do they celebrate the 4th of July do they cele I don't know I I I I have no idea what to say but then it continues and they will be enslaved and they will be how do you want to translate Ino abused abused so when we go back toot per Al what are we looking for this is not going to we already found the maybe the harder thing to find so let's just keep reading so parro has this problem and they're going to leave did you just now notice something so what is abuse answer taxes that's that's but but it's not just taxes here it it's an unfair taxing of Jews is going to be abused but I'm saying that's really interesting because we have in front of us the blueprint of what's supposed to be taking place and that's why I'm saying that this is easy and that's why I said should I make it easier for you yeah just put the blueprint up and then say so what are we looking for over here as we continue right we we start with the taxes again by the throats that means the enoi didn't help it didn't help is again here you also have the a level of disgust and now you have the other word that we were looking for which means if I'm looking for the britan upim and saying so when and how does this come to fruition when is this manifest I just had to read the first 15 verses or so of and now I see it and by the way if you're not convinced about the the a you haven't noticed it yet and the next p how many how many times you need the word a in one p say hold it I I think it's trying to tell me something over here so when we look at theim at least as far as what is the negative what's going to take place I hope you see it all staring at us over here but then something else happens and that's so right there we got to a new stage and the new stage is murder murder is not part of the blueprint aod that was all that was supposed to be here which means it's at this point that pyro now has overstepped what it was again if he were to say listen I'm just following God's rule over here I'm go I'm following what God wanted so that's where things get go too far now again I want to pause what is the state of the Jewish people at this point and I hope that you tell me that you don't know the only indication we've had so far is that they are multiplying which is part of what they're commanded to do and we don't know that much more about their state in terms of their religiosity the the ramban is is really quite interesting in Source number three so why does he use let let's do this in a clever way so by the way every one of the commentaries that I read that I learned preparing to give the shear today I'm all I'm I'm thinking at least one side of my brain so what was their own personal experience with anti-Semitism with terrible Kings with people who were abusing which people who are you know trying to find clever ways in order to deal with their quote unquote Jewish problem so we we know a bit about the ramban's history probably more so than some of the others first thing is that he's told that that he says is that parro and his advisers think it would be unpolitical of the original parro again as far as we're concerned right now there lots of previous paros and therefore or he he's going to run into political problems if he goes and wages an allout war against the Jews I'm saying this line is absolutely fascinating even to indicate that parro was starting to consider you know how is this going to read in the op EDS of the newspaper how am I going to be open to attack or people are not going to like this essentially he just now identified two different groups he said one is the the leader is going to say that oh this is not right to do because it goes against a previous parro you have no right to do that secondly the average person say how can you go and act in such an immoral way which is really interesting because now you're assuming that the population in Egypt are are very moral people who are going to insist that all populations strangers in their midst are all treated with respect because he actually you know asked her advice even though there is this threat which is looming let's do this in a way that the Jews won't even realize that they are the ones who are being attacked right now so how do you start this you start by taxing them but by the way good patriotic Jews may actually feel a responsibility to pay the tax it's a patriotic thing to do government is asking for our help we're part of the government we want to foret again I want that's really part of what I'm what what I'm really thinking about I want to know what the what the verses indicate one way or the other to what extent are the Jews Israelites As You Wish they're perceived by parro as being this fifth column but how are they perceived when it comes to themselves what is their own self-perception so when they're taxed or they say oh this is terrible they say oh they point to the bridge no we built that bridge this is how this our tax money went over here and again there there's nothing like Jews who can suffer from their own self uh what should we call this uh misperception Kings s taxes and then he secretly said to kill the males which means he he made it sound that basically Jewish blood D that's the point here Dam youf care but it's on it's it's really being told to people he he again if you realize what ran just now said if you want to kill Jews why not just get your army to go and kill Jews go to war why do it in such a way they me Al do and then people throw them into the river and so on there's more effective ways to do this and he says no that would have that would not have flown politically that would have been difficult he has these other considerations you know the advisers the