What was Pharaoh Thinking? and the Importance of The Ger with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

everybody [Music] Shalom alaikum everybody Welcome to the evening midrash welcome home to Torah I have a little bit of a sore throat I hope I don't have any uh coughing fits so far so good first of all I want to welcome everybody back and we next week we have I have a wedding one of my students is getting married so there won't be a sheer next Thursday night um we are in part shot of the yigash chapter 47 verse 8 and then we're going to deal with verse 21. now this is unbelievable we're going to get into the thoughts of pharaoh when he asks yaakov how old he is which is absolutely fascinating we use the clear car as the basis for our discussion you can find the source sheets a link Down Below in the description box also this is the end of the secular year and of course we do a fundraising campaign we have not yet even reached 50 percent of what we're trying to uh our goal trying to raise however there's a few days left so please if you enjoy these not just mine but any of the videos that even if what's up any of the classes feel free absolutely free nobody's holding you back there's no restraints except your own evil inclination to give but of course you choose who you give to and we should be hopefully on your list we have so many good things coming up this year and without any further Ado that link is down below and you can give freely so let's begin with uh the second part of tonight we're going to deal with a very important concept called Gay root what does it mean to either convert or to be a stranger and how important is it that a Jew must feel that way and why and how he has to treat others who are whether it's a gear Cedric a complete convert or even a gertoshov which is a righteous Gentile but we don't have that full status today but nevertheless there are things very similar to that in the way we treat righteous Gentiles so here we go we're going to begin with chapter 47 verse 8 and the words we're focusing on are comma Yemen now just to get a running start because I do have here on the English Source sheet let's say we're going to be dealing with verse 8. let's just see seven through ten and we're going to see the Rashi on that believe it or not yeah okay let's start so Joseph brought his father Jacob and stood before Pharaoh stood him before pharaohs it is like the probably the first time yaakov is actually meeting pharaoh and yaakov greeted Pharaoh now in the Hebrew it says he blessed him and Pharaoh said to Jacob and I think that's very important we'll see why how many of the days of the years of your life that's literally the ver the words we just read comma how much you may are the days schneid means years but let's just say he basically asked him how old are you now why would anybody ask somebody that question that's a very I mean at least in western civilization if it was a woman it would be considered probably rude unless she was like you know very very very young but basically it sounds a little bit odd so the reason we're going to see why he asked him this is because Jacob looked very very old still doesn't seem like a very polite thing to do but he did it let's read on and Jaco said to Pharaoh he answered the days of my year of the years of my sojournings which in Hebrew are yamesh name so I was like a gayer I was wandering about that is his answers for 130 years the days of the years of my life have been few and miserable now there you can have a whole Shear on what might be wrong with that answer right we're not going to deal with that okay we're really going to deal with just the what when what went on in Pharaoh's mind that he asked this question but nevertheless we will deal with this idea in the second part because he does use the word again well at this point he says right they win few and not easy basically and they have not reached the years of the lives of my forefathers meaning avraham lived 175 years Yitzhak lived 180 years now he was only 130 years at the time he did live another 17 years but what we're going to get into that in the second part and we're going to refer back to it but he continues and says in the days of their so-jointings referring to Abram and Yitzhak his forefathers as in the Hebrew says migore hem that they were a Wanderers we'll see what that really means and then as the plastic ends or the next the last verse verse 10 and yaakov blessed pharaoh and left his presence again the same words as in verse 7 Yakov Espero did he bless him twice we'll get into this okay so that is the versions we're going to deal with mainly how old are you narashi Begins by telling us when when um when he tells him how old he is the days of my my sojourning the days of my being a stranger a girl all my days I've been a stranger in the land that means yaakov lived as a stranger and this is going to play a very important part especially in the second well let's say even this now okay then it says so yako blessed but we already saw he blessed twice or seemingly first when he met pharaoh and when he departs for pharaoh so Rashi says according to the custom of all those who leave the presence of the princes in other words Pharaoh's like a royalty like a prince and when you depart from them and they bled then that they then bless them and take their leave but it does say those same words when he first was introduced so we're going to have to deal with that now it says that now what blessing did he actually bless Pharaoh with that denial should rise at his approach what's going on here uh when first of all when Jaco went down to Egypt the famine stopped I'm not I'm not sure if you're aware of this that Joseph had the dream that there were going to be seven years of famine I'm sorry beginning seven years of plenty and then there were going to be seven years of famine or drought so therefore his whole one of his greatest ideas was while there's plenty let's put everything in storage and we'll have what to eat from during the seven years of drought however those seven years of drought never came to be because as soon as yaakov