Not Always "Us"
Against "Them"
Parshat Shemot: Exodus 1:1-6:1;
Isaiah 27:6-28:13; 29:22-29:23.
I
s there a cultural Jewish inclina-
tion to view history in terms
of "us vs. them"? Many of us
encounter Jewish stories in their most
simplified forms, in which the Jews are
good and the non-Jews are
all enemies. For example,
the story of Chanukah is
often presented as a conflict
between the evil Greeks and
the righteous Jews. The real-
ity, though, is much more
complex. In the time of the
Maccabees, for example,
there were Jews on both
sides, and Antiochus was far
from a caricature of evil.
Similarly, medieval
Ashkenazic Jewish history
is often understood as a
centuries-long period of constant anti-
Semitic persecution. As any Jewish
historian will tell us, this is not true.
A similar and instructive example
can be found in this week's parshah.
We are beginning the Book of Exodus,
and only a few verses in, we encoun-
ter our villain: the new Pharaoh.
He addressed his people, saying,
"This nation, the children of Israel,
is numerous; let us outfox them, lest
they fight against us in a future war."
The Egyptians enslave the Israelites,
and it seems as if the entire nation has
decided to follow Pharaoh.
And so, if we are willing to simplify,
we have a classic struggle of good vs.
evil: a monolithic non-Jewish enemy
is ganging up on the Jewish people. All
who are most comfortable viewing the
world as an ongoing struggle between
"us" and "them" may stop reading now.
As Jews, our responsibility is to read
the Torah itself, not an abridged ver-
sion. What do we see when we study
the story of the Israelites in Egypt
more closely? In Joseph's time, we see
years of respectful coexistence. Even
when the new Pharaoh initiated the
cruel enslavement of the Jewish peo-
ple, we read about Shifrah and Puah,
the Egyptian midwives who defied
his orders. It would be false to state
that all Egyptians were the enemy;
some were villains, most seem to have
been bystanders and a few were true
heroes. It would be just as incorrect to
claim that the good Egyptians didn't
matter or didn't make a difference.
The midwives saved Jewish
lives and helped ensure the
future of the Jewish people.
And not all the Israelites
were righteous. Moses, a
palace prince, sees two
Israelites fighting, and the
Torah identifies one as a
rasha, a villain. It is because
of this villain that Moses
flees Egypt and makes
his way to the wilder-
ness, where he eventually
encounters God.
Anyone who is most
comfortable viewing the world in
terms of a righteous, Jewish "us" and
a hate-filled, non-Jewish "them" is fal-
sifying Torah and denying its lessons.
In our communal discourse, it is all
too common to hear claims that this
or that group is full of hate, will never
change, cannot be reasoned with. As
Jews, responsible for living by the
Torah's values, let us ensure that we
never fall prey to such stereotypes.
Do the Jewish people and the State
of Israel have enemies? Of course.
Does the Torah mandate a certain
peace process or negotiation stance?
No, not at all. But may we comfortably
make generalizations about whole eth-
nicities and religions? Not if we read
this week's parshah. E
Jonathan Berger is rabbi-in-residence at
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit
in Farmington Hills and also serves as
rabbi of B'nai Israel Synagogue in West
Bloomfield.
Conversations
• Imagine encountering someone
who speaks in harsh stereotypes
about other religions, races
or ethnicities. How might you
respond?
• Do you ever view the world in
terms of "us vs. them"? When?
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