Misled by Hate - שמות

For the last two months in synagogue, we have been reading the book of שמות (Exodus). For the modern reader (and I would like to think the ancient reader as well), it is possible to see themes of xenophobia and of liberation. On the side of  xenophobia, we learn of a new Pharaoh who sees the Children of Israel as a threat וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֶל־עַמּ֑וֹ הִנֵּ֗ה עַ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רַ֥ב וְעָצ֖וּם מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ (Exodus 1:9). In the fashion of a demagogue, Pharaoh tells his people that the Children of Israel are a danger that might outnumber them and join their enemies וְנוֹסַ֤ף גַּם־הוּא֙ עַל־שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּ֖נוּ (Exodus 1:10).

The Book of Exodus brings a deep understanding of what it means to be a people without a homeland, and the precarious nature of being a foreigner in a land that is hostile. The גר (foreigner) is one of the more vulnerable members of a society, and for this, frequently a target of political debate and oppression. Moshe himself later reflects on his own position as a migrant in Midian, naming his son “A foreigner there”: וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֔ן וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר גֵּ֣ר הָיִ֔יתִי בְּאֶ֖רֶץ נׇכְרִיָּֽה (Exodus 2:22). Even after having married and settled in his new home, Moshe still saw himself as an “other.”

Pharaoh’s hatred towards the Children of Israel gives an important take-away. When Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies (Exodus 1:16), we see that the midwives ignore the command (ולא עשו Exodus 1:17) and when Pharaoh hears of this, the midwives lie to him with a fantastical story, saying that the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, rather they are כי-חיות, and have given birth before the midwives have even arrived (Exodus 1:19). The word חיות is with an a-vowel (qammetz) an adjective that translates as “lively”. It is worth noting that in the dictionary BDB, this is the only instance of this adjective in the Hebrew Bible. The same word could be pointed with a different a-vowel (patach) for the more common noun “animal.” At a minimum, the two words sound similar and the pun is such that one could hear the phrase either way: that the Hebrews are so lively that they’ve given birth quickly, or that the Hebrews are like animals.

For the xenophobe, hearing that the Hebrews are like animals probably explains why Pharaoh seems to readily accept the lie from the midwives. After dehumanization, it is easy to be blinded from reality and believe bad counsel. In this, I think is our moral take-away: if we oppress the foreigner and dehumanize them, that in addition to harming another human being, we also harm ourselves and allow ourselves to be misled.