came down to Egypt that's as far as this is our tradition that the um the famine ended now I think this is the key here when when yaakov came down the Nile Rose now it rose on his behalf and the blessing here that Jacob is giving to Pharaoh is it shouldn't just rely on me but basically whenever you approach the Nile the water should rise I think that's how we were going to read Rashi for now that the Nile should rise at his approach because Egypt does not drink rainwater remember God says I'm taking you the Jewish people out of Egypt they're in title worship they basically think of intermediaries right in order to get to God so basically the Nile was a intermediary it was a God for them at the same time God says I'm taking you out you're going to go to a place where you have to rely on The reigns from Heaven you need to have a direct relationship with me okay because it's very um it's a nickel it could be a stumbling block when all your needs are taken care of as the Nile so um consistently uh produced water they never had a look to heaven for water but they looked down at their feet interestingly enough so since Egypt does not drink rain water but the Nile Rises and what is it in other words they make canals you had a a farm in off the Delta somewhere in Egypt so you basically just get a shovel and start digging and create a canal in order for the water to Wood you know for the for the water to uh how do I say this to basically irrigate your your farm now Rashi says and since yako's blessing meaning Pharaoh would then come to dial and it would rise and greet him and water the land okay now that's Rashi brought that from the midrash and I have underlined number two that when yaakov went to Pharaoh this is the midrash in midrashtamkum and naso kaf it says when when yaakov went to Pharaoh he did not depart from him until he blessed him and how did he bless him he said to him that the Nile which we're going to talk say the nilus nilus is not is the Nile would rise to his foot and where do we know this from from our verse chapter 47 verse 7. and Jacob bless Pharaoh very strange because Rashi is bringing down actually the midgets Bringing Down the first verse when he first greeted him and yet it's referring to when he left him so maybe we'll deal with that shortly okay let's go into the Clear Car itself so it says the fish that yaakov said to Pharaoh right what did he say well first he said he was going to bless him but one second love that's all we know from the from the imagination from Rashi that when yaakov came when yaakov came the nilus the Nile would go up to his feet whose feet I think this is how we understand it originally when yaakov came the famine stopped because it rose up to his feet and that's what it means he blessed Pharaoh in the beginning and at the end because it says the same words again that he blessed him because he basically said what what I have been able to do meaning that the the Nile Rises but I'm around so it should happen for you and I I haven't seen anybody say it but this is what makes sense to me based on my ability to discern the possuki now the clear Christ says meaning on what on yaakov's original coming we all know that when yaakov came the leave the famine stopped and that's because the Nile Rose there's no doubt about it and so pyro was very happy about this I told you we're going to get into Pharaoh's head what was he thinking he thought she calls man that as long as this man yaakov is alive remember we're not dealing with Hussein to what so we have to understand the whole time the yakuz of alive Pharaoh's thinking that the Nile would go up consistently to his feet and then would irrigate the face of the land as I described how the the Delta of the Nile works pretty flat land pretty easy to create this canal and what are your irrigate your your Fields the cashier now when he saw yaakov for the first time how did yaakov look Hine Dal means weak it could mean poor but this we're talking about poor physically he was weak the khush another word for weakened the rocket Buster and very thin-skinned I think we could try to understand the older you get the more wrinkled you you may become may become and so therefore he was very thin skinned Commish back to zucchini just the way that the natural ways of old people are now what did Pharaoh think hush of Paro shavada I have a feeling this guy is at his last breath right he certainly reached the Pinnacle of his old age and therefore maybe perhaps today or tomorrow he's gone South he's gone west however you want to say in Hebrew we say neftar and he would be exempt from all the Mitzvahs because the dead do not practice life right now even Cain if that's true that this is what he was thinking then by my simple emittering why would the mystery be happy or why would Pharaoh be happy because if this guy brought a blessing with him and tomorrow he's going to die that blessing would disappear so where what kind of Happiness this is a very well we might say a very short term a short-lived happiness what kind of happiness is this because the obvious conclusion is that in his death the Nile would then revert back to its original level now I think you understand why I'm thinking that when it says he blessed him twice or it doesn't say blessing it says he blessed him when he first met him and it says he blessed him when he left so must be the way that first blessing is that was the Nile Rising on account of the the sitkiss the righteousness the just the presence of such a righteous person being in Egypt such as yaakov and as we just described um that he actually blessed Pharaoh that whenever Pharaoh would come to the Nile that denial would rise as well now this is why the question was asked Al Cameo that Pharaoh says how old are you now the answer that yaakov gives is very important that the days of my life of so joining again the Hebrew is from the word gear migore migorai in this case wandering about meaning that if someone had a very cushy life I don't know if that let's say um a privileged life where they didn't have to work that hard they didn't have to carry refrigerator to refrigerators up on