old leaders the this the people and he says this whole thing is being done in a way and again this fascinating go ahead kill a Jew if you want and then the Jew is going to get upset let him come to court let him bring Witnesses let him bring evidence let him go and prove that you killed him so again when I read all this I really wonder about the ramban own experiences as he's uh trying to explain to us what it is that took place there's a couple more things that I want to touch upon one is when he says that maybe yum they'll join the enemies alumit so it it's so obvious to us just I want to make sure that we see the PK one more time and then we'll look at what the ran says it's again this is the fear that they're going to join the enemies it's in they'll join the enemies now I would have read that without any question means they're going to leave the land they're going to go back home and the ran actually says that as a secondary thought but look at his primary thought that what was the fear that the Jews are going to leave their ghettos and start moving into our neighborhoods I'm saying again this is precious that that that he's uh that he's saying this but we're we're going to see a little more hopefully about Goan as we uh as we proceed Source number four one second yeah the second thought is that he says oh maybe it means that they're going to take all of our things and therefore we're not be able to fight back which which is fascinating the ran actually gives the Exodus story as the secondary possibility that that that arises in parro's mind that parro's immediate thought is that they're going to leave their land where they live and come and live in our neighborhoods that's his fear that they actually going to leave that that that that that's like secondary thought okay good um Source number four is a mid when it talks about and it goes down to say that which means if this is continuing and those are by the way the implication should be that this new generation is also and we continue although almost immediately the mid by the way that's M Sim and here is Sim ladal in Source five when he sayso now Brit Brit should have been in our minds from the beginning here that there's a covenant and what's the Covenant the BR the Jews were Unworthy of being saved because they were Wicked so so here you have wickedness being described doesn't say 4th level of tum it says that they're Wicked because they hadot I say that again because they have aot is the reason why G takes placeo and that's why it says and God remember the Covenant which means if there is a covenant there's something larger which is taking place and we may be Unworthy of it when we uh looking just moving a little bit further in Source number six which is again a little bit further it's Sim LV it it it actually is a great back and forth mically to what extent we're deserving or undeserving deserving or undeserving which is a wonderful wonderful metaphor and it says on the God knew that he had to do the because of the Covenant and then it goes a little bit further he saw that they're going to rebel and then it goes further and it says you know that okay they're going to Rebel but then they're going to come back say they're going to point their finger and say that is our god um proba but on the one hand they're going to say on the other hand they're going to say is that one is talking about by the splitting the Sea and the other is talking about by the toel by the way you realize now that we are very inconsistent people we have our highs and we have our lows and I I love this Divine back and forth that are we deserving or Not that we're going to say but on the other hand you keep on goinging is that we're going to do this but we're going to do this we're going to do this we're going to do this are we deserving are we undeserving deserving undeserving and it keeps going back and forth but what's the bottom line here the bottom line is but there's a covenant and God is going to keep his on the Covenant but again when I ask what is the spiritual state so what's the spiritual State not just in Egypt what's the spiritual State ongoing for the Jewish people throughout history what's the spiritual State and and and what's the answer it's it's we're working progress and we're and and in flux that's that that that's that's the issue we have our good days and we have our bad days and uh again interesting we go backwards now in Source seven is they explained this verse in they rebelled against God they had foreign children what do all this tell us that when ysf was born they start they stopped performing Brit now that's really important because which sorry sorry sorry sorry when Yosef died he Brit Mila they stopped doing the Brit Mila the reason why this is so important because what word is there Brit which means that our side of the Covenant is not being kept and now again if you're going to be contractual and go to court and say you know one side's not keeping the contract is the other side obligated by the contract the problem is the other side made the contract with the aote didn't make the contract with the kids he made the contract with the aote and but I I the next three words are the ones which are haunting and they said let's be like the Egyptians so now when I go back and I asked my question from before when pyro says there is this am Isel this separate people what is the perception of the Jews regarding their identity so now you have a midash which is is clearly telling us by the it tells us a bunch of things the the Britney law is incredibly important because that's the beginning that is this Covenant with Abraham right so we kind of rejected our identity with