My mother, daughter of Holocaust survivors was born in communist Romania in 1956. With her older sister, her parents smuggled the family to Israel when she was 5 years old, and after the death of her own mother who was only 45, she moved to Montreal with her father at the age of 13. As an immigrant in the Orthodox Jewish community of Montreal, with her thick accent, the daughter of a broken yet kind man who worked as a shammas at the shul and the floor cleaner at Continental kosher butcher shop whom she needed to cook and clean for from the time she was a tween, my mother knew hard work, avoda kasha, and she new what it was like to be a a stranger- to be othered. Somehow this experience instilled in her an unwavering moral compass, which included a commitment to doing her best to avoid taking advantage of anyone else, especially financially. This also demonstrated itself as a cautious stance or discomfort in asking help form others, while being very willing to help others in need. Ando so, I wonder what she would say about Exodus 12: 25-36.
וּבְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל עָשׂ֖וּ כִּדְבַ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַֽיִּשְׁאֲלוּ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם כְּלֵי־כֶ֛סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָ֖ב וּשְׂמָלֹֽת׃ וַֽיהֹוָ֞ה נָתַ֨ן אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָעָ֛ם בְּעֵינֵ֥י מִצְרַ֖יִם וַיַּשְׁאִל֑וּם וַֽיְנַצְּל֖וּ אֶת־מִצְרָֽיִם׃ {פ}
The Israelites had done Moses’ bidding and borrowed from the Egyptians objects of silver and gold, and clothing. And the LORD had disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people, and they let them have their request; thus they stripped the Egyptians.
וְנָתַתִּ֛י אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָֽעָם־הַזֶּ֖ה בְּעֵינֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהָיָה֙ כִּ֣י תֵֽלֵכ֔וּן לֹ֥א תֵלְכ֖וּ רֵיקָֽם׃ וְשָׁאֲלָ֨ה אִשָּׁ֤ה מִשְּׁכֶנְתָּהּ֙ וּמִגָּרַ֣ת בֵּיתָ֔הּ כְּלֵי־כֶ֛סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָ֖ב וּשְׂמָלֹ֑ת וְשַׂמְתֶּ֗ם עַל־בְּנֵיכֶם֙ וְעַל־בְּנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְנִצַּלְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־מִצְרָֽיִם׃
And I will dispose the Egyptians favorably toward this people, so that when you go, you will not go away empty-handed. Each woman shall borrow from her neighbor and the lodger in her house objects of silver and gold, and clothing, and you shall put these on your sons and daughters, thus stripping the Egyptians.”
דַּבֶּר־נָ֖א בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וְיִשְׁאֲל֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ ׀ מֵאֵ֣ת רֵעֵ֗הוּ וְאִשָּׁה֙ מֵאֵ֣ת רְעוּתָ֔הּ כְּלֵי־כֶ֖סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃ וַיִּתֵּ֧ן יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָעָ֖ם בְּעֵינֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם גַּ֣ם ׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֗ה גָּד֤וֹל מְאֹד֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּעֵינֵ֥י עַבְדֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה וּבְעֵינֵ֥י הָעָֽם׃ {ס}
Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.” The LORD disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.
How do you feel when you hear this text?
Source of shame for rabbinic tradition and also a source of antisemitsm.
Vayashilum- borrowed/ asked for
Vayenatzlu- stripped
Chen-
100s of rabbis commenting on this text. defending the rights of Bnei Yisrael to take this wealth with them, and interestingly, the Torah itself doesn't offer any reason for why this order exists, almost as if to say, no justification is required.
What we are really asking here and what antisemites are asking on this text, is "look at how Jews plunder the people they are living among", we are seeking for justification for doing something that seems like we are harming the Egyptians, even though we have been enslaved by them. A bit of a slave mentality
Rabbinic Responses- Restitution-
Reconciliation- chen and softening hearts
Placing on your children
Source of shame for rabbinic tradition and also a source of antisemitsm.
Vayashilum- borrowed/ asked for
Vayenatzlu- stripped
Chen-
100s of rabbis commenting on this text. defending the rights of Bnei Yisrael to take this wealth with them, and interestingly, the Torah itself doesn't offer any reason for why this order exists, almost as if to say, no justification is required.