their back to the fourth floor without an elevator on a daily basis right you had more of a cushy life you don't look so old you don't age as much but when people are working really hard in coal mines or whatever in a very physical sense they may it may look like they age quicker and I think that's what he's going to say here so now what is the clear cards explaining what was the answer of yaakov shalomat it's not because I'm old that I look so thin and um and weak and frail like an old person but rather um the reason I look so well because I lived with a lot of stress in my life I lived with a certain fear when you're living around you don't know I mean you know I can make up all kinds of stories because I really don't know what it's like but you don't know where your next meal is coming from you don't know where you're going to wake up the next morning or we're going to sleep the next night right or how are you going to wash your clothes or how you're going to shower I mean if you're really a nomad and I've been around Nomads in in Israel here in the desert and sometimes they don't shower or even bathe for six months at a time during the summer summer months that is but someone who's you know a little bit more concerned and might live in a certain type of fear of just maybe just security wise you know so anyway this is what he's claiming his answer why I look so old because of this giroot because of this life as a stranger that's what Gary a stranger an alien if I can still use that word an alien and then he goes like this [Music] in fact it's so interesting because the word gear and he's using the word yogurti and we're going to use the word migorai it's still related to the actual word of fear of pahad and then he goes on and says the comet Sorrows to wrote this is referring to how many troubles and pains have I been carrying around in my backpack right we all carry um I should say we are many of us carry this trauma of whatever it is we live with at maybe an earlier age maybe even a later age but especially younger you know as as kids we haven't before we hadn't fully developed and perhaps some of the things that seem normal to other people to a child it's extremely exaggerated I'm not saying it didn't happen but um as a developing person these things we carry with us the rest of our lives and of course we have to deal with them but nevertheless he really had we spoke about this before first of all you know his whole competition in the womb with ASAP let alone how he had to bargain and negotiate in order to get the firstborn status and then the hatred and the being chased by asov and of course going all the way to find his wife and them being tricked by love on and having to work basically for 20 years in order to leave love on with some kind of you know something in his purse so to speak a lie how you could come basically he was telling Pharaoh it was regarding all these pains that existed for me throughout these 130 years besides the fact that I I got I cut myself short but basically the biggest pain or one of the main most painful things in his life was the sale of Joseph the the the his son was missing and there was no closure and um that was I'm sure extremely traumatic he even lost a sense of Prophecy so the prophet can only be a prophet if he's some math if he's happy and we all know that yaakov was quite I don't I'm not going to use the word depressed but he was traumatized by the sale of his son so now we understand why he says that short and miserable or few and miserable with the days of my life but then it goes on the rest of the verse says below his I didn't live I haven't yet lived now that's me thinking like this when we first read it we think hey so he's complaining he's going to die you know he's he's he's um really only going to live a few more years that he hasn't reached or maybe that he thinks he won't reach no the meaning the the life span of his forefathers the way the Clear Car reads it is the Yash Leo Tikvah I ha remember the response of pharaoh when he saw him was whoa this guy's going to die any minute so the actual answer that the clear card is explaining that yaakov gave to Pharaoh was don't worry you have nothing to fear I'm going to live out a much longer life than what you see today I'm not going to die tomorrow did he know he's going to live another 17 years no but 17 years is almost like a generation so he says yesly oh tikvaligi Le parakaba I have hope that I'll reach close to that age meaning that my father lived 180 years I expect to live a few quite a few more years don't worry as we say in Hebrew in Hebrew in Israel don't worry [Music] remember my grandfather my grandfather Abraham my father Yitzhak they lived 175 180 years and they also had the Pains of being an alien they made sure that they never established cities they um they didn't even become great in agriculture they really were living a nomadic lifestyle moving around like aliens and he's telling him when remembering the verses that referring to his own parents as migore and muguration that they also had these troubled Lifestyles I may look old but I expect to live a longer time just like they did they also experienced these troubles as aliens now I just want to stop here for just one second because I want you to know this is the essence of the Jew Abraham left Mesopotamia he left this place called orca's name this is the whole name of ivory he was a Hebrew Hebrew means every we're going to see that word surely every means to pass over means to move about it actually means to be nomadic okay and we will see it shortly basically he crossed over from a land and a Place full of idols and Illusions and fake news and he came to Arizona where you just breathe the air you breathe in the wisdom and it's the land of Truth okay so that's the essence of an ivory of a Jew of Hebrew now even though we just got done saying that basically he's claiming I have hope to live a longer life my own parents or grandparents they had troubles and they lived long time and then see nevertheless they had a long life so you don't have to worry I'm not going to die tomorrow the clear card