Abraham and what are we saying we're going to be Egyptians by the way again what are the Egyptians saying these are not us these are not our people we're going to get rid of them let's get smart and then deal with them so you have the Jew trying to assimilate and then you have the non-jew trying to stop the assimilation well how do they stop the assimilation because they want to make sure that we know that we are not them and they stop it in their way we're not going to get it to today but the last Source I gave you is the BET Lei and the BET Yos do Sal the First's great-grandfather he goes through this point about them not keeping Brit La he actually modifies a little bit he said they did the Mitzvah but they try to cover it up don't ask very painful surgery to try to deny the Brit Mila and they knew that the slavery was coming and therefore let's make it as easy as possible upon us they know that there's this Brit ban up toim that they have to go through the hundreds of years of uh of being another so instead of being another let's try to be as much as we can like the egyptions and let's try to fit in as much as possible it'll make life easier for us they're going to like us a lot more and we'll be we we'll be like everybody else which is interesting because when I read this midash I'm reading a sign of weakness that they want to fit into everyone else when I read the ba to Ley he's saying it's a strategy um I find by the way the beta Ley very hard to take it at face value but again I start thinking about when the beta lives and in terms of the hasala and people wanting to fit in and trying to be like everybody else as a strategy for Jewish survival is that again if only we were to be again Jews on Jews on Jews in the home and non-jews on the street and you all know what I'm referring to will they then like us more or is that then just going to at some point metastasize into a holocaust so again reading some of these commentaries and then keeping in mind the times that they live in and what they're dealing with I I I found fascinating at least for me from beginning to end but let's go uh a little bit further how far we gotten to we got to Source number seven which says that uh they said no let let's let's try to fit in let's try to be like everybody else it's all going to work out what can possibly go wrong and we will be like the Egyptians now there's one more thing that I want to take I want to keep in mind and then I finally at some point want to get to some verses to try to see hold where we getting all this from and this now is going to get to a verse it's not a it's not a verse you expected it's in c number eight in VRA somehow we find ourselves back in VRA and it says now the first thing which is important about this verse which I just now managed to completely take out of context is actually to know the context that it's in and the context is that this is an introduction well it's always two possibilities is it finishing the previous part or is it introduction to the next part the next part which is coming is a list of all of forbidden sexual relations and it says don't do what they did in Egypt don't do what they don't do what they did in Canan so if I read the izra remarkable that's talking about decency in terms of business in terms of laws that that's fascinating what is it that you that they did in Egypt which is which is the problem they didn't keep the Mish now the the ramban quotes the izra but he quotes a different izra same izra but just a different citation he quotes the izra a couple verses before and I'll tell you I'll I'll tell you what thez says he he writes he actually divides them he says according to Ezra was sins which they did in terms of vodar idolatry but the sexual sins which means the previous section right this is deals with the afterwards it deals with idolatry and and services that you shouldn't do so the B are saying is is the idolatry but erit Kanan is the sexual depravity so that that's the way I reads and they in bond disagrees he says that's not the case I'm just going to skip and look where they in bond and 10 is bold by the way there's good evidence of that the the Egyptians were sexually immoral um our first two meetings with Egypt right SAR gets there they kidnapped her Yosef gets there right they they they hit on him which means the Egyptians seem to be a place where they are Hot Blooded individuals we'll leave it like that the r HS actually goes into that a little bit because he says so if you're bam what are you answer you you're you're hot blooded so he says and and he's saying no and this this is the correct interpretation the par he he focuses on the second half of the verse what can't you do ra who's the ones of Egypt and the ones ofan don't follow their practice practices and he essentially says he quotes from that whatever they do you do the opposite you want to know what proper behavior is whatever they do they do the opposite this this is Jewish wisdom it's very it's very interesting by the way the ra the rambam in s 12 is not that different but he's understanding these things in terms of morals less so than in terms of law but the reason I actually went here is because of source 14 but before we read it I want to go back and read the PK one more time in eight so what does that phrase add when it says the place that you lived so the mrai which again J's a commentary on Rashi he [Applause] writes it's ER Goan he ER Goan D Lo Egypt was worse than all the other nations that go was worse than any place else and and he's referring to Source 13 they were the worst of all the nations so he went ever so slightly further than the shra but it's very fair what he said