What we are really asking here and what antisemites are asking on this text, is "look at how Jews plunder the people they are living among", we are seeking for justification for doing something that seems like we are harming the Egyptians, even though we have been enslaved by them. A bit of a slave mentality
Rabbinic Responses- Restitution-
Reconciliation- chen and softening hearts
Placing on your children
The federal government and First Nations leaders have struck a historic $40 billion agreement-in-principle to compensate young people harmed by Canada's discriminatory child welfare system while reforming the system that tore First Nations children from their communities for decades.
The non-binding agreement sets aside $20 billion for compensation and $20 billion for long-term reform of the on-reserve child welfare system.
If approved, the financial settlement would be the largest of its kind in Canadian history. The parties have until March 31 to finalize the agreement.
"First Nations from across Canada have had to work very hard for this day to provide redress for monumental wrongs against First Nation children. Wrongs fuelled by an inherently biased system," said Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse during a news conference in Ottawa.
Woodhouse said that, instead of giving First Nations "help with food, clothing or shelter," the government's approach to child welfare funnelled Indigenous children into the foster care system.
The non-binding agreement sets aside $20 billion for compensation and $20 billion for long-term reform of the on-reserve child welfare system.
If approved, the financial settlement would be the largest of its kind in Canadian history. The parties have until March 31 to finalize the agreement.
"First Nations from across Canada have had to work very hard for this day to provide redress for monumental wrongs against First Nation children. Wrongs fuelled by an inherently biased system," said Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse during a news conference in Ottawa.
Woodhouse said that, instead of giving First Nations "help with food, clothing or shelter," the government's approach to child welfare funnelled Indigenous children into the foster care system.
Rabeinu Chananel- Restitution
וישאלו איש מאת רעהו ואשה מאת רעותה כלי כסף וגו', the meaning of שאלה here is not the same as when women “borrow” kitchen utensils and the like, it being understood that these will be returned to the lender. G’d, i.e. Moses, commanded the people to ask for these trinkets, garments, etc., as outright gifts. G’d would see to it that the Israelites asking for this would be considered by the Egyptians as deserving of this so that they would gladly part with the items in question. This did not involve any misrepresentation on the part of G’d, the Egyptians being perfectly aware that nothing they would give their Israelite neighbours could even remotely compensate them for the wages these people had never received during all these years. In that connection, consider that a Jewish servant (for whose services his master paid six years’ wages in advance to the servant’s creditor) at the end of his 6 years of service must be given an ex gratia payment by his master so that he can establish himself economically. (Deuteronomy 15,13-14). How much more so would the Israelites be entitled at this time to a small installment of all the money owed them for 210 (or 86) years of slave labour!
וישאלו איש מאת רעהו ואשה מאת רעותה כלי כסף וגו', the meaning of שאלה here is not the same as when women “borrow” kitchen utensils and the like, it being understood that these will be returned to the lender. G’d, i.e. Moses, commanded the people to ask for these trinkets, garments, etc., as outright gifts. G’d would see to it that the Israelites asking for this would be considered by the Egyptians as deserving of this so that they would gladly part with the items in question. This did not involve any misrepresentation on the part of G’d, the Egyptians being perfectly aware that nothing they would give their Israelite neighbours could even remotely compensate them for the wages these people had never received during all these years. In that connection, consider that a Jewish servant (for whose services his master paid six years’ wages in advance to the servant’s creditor) at the end of his 6 years of service must be given an ex gratia payment by his master so that he can establish himself economically. (Deuteronomy 15,13-14). How much more so would the Israelites be entitled at this time to a small installment of all the money owed them for 210 (or 86) years of slave labour!
Shai Held- But perhaps the Egyptians are not the only people whose hearts need softening.
Passionately dismissing the recurring citation of this text by those who want to impugn both Jews and Judaism, Bible scholar (and Rabbi) Benno Jacob (1862-1945) sees in our story “the most elevated and spiritual reconciliation among people; it was full of wisdom and love of fellow man.”
The gold and silver the Egyptians gave were “farewell gifts,” Jacob insists, given out of a genuine sense of affection for the Israelites. “This new mood was surprising, but even some of Pharaoh’s loyal courtiers [had begun] to see matters differently and respected Moses (Exodus 8:20; 10:7; 11:3).” The gifts given by the Egyptians were thus “a clear public protest against the policies of the royal tyrant. They demonstrated a renewal of public conscience.” “This was of major importance to the Torah in our drama of liberation, as it showed a moral change; the receptive heart of the Egyptian people was now contrasted to the hard heart of Pharaoh.”