is explaining why the language migore hem was used referring to his own forefathers okay so this is really just laying the foundation for what we're about to get into because whatever we just learned implant in your memory because we're about to I think expand upon it somewhat in verse 21. see verse 21 says what did Joseph do so let's look in the English it's verse 21. so it says and he transferred the populace to the cities I would not have used the word transferred but it's okay it certainly means that um made it move I would have said moved but it means the same thing and so the English translation is he transferred the populace to the cities from one end of the boundary of Egypt to its other end so he basically took people who were living in certain cities and moved them to other cities and he moves I I'm assuming he moved all the people didn't live in cities where most of them into the cities so basically people did not live in their own homes they might have lived you know families lived in these homes for Generations you wake up one morning everybody's living in someone else's home whether it was someone who lived in The Burbs in the farm areas or if even if you lived in a city you were transferred to another city let's look at Rashi before we go into it and he transferred the populace Joseph transferred them from City to City so so that they would remember that they know they have no more share in the land meaning you you don't even recognize your own house it's not like part of a long Heritage and he settled those in one city to another now this is going to be very important what we're about to say in this Rashi because the clear car is going to seem to argue I wouldn't even say argue seem to be dumbfounded by this statement not understanding it and by the end he will explain it perhaps in the way you might have read it the first time but most people would not have read it this way the first time let's say they might have read it very superficially or without any deep understanding and what the clear card will do is I would say like intellectually challenge Rashi the statement of Rashi and then rebuild it or reconstitute it in the same way Rashi did with but with a deeper and better or clearer understanding okay so the second part of Rashi says you know scripture didn't have to write this except to let you know about Joseph's praise this is actually a praise to Joseph that he moved the entire population around why why was that a praise to Joseph that his intent was he intended to remove the stigma from his brothers what stigma we don't know until we see says Rashi says so the day the Egyptians would not call them exiles there again the word gear so they wouldn't call them golim that's the word in the in the Rashi and in the tomorrow cooling 60b but nevertheless that so the Egyptians would not call them exiles and what's the problem with being called Aguirre or being exiled you see there's a lot there's a there's there's a lot to unpack so let's begin with the Clear Car the clear card Begins by saying our verse but it only quotes five four words that time have Veer that's the word eve rate Hebrew larim he moved or transferred the population to the cities Rashi in the Hebrew he quotes that he intended to remove the stigma or the shame from upon his brothers so that the Egyptians will not say go Lima you guys are exiled you know you guys are aliens you you have no home is that a bad thing and Joseph thought yeah especially if they were the only ones see we're going to get into the clear card he's going to say see every Egyptian now knew what it felt and wouldn't make the accusation or let's say the stigma the stigma is that you are shamed by the fact that you have no family home you don't have this ancestral heritage you're basically a nomad and I guess you are lower class you are poor and homeless or aimless and that would be a stigma that could be applied to the Jew now why is it so important that we experienced it and they experienced it let's see first of all what is bothering the clear card the clear card right away says I'm not happy at all with this explanation within Rashi now Rashi got it from an earlier source and Rashi felt this is the most um the most pinpointed explanation of the verse we call it pashup shot this is the reason why Joseph moved them about the Egyptians so that the Egyptians themselves will not say you're aliens because we are ourselves are aliens you're not the only ones you're not you know a unique group here that is considered a lowly group the clear card said this is very hug he gives two reasons the first reason he considers it we'll call well he's bothered by Rashi the first reason he's bothered by this explanation of Rashi he says really now for such a small benefit s Joseph is going to uproot the entire land of Egypt and mix everyone around from different houses that's a that's a huge um effort for such a small benefit so I'll just give you right now some ideas that obviously with the clear card is going to explain is this was not a small benefit this was huge it was so huge well we'll get into it you just stay tuned it was so huge remember that that the Torah goes out of its way to teach us something regarding this and furthermore the clear cars also buyer but bothered by this explanation of Russia is why in the world is why would they call us Exile arcs or Exiles why would they call us Exiles I mean I get why would they of course but why should it bother us we have been it's true we are Exiles we are aliens it's the truth why should that bother in other words suraji says that you wouldn't call a person in Exile and have been removed from a you know an ancestral plot unless they actually had an ancestral plot meaning unless they had some kind of feel that they were planting and cities they lived in and Vineyards that they benefited from and then been removed the Jewish people I say the Hebrews Abraham Isaac and even Jacob as long as he lived in Israel they never had this they never planted yeah they dug Wells but they never really planted and had right when when um lavron bought cabron part of Hebron the Mars map paper