and and now we're completely perplexed yeah Egypt is a completely immoral place but Goan was worse so what do they what was so bad about Goan listen sometimes you go into Jewish neighborhoods you know I don't want to say lushan Hara against Jews against Jewish neighborhood so what do they do okay they don't park very well they double Park triple park right it's Universal in in every uh yeah okay I'll try to behave but um what did they do so bad I'm saying that's my question what did they do so bad and it's saying oh this is the this is the worst the worst of the worst are are are the Jews so this verse again if you take the interpretation of the CRA you now have again you take the ibenz and the ran I hope you're following me now and it says don't don't follow the practices of Egypt that you were in is either connect to the previous section which is one of Zar and this would point then to the to the idea that the Jews were involved in idolatry or it's leading into the next section which is one of sexual sins which means the Jews in were were involved sexual sins by the way what's the advantage of those two interpretations they're both part of the which means so what was so bad what did the Jews do so bad what was the Terrible Things So now now you get to pick was it the previous thing or was the next thing is it they involved in idolatry is it they were involved in sexual sins but again what it is saying is that the is that oan was worse than any place and that's really interesting by the way it's also interesting in them say in pyro you know the way the ran read oh they may leave Goan and come and live with us and we don't want them around because because the Jews are so depraved can you imagine that again we always look the other way around the Egyptians are so bad and therefore and we're so good right and now and now we you realize the crazy place that we got to now we got to this possibility it's that the Egyptians don't they see us separate people and part of the reason these separate people is because we're people that don't have values which is not what you want you to hear you want you to hear how good we are and a good we are but it goes back to this point that all the MIM are following this and saying that uh that no that the reason that God is going to take us out is because there is a covenant with the aot again I told you I wanted to get to a couple of suim the first one that I want to get to is one that you know and you're very very trained to read it in a very specific and I'm going to suggest limited kind of way mosha wanders out of the palace and mosha sees his brothers which itself is a phenomenal concept because mosha knows that those are his brothers mosha knows the slaves are his people it would have been very easy for a person to have raised in the palace to completely forget the slave uh generation the slave people the slave strata and these people have nothing to do with me and instead it says he sees their pain and he identifies with their pain and he sees one of his brothers being beaten great so mosha becomes a freedom fighter mosha becomes the this is the beginning of mosha as a goel Moshe as a redeemer Moshe was born to lead Moshe was raised to lead he was educated to lead right why you hitting your friends again Mo imagine how disappointed he is mosha would love to believe that the Jews act on a higher moral level than the Egyptians and here he sees the Jews now again you've been trained to believe that this is datan V because you've been trained to believe that there's this the conservation of Bad characters and every again I keep calling them the chich and Chang of the Bible that these are the guys that every single bad thing that happens it's only the there's only two bad guys there's only two bad guys and now I'm going to ask you can you possibly entertain the possibility that there's more than two bad guys in among benel is it possible that we've been reading this very very um generously no there's only two bad guys what if these are absolutely representative of the others and they're beating on one another which means the Jewish behavior is not all that good and remember remember the comment of mish of the izri said oh what they don't follow they don't follow the Mish it's the it's the Mish it's basic laws basic ways to treat one another and and they say who are you to become the judge of us are you going to kill us the same way you killed the MIT right MOS gets afraid how does parro find out about this and the answer is and this is my suggestion is that these people see themselves as being Egyptians they don't want someone to be their leader and to be a separate people they don't want to be again it's EX inverse where do where do kazal see anything in the verses that the Jews identified as Egyptians and the answer is when the goel the Redeemer comes and is there ready to take action why are you why did you kill the Egyptian why did you kill this man which means they actually think that they are part of the Egyptians the fact that power finds out about it who in whose interest is that unless they want to be good Law buying citizens do you know what this guy did he went and killed an Egyptian you can't kill an Egyptian which which means who's the one who's the one who's the snitch who's the one who ratted Moshe out over here and the and the answer it's only the people are there which means it's the slaves who did it it's it's some of maybe it's these two people that did it which means there's something really remarkable over here which is taking place and all that I'm asking again I'm asking myself where do we see in the verses that they're saying no let's be like the Egyptians we're