But God does not stop there. God works on the heart of the Israelites, too. Worried that the Israelites might now “feel triumphant and reject the farewell of their former Egyptian neighbors, God wished to win the Israelites to a more generous point of view.”
As Jacob understands it, God’s primary concern during the Israelites’ final hours in Egypt was “peace between the two peoples.” And this was in fact achieved: “The Israelites stretched out their hands in friendship and the Egyptians responded with farewell gifts.” Seeking to ensure that the mandate to love rather than hate would be the lesson Israel learned from its time in Egypt. God commanded in no uncertain terms: “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” (Deuteronomy 23:8).20
Passionately dismissing the recurring citation of this text by those who want to impugn both Jews and Judaism, Bible scholar (and Rabbi) Benno Jacob (1862-1945) sees in our story “the most elevated and spiritual reconciliation among people; it was full of wisdom and love of fellow man.”
The gold and silver the Egyptians gave were “farewell gifts,” Jacob insists, given out of a genuine sense of affection for the Israelites. “This new mood was surprising, but even some of Pharaoh’s loyal courtiers [had begun] to see matters differently and respected Moses (Exodus 8:20; 10:7; 11:3).” The gifts given by the Egyptians were thus “a clear public protest against the policies of the royal tyrant. They demonstrated a renewal of public conscience.” “This was of major importance to the Torah in our drama of liberation, as it showed a moral change; the receptive heart of the Egyptian people was now contrasted to the hard heart of Pharaoh.”
But God does not stop there. God works on the heart of the Israelites, too. Worried that the Israelites might now “feel triumphant and reject the farewell of their former Egyptian neighbors, God wished to win the Israelites to a more generous point of view.”
As Jacob understands it, God’s primary concern during the Israelites’ final hours in Egypt was “peace between the two peoples.” And this was in fact achieved: “The Israelites stretched out their hands in friendship and the Egyptians responded with farewell gifts.” Seeking to ensure that the mandate to love rather than hate would be the lesson Israel learned from its time in Egypt. God commanded in no uncertain terms: “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” (Deuteronomy 23:8).20
קדמוניות היהודים ליוסף בן מתתיהו, ספר שני י"ד:
והמצרים כיבדו אותם במתנות, אלה כדי שימהרו, ואלה מתוך ידידות של שכנים, שהיו רוחשים להם, והם יצאו, והמצרים בוכים ומתחרטים שנהגו בהם ברשע.
והמצרים כיבדו אותם במתנות, אלה כדי שימהרו, ואלה מתוך ידידות של שכנים, שהיו רוחשים להם, והם יצאו, והמצרים בוכים ומתחרטים שנהגו בהם ברשע.
ד"ה נתן את חן העם; לתת להם במתנה, כדכתיב באלה שמות "ונתתי את חן העם הזה בעיני מצרים".
נתן את חן העם, to give them as outright gifts what they asked for. G’d had predicted all of this to Moses already in Exodus 3,21
Moshe Greenberg, Understanding Exodus: A Holistic Commentary on Exodus 1-11, 2nd edition (2013)
Why then does God instruct the people to place the items they receive from the Egyptians on their children?
Some scholars suggest that the point is “to stress the liberation of the parents along with their offspring, the latter not to be kept behind by Pharaoh,”9 but others discern a deeper motivation behind God’s command: God is helping the people acquire the ability to care for their children. As Moshe Greenberg writes, “The recovery of dignity by the liberated slaves would be signalized by their being able to provide good things for their children. Of even greater importance than their own enrichment was their capacity to assert parental solicitude toward their children.”10 Again we see that God works to restore the people’s freedom but also, crucially, their dignity and self-respect.
Why then does God instruct the people to place the items they receive from the Egyptians on their children?
Some scholars suggest that the point is “to stress the liberation of the parents along with their offspring, the latter not to be kept behind by Pharaoh,”9 but others discern a deeper motivation behind God’s command: God is helping the people acquire the ability to care for their children. As Moshe Greenberg writes, “The recovery of dignity by the liberated slaves would be signalized by their being able to provide good things for their children. Of even greater importance than their own enrichment was their capacity to assert parental solicitude toward their children.”10 Again we see that God works to restore the people’s freedom but also, crucially, their dignity and self-respect.