he brought it for burial site and that was it he was only buying it for a burial site not necessarily for planting although if you ever go to cabron it's beautiful there's these big old olive trees all over the place and you could tell that there was a it was a very Lush place to grow things and the Avengers of course is really nice uh produce comes out of kevra but nevertheless that was not avraham's doing so here we explain avoyakov lawyer kosha bashumakum not only were Abraham and Isaac not you know connected to the land in a physical way but even yaakov was never considered a toshav in any place Toshiba meaning uh I would say settler but let's say a resident like a permanent resident as opposed to an alien the cola avos how you Gary that all of our forefathers were these aliens wandering around and when did that begin it began with the birth of Yitzhak kikavar Hut Mission right if you go back to the Brit Bina batari the Covenant between the parts in Genesis chapter 15 right so God says you you're going to have you're going to be strangers in a land that's not yours you're going to be afflicted eventually you come out with a great wealth so this was 430 years before we left Egypt but it was exactly 400 years we left Egypt from the time of Isaac's birth yitzhak's birth and therefore this whole um this Brit this Covenant between the parts took place 30 years before Isaac was born and so the 400th year because there's a I wouldn't say contradiction but there's one place if it's 400 years another place 430 truth is we're only in Egypt anyway 210 years God cut it short but the we left on the 400th anniversary of Isaac's birth okay specifically we had 400 years of wandering from the time Isaac was born so basically that's what he says this um the clicking the the time clock the clicking time clock happens when the Isaac is born we don't even suspect that the avos that the forefathers settled anywhere they were always gearing meaning they were always aliens and wandering and as I mentioned from the beginning that when Abram left or qasim I mean he was ridiculed he was this revolutionary thinking in terms of monotheistic or ethical monotheism and he was ridiculed right separated he really did separate himself from the non-jewish population or the non-hebrew population and came to Earth Israel okay so it's very important to think about even especially as a as a as a righteous Gentile that you could separate yourself and that's what avram did from the baloney baloney of the society around you of course if you live in a society you can vote and change things and make a more Civil Society you should but anyway let's go on to the next paragraph because now the clear card will explain a lot of the reason behind this transfer of the Egyptians the member Joseph was praised because he removed any stigma or shame from upon his brothers kind of entirely and it was specifically only the brothers obviously later on after we were there 20 or 10 years so people in the second third generation they obviously felt they do have a um a family plot and they've been living there for a generation or Generations at that point so the clear card says he's going to he's going to say that this is much more proper much more clear to explain the entire chaos and transfer of population that yo that Joseph did and he explains it like this in Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 19 it says the ahaf tem s Hager you should love the convert the gear kigiri Maite embarrassment's right because you were garim you were aliens you were not tied down with a long list of you know permanent residents as ancestors he called me shalomiamov now this is very interesting because this is actually telling you as a Jew you must feel you must experience gerud alienship if that's a word strangeness not belonging not anchored down he called me anyone who never experienced this gay ruse in their life ain't no margish but Sarah shaliger will never understand we'll never know the pain that agare experiences and as a result of not understanding knowing and I'm really going to use the word um empathy enochas again will not have an empathy towards and I'm going to change I'm going to add a few other synonyms pity care concern you won't relate to the Gear to the soul of the gear properly a vow but the oxmo gear but someone who was an alien knows what it feels like yode bit therefore the Jewish people had to experience it but not to the extent that they would be stigmatized the stigma and unfortunately that's why the Torah has to tell us 36 times to love the gear and to take care of the gear and to be concerned about the gear and to have pity on the gear and care for them and this truth is well but again we don't have that status but a non-jew who lives amongst us also the same concept let's say conceptually speaking one should also have this because we have a famous statement we all know you should love your neighbors yourself but we understand it as behold the all of Sunny that anything that you hate anything you do not want done to you don't do to others when you do not like done to you do not do to others and only having this Consciousness now it doesn't mean you have to live in an exile although maybe there are famous rabbis that made and took upon themselves to just experience this go and dress differently and go into a different city nobody knows you and act like a total stranger and see how it feels it's an unbelievable exercise in humility for sure but into um trying to understand what a gear feels like alkane of you Joseph amlarim and this is the very reason that Joseph moved everyone about even the Egyptians kadeshu kulam Gary so that they can really truly feel oh so the Egyptians that they were aliens in a land that was not theirs for sure the Jews now we understand like it says in um this was in the Brit of being a battalion in Genesis chapter 15 verse 13. you'll find this and number seven on the source sheet God says to avram you shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and they will enslave them and oppress them for 400 years now that's a really tough pill to swallow now listen to what