Egyptian Anti-Semitism

Rabbi Soloveitchik spoke of the lessons learned from our slavery in Egypt. One of his points was that in every place Jews were exiled, they always made major contributions to that society. Despite their influence, the Jews were never fully accepted as part of that community.

Another point made by the Rav is that פרעה’s demonization of the Jews was indicative of what would come in future persecutions. He had the Jewish midwives kill baby boys to discredit them. He wanted to show that Jews didn’t care about the suffering of their brethren.

The Nazis in the Holocaust took pictures of Jews dancing in order to try and show that Jews didn’t care about their brother’s pain.

Luckily, the House of Levi stood out to fight for Jewish identity. But the lessons of the Torah were meant to prepare us for the difficulties that awaited us.