okay over here and even if they're given various tax and PID taxes and maybe even slavery we want to be part of this nation so a desire to fit in is something which is staring at us over here and and by the way what happens afterwards Sosha leaves and then what happens and then he be then he saves this damsel and distress which means mosha is still the goel but instead he becomes this Redeemer for these girls off in midan someplace and mosha is going to do what he does but he kind of understands now that the Jews are not the ones who really are and and this is terrible he comes to this realization that they're not really redeemable and if you realize this cuz he tried to he tried to start it he tried to help and he's told and he's reported on that they don't want to leave can you now read the whole conversation between God and mosha at the SN a little differently Mo God says Mo no you no and by the way it never says there that's the other thing I wanted to point out it never says I want you to follow the whole narrative until until God Says by this now I'm going to take him out the whole focus is never that they pray to God God no it says they scream God hears their cries God hears their Scream but it's never that they pray to God the relationship with God is completely silence completely absent but God hears and God remembers the Covenant which means they are suffering God remember but what what about their religious identity the lack of them actually asking God the second thing is what I started to say is that God knows it's time and God knows that there's a covenant and even if they broke the Covenant God is going to keep the Covenant and Moses is looking and saying like what are you talking about are they going to listen to me not because again as we always read it that mosha is has a great deal of humility and mosha doesn't really think that he's worthy that's not it maybe it's part of it but that's not it it's that he's tried once goes these people don't want to leave these people think that they're part of Egypt these people are not the ones who are waiting for Redeemer to take them out and essentially God says go by the way the other thing that I wanted to get is also it's something which I think you know but we have to stop right the other thing is is that do you remember that God says go and speak to the elders speak to the zakim and and then uh you go in front of parro if you follow the whole thing there God says you and the zakum should go in front of parro and he goes and speaks to the zakum the zakum it sounds like they believe and then when they get to there and mid says that they kind of uh disappear along the way every single one of them disappears in Source 19 which means all the so-called leaders are not willing to fight and not willing to declare their independence and not willing to say that know the time has come for us to leave they all disappear which means when I go back and I ask my question okay so what is the state of the people at this time the midashim as I said start with the cabalistic teachings 49th level of Tuma go to the various midashim they rejected Brit rejecting Brit La is really interesting because Brit La could represent all kinds of other things as well first of all it's a covenant secondly it may also be connected to sexuality and and and and arot and other things as well and a rejection of all kinds of sexual mores and maybe that verse again I I spend some time with that verse in vayikra maybe that verse is more important than we think about the the actions of of er till we finally saw the CRA telling us oh yeah what is it the saying what is it they did oh yeah they Goan was worse than the rest of Egypt and that by the way is a game changer the Goan could have been worse than Egypt and then we actually see that Moses into the various all that I said is follow all of the narratives and all of the discussion and what's taking place and what do we actually see with these people we start off they're all doing Mitzvah pru all that's great but then as we continue are those two people representative or are those two people uh just two individuals who are having you know a bad religious day but maybe they are representative of the people and you know who are you because and now I'll finish in because they're Egyptians and once you realize that they think that they're Egyptians now you can understand where the midash is getting this from there's a lot more which is under the surface there which we're not going to have time to get into but the combination of these things including the leaders this all kind of Disappearing and mosha then saying to God like like what do you want from me these people don't want but but what what's our conclusion and this is really important the conclusion is this whole story is about a Brit the story is about a people who forgot the Brit and people who broke the Brit and people who stopped keeping the Brit but there was a God who remembered the Brit and God said I made a Brit I made a Brit with our ancestors and God says I'm going to keep the Brit in the the cloud in the background of everything else that I'm saying today specifically today and specifically the news that I don't listen to or the papers that I don't read and uh specifically today what I'm going to say is that sometimes we have good days and sometimes we have bad days as a people and sometimes they're confusing and sometimes we don't even know is this a good day or a bad day what I will say is that the reason that we're here and the reason what we're going to win the wayas going to survive and that is because God made a covenant with AB Y and yov and God will keep his side of the Covenant