he says they will basically dwell they will be living in a land that doesn't belong to them again in order for them to actually experience and you use the word feel in other words the feeling comes from knowing the experience and this is what the clear card goes back to say this must be what Rashi meant when Rashi said these words that it was to remove the shame or the stigma of being again because he says that this is the The Shame of the stigma that they would stigmatize or shame them by saying goalie matam you guys are you know the Egyptians would say to the Jews you guys are are aliens so what's wrong with that we're gonna see remember Hashem is only looking after us all the going down to Egypt and the oppression was really only to raise us up and to free us and so we can have this into a relationship with him but we know isn't it that God only wants our good Salama tamgoli so why would we then be put into a position where people would make fun of us and mock us as going as being aliens you know what happened as a result if we thought that was what God's intent was that it's actually permissible for the Egyptians to let's say stigmatize and make it worse for the Jew no Al-Qaeda this is exactly why Joseph move them around so that they wouldn't do this because this is not in our interest I mean to go Overkill obviously a Jew must feel like an alien strange from all the people around him but nevertheless over Overkill can actually be damaging and that's why it says 36 times in the turret to watch out for them because we're going to see soon when one does um you know let's say oppress or looked down on and the the the gear feels it so because because they've experienced evil in their lives because before they deter them became Jewish it's so easy for them to return in other words we're causing people to leave the relationship with God if we oppress them by oppressing them it's easy for them anybody like about chuva about true it's easy to go back to where you came from right outside of gum where someone's righteous their whole life and never sinned isn't going to think about going and sinning when he feels oppressed but it would be more easier for about Shula who's already been there to leave or for a Gare someone who was an alien to go back so it's really pushing somebody away from a relationship with God because they would be more easily persuaded to leave by the oppression caused by either an individual or by Society so he explained this is the clear card again explaining why it's so important that the there was a transfer of populations so that once the Jews are exiled meaning the Jews are already exiled but now the Egyptians drags out if an Egyptian would say You're an Alien the Jew could respond gamma Tam late that you are just as affected okay as we are you're just as defiled or just as lowly as we are so there's at least a response the person doesn't feel that they're being pointed out as being a lower status because everyone including the Egyptians are on that level of alienship okay so now the clear card the last paragraph ends off with a Dava which means alternatively now we understand this is why Joseph transferred or moved them around to the different cities Goshen that they saw where it was seen or scene two yaakov wanted him and his sons Joseph also wanted that yaakov and his sons live in a specific place called Goshen now there's actually an opinion that Goshen was like a finger sticking out from everything's shroud all the way to the West as if they actually were living there as Israel but I don't think that's the majority opinion but basically they would have some kind of holding there and the verse explains it like that they would have some kind of inheritance and a holding so even though the Jews the Israelites in Egypt were short aliens nevertheless they would go to a place um called Goshen where they at least have some real estate holding now there isn't to worry that after many generations or after a long time there would be a tyrant a malach aritz some kind of a tyranny or pressing government or King vietro Ishmael that he would request to look at the books all the uh well here they called the taba and look into the registry who owns what um and for each and every city each and every city that has been you know established and he could look at and see who are the wealthy families who are the big plot owners but whatever let's say like you know the Nazis they kept very careful records assuming that perhaps if there was ever a tyrant in Egypt who would go into the records to find out who owns what [Music] they would say that specifically the Jewish people alone that don't have any Merit even though they're living in Goshen they have quite a uh quite a um a holding right it was very good property and I'm sure they built very nice houses there they would find out this ironical King what government would see that the Jews have no merit that their fathers never owned any land that the Jew could not ever claim to this tyrannical government that this carca this ground this plot was in my family for Generations couldn't say that and then as a result the goshumi menu then as a result the Jews would be driven out and basically living within Egypt as um as even worse aliens you know uh status this is why Joseph made sure that even the Egyptians were moved around so you wouldn't have any of these finger-pointings and so even the Egyptians were no longer not one of them was living on his original original family plot as a result every one would be basically living on a plot that wasn't originally ours now I want to end with making a few quotes on this whole idea the ramban well let me just tell you there's a mishnah 59b what is the meaning of the verse you shall need a wrong a stranger nor a present for you were strangers in the land of Egypt so it was taught by Ravi nassan don't touch and don't taught anyone don't talk taunt your neighbor with the flaw you have yourself so this actually we need to unpack a little bit so anything that would shame somebody let's say that in other words obviously you don't want to shame somebody with a flaw but if you have it you're going to go out of your way not to accuse your neighbor until you fix yourself basically but anyway don't taunt your neighbor with the same flaw that you have yourself now the ramban on shmos on Exodus chapter 22 um versus 20. and I think 21 also but he says like this the correct interpretation appears to me to be that he is saying do not wrong a stranger or a present thinking as you might that none can deliver him out of your hands for you know that you were strangers in land of Egypt and I saw the oppression with with the Egyptians oppressed you and I Avenged your cause on them because I did not I'd be because I behold the tears of such were oppressed and have no comforter Hashem will hear right the tears will see the tears we'll hear the cries we'll have the emotional if we can just use as if a response to the underdog the one who's being oppressed and on the okay let me just go back I Avenged your cause on them because I behold the tears of such were oppressed and have no comforter and on the side of their oppressor there is no power and I deliver each one from from him from the oppressor that is too strong for him okay and then another verse he added this reason for you know what it feels like to be a stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt that is to say you know that every stranger feels depressed and is always sighing and crying and his eyes are always directed towards God therefore God he will have mercy upon the person even as he showed Mercy to you back when we were in Egypt as is written in the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried and their Cry came up to God by reason of the bondage meaning that he had mercy on them not because of their marriage we were not we were actually out of worshipers we weren't so righteous and yet on account of the bondage and the pains that we went through Hashem has Mercy on the oppressed so it's a real negative thing to oppress others for many reasons but one most of all from a very selfish reason God's going to take it out on you you I mean you the oppressed oppressor will suffer because you're oppressing okay and I'm going to give a little bit of a little bit of a plug for my sheer on Tomy devorah at this point in time we haven't finished we're now going to start number 10 out of 13 with the 13 attributes of Mercy that if you act like Hashem if you imitate Hashem with these different attributes you bring into the world mercy and therefore it I'm going to call it a very selfish act to work on your character and be a better person because it's only going to benefit you in the end not only meaning the main person is going to benefit as you in the end of course it's going to benefit others and the world around you okay when we go to Leviticus chapter 19 verses 33-34 the verse says when a stranger lives with you in your land do not mistreat him the stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native born love him as yourself for you we're strangers in the land of Egypt I am the Lord your God Rashi says on that verse this implies vexing him with words right don't say to him yesterday you were an idolater and now you come to study Torah which was given from the mouth of the almighty in other words you're putting him down you're saying you're not you don't come from any you close you don't come from any uh solid genealogical background like Abraham Isaac and Jacob or this Rabbi or that Rabbi but you're a foreigner and it was only yesterday you were worshiping Idols look at you you're just a dream behind the ears you're a newbie that even Ezra on that verse explains like this it says if a convert dwells with you now that's mentioned right after taking care of the elderly so just as scripture admonished you to honor an elderly Israelite though he has no power he's an old guy so does it admonish you regarding the convert who is also little power compared to you meaning he doesn't have a family base that he can call upon for assistance and help right he's familyless most likely so his little power compared to you because you've considered powerless simply simply because he relies on your land under your Dominion now under your Dominion means like again without family and a solid basis of support but also in a certain sense if it's if it's a gear tow shop especially a non-jew living amongst the Jews he he really feels that he's under this foreign law which he's accepted upon himself but nevertheless there is this idea now the shutdown explains on the same verse what does it mean love him like yourself the nations of the ancient world would only love their own people and they would defraud other people's because they saw in them as Despicable foreigners therefore it says here now keep in mind it's very interesting because many places that are tourist spots give the locals a a discount and all the foreigners that's where they make their money I don't think that's what it's talking about but you can understand if you bring it down to a real practical level where there's no real monetary benefit so selfish benefit or a phobia it could be just a phobia or you can be brought up as a bigot right anyway therefore it says here that you need to love him like yourself and act toward him just as you would want you should act towards him as you would want other people to act towards you if you were a finer this is a court in accord with what is written several verses earlier as love your neighbor as yourself explains like this you shall be to the stranger that lives among you and you shall love him as yourself it's written about the Jews in vayikra you shall love your fellows yourself so it's also written about converts you shall love it or care you should love them as yourself for you are strangers in the land of Egypt this is the bottom line know the soul of The Strangers get to know what the soul of the strangers is because you were strangers in the land of Egypt and Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 17-19 for the Lord your God is the god of gods and Lord of the Lords the Great Mighty and the awesome God will show who will show no favor nor he will take a bribe he executes the Judgment of the orphan and Widow he loves the stranger to give them bread and clothing so too you shall love the stranger For You Were Strangers in the land of Egypt now I'm going to end with one short piece from a very big book this is um Rabbi Jonathan sacks passed away recently I love a Shalom but he wrote many books well liked he writes he's very um articulate in his speech he's really a very good he was a very good speaker I I think he spoke better than he wrote but every Different Strokes for different folks many people read his books I love to hear him speak he said dislike of the unlike is as old as mankind this fact lies at the very heart of the Jewish experience it is no coincidence that Judaism was born in the two Journeys away from two great civilizations of the ancient world right starting with avram from Mesopotamia as Moses and these rights from the pharonic pharonic Egypt the Torah is the world's greatest protest against Empires and imperialism their most serious offense for the prophets as well as the Mosaic books was the use of the power against the powerless in other words the rebuke of the prophets is constantly looking out for the Widow of the orphan The Stranger against the power powerless the Widow the orphan and above all the stranger now he says to be a Jew is to be a stranger even the word evree of our that's where it came from avraham left and came over Ava her yard then he crossed over the Jordan a there we say in Hebrew either Avera if someone transgresses a trans a transgression which means to trans to move to move about it is hard to avoid the conclusion that's why people used to go I don't think they do it anymore but the wandering jew maybe they're still calling us that but at least we found a home to where our ancestors came from and many of us are home we don't call ourselves wandering Jews anymore those who do here's the address right here and there's the shell come home okay it's hard to avoid the conclusion that this is why avraham is commanded to leave land home and father's house why long before Joseph was born avraham was already told his descendants would be strangers in a land not of Their Own why Moses had to suffer personal Exile before assuming leadership of the people I mean he had to run away and first 60 years he was he was away [Music] why the Israelites underwent persecution before inheriting their own land and this is interesting because that's exactly what happened before 1948 as well we had to go through something traumatic I mean you can't even talk you know to talk about it in real terms nobody would even believe that there's such a hat such a thing happened as the Holocaust but we went through horrible things so he says like this provide the Israelites underwent persecution before inheriting their own land and why the Torah is so insistent on the experience we retell the story every year right on pesach the retelling of the story of pesach along with the never forgetting Taste of the bread of Affliction and the bitter herbs of slavery which we do during the Passover seder should become a permanent part of their Collective memory every Jew that I know you sit there and you eat the morrower you eat that poor man's the bread of Affliction know what it's like to have been Afflicted go back into your own memory for three thousand almost like three thousand almost four thousand years for almost four thousand years ago we we left the actually yeah we left Egypt we experienced some of the most bitter parts of our history now he ends up by saying like this it is terrifying in retrospect to grasp how seriously the Torah took the phenomenon of xenophobia hatred of the stranger it is if the Torah it is as if the Taurus were saying with utmost Clarity remember I'm reading from Rabbi Jonathan sacks reason is insufficient sympathy is inadequate only the force of history and memory is strong enough to form a counterweight to hate why should you hate the stranger asked the Torah remember 40 36 times there's an opinion says 46 times depends how you read the verses because you once stood where he stands now I can just imagine Rabbi sack saying this you know the heart of the stranger because you were once estranged in the land of Egypt if you're a human so is he if he's less than human so are you you must fight the hatred in your heart as I once fought the greatest ruler and the strongest Empire in the world on your behalf that's God talking to you I made you into the world's archetypical strangers so that you would fight for the rights of strangers and we do and we do it's unbelievable just think about it I mean just from the 60s when the uh with the racial racial riots who was on the front lines standing with the with with the with the African-Americans at the time it was the Jews who stood up for for the rights of people the Jews and all the countries and all in all of history it's unbelievable um so I just I just got excited so where did I leave off here it is wherever they are I'm sorry the right this is what the archetypical strangers are the Jews so that you would fight for the rights of strangers for your own and those of others wherever they are whoever they are whatever the color of their skin and the nature of their culture because they are not in because though they are not in your image says God they're in mine nevertheless they are in my image that's what God is telling you so they may not be the same color skin or the same texture of the hair or social status in society but to create in the image of God and this is I think it's an incredible lesson that we should all take the heart um what else can I say let's meditate on this take it to heart think maybe take this exercise and make a personal exile for a few days a few weeks if you have never experienced it and if you did experience it get in touch with it empathize have pity and concern and care and concern for those around you not just for the stranger for everybody but especially the stranger with that I wish you all shabbat shalom and God bless you all and have a great life and we'll see you in two weeks from now and if I say my name is [Music]