If Egypt was Gaza and the Exodus was Now
Vaeira
What if Egypt was Gaza and the Exodus was now?
For too long, the entire Jewish people were being held captive by Pharaoh and subjected to unbearable suffering. In addition to their enslavement, they were subject to decrees of genocide and attempts of ethnic cleansing.
Whilst the decrees were made by the king and enforced by his military, the Egyptian populace were not without guilt. They were all willful participants or supporters of the enslavement. They held Jews as slaves in their homes and benefitted from their labour. There were no innocent civilians.
Moshe came to Pharaoh with an unequivocal and non-negotiable demand, “Let my people go.”
This was not just a demand, but a warning and threat. Should Pharaoh refuse to set the Jewish people free, Hashem would raise His Hand against Egypt and wreak destruction on the land and its populace.
Confident in his own strength and denying the power of Hashem, Pharaoh ignored and mocked Moshe’s warning. Without the force of a “strong hand” Pharoah would not yield. And so, the onslaught began.
After the initial plagues and suffering, Pharaoh begged Moshe to stop the plagues. With crocodile tears he confessed “I am wrong”. But each time there was relief; a cease-fire, Pharaoh only further hardened his heart and returned to his stubborn defiance.
As the plagues continued, meeting out even further and greater destruction, Pharaoh was ready to negotiate his way out.
First, he proposed that they “Sacrifice in the land. Go but don’t go too far”. Then he proposed a partial release of the captive slaves, the men can go, but the children must remain behind.
Moshe did not budge. He would not give up on one Jew. There would be no partial or staged releases. “We shall go with our youth and with our elders, we shall go with our sons and our daughters, we shall go with our flock and with our cattle.”
Moshe was coming from a position of strength and dominance and had no reason to compromise. Pharaoh was in no position to dictate terms. If he would not surrender, the bombardment would continue with even greater force.
After the subsequent plagues of locusts and darkness, Pharaoh offered a further compromise. “You may even take your children,” but your cattle and flocks must remain.
It sounded fair. At least all of the people would be free and safe.
But Moshe stood firm, responding that “not a hoof will remain”. The victory over Egypt and their surrender, had to be total and complete. There was no room for any weakness and with Egypt basically destroyed, why should Moshe accept Pharaoh’s terms and allow them to claim any form of “victory”. They would be broken into submission and the Jewish people would leave on their terms. Only then would the plagues end.
More pressure was required to bring Pharaoh and Egypt to their knees.
The plague of locusts brought starvation to the Egyptian population. Only when they were starved into submission, the Egyptian people came to their leaders, demanding that they release the slaves, “send out the men… do you not yet know that Egypt is lost?”.
As long as his own people supported him, Pharaoh could remain defiant. The Egyptian spirit had to be broken, so that they would realize that if they did not let the Jewish people go, they would all die. The pressure had to reach a level where the people of Egypt would storm their own streets and demand that their leaders release the captive Jews.
With the warning of the final plague and staring death in the face, the Egyptian people had finally had enough of the path of destruction that their leader had taken them down. They turned on their leaders sparking an internal revolt as they attempted to overthrow their regime.
Finally with the final plague, the suffering was so great that the Egyptians themselves urged the Jewish people to leave, coming to the realisation that otherwise “all of us are dead”. Pharoah was brought to his knees. In utter defeat, he surrendered unconditionally to Moshe and consented to let all the Jewish people go. There would be no “victory” celebrations in the streets of Egypt and no defiant parades of soldiers and chariots in the streets.
Now, imagine if the United Nations, ICC or EU existed back then. Imagine if the Exodus had taken place in the age of Facebook and TikTok. Imagine the outcry!
Of course, there would have been nary a peep that millions of Jewish people were being held in captivity as slaves. There would have been not a word of condemnation of the wholesale attempted murder of the Jewish baby boys. And there would have been silence over the abduction and assault of the Jewish women.
But as soon as the plagues would have commenced, these impotent bodies would have quickly discovered their voices.
With the water-supply cut-off with the plague of blood, the livestock destroyed by pestilence and the crops decimated by locusts, they would have surely slammed the unfolding humanitarian crisis. They would have ordered Moshe to provide aid and food for the “innocent” starving Egyptian civilians, the very people who celebrated, supported and enabled the enslavement.
They would have slammed the disproportionate use of force. How dare Moshe bring the infinite power of G-d against the finite, human military capabilities of the Egyptians! How dare G-d unleash plagues that would strike the Egyptians but leave the Jewish homes untouched!
They would have decried the genocide of the Egyptians and labelled Moshe a murderer of innocent civilians, a baby-killer, with the plague of the firstborn.
Moshe and Aharon would have been put on trial and branded war-criminals who should be arrested in any country that they set foot.
We would have heard incessant calls and resolutions demanding ceasefires (cease-plagues?) throughout the year-long campaign of the Makkos. Pro-Egypt demonstrators would hold protests and rallies in cities and universities across the world, accusing the Jews of committing genocide. Social justice warriors would be jumping up and down with moral outrage and social media would be awash with posts that glorified the brave resistance fighters of the Egyptian army.
The sympathetic media would display the misery and suffering of Egypt; the buildings reduced to rubble by the hail, the animals strewn dead across the ground in the pestilence, children with bleeding boils.
And there would have been immense pressure to accept one of Pharaoh’s “generous” offers to negotiate a compromise that would have left him in power and seen at least some of the Jews remain captive.
The truth would be conveniently ignored and the facts distorted. Logical arguments of Hasbara would fall on deaf ears.
No one would consider that if Pharaoh had never enslaved and oppressed the people in the first place, there would have been no plagues. Had he agreed to let the Jewish people go with the first warning, there would have been no plagues.
And after each plague the destruction of Egypt could have been halted, if they would have let the Jewish captives go free. Moshe gave them ample chances. Each plague came with 3 weeks of advanced warning.
Thank G-d the Exodus happened in those times and not in ours. If not, the world would have ensured what we say in the Hagadah, that we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.
For too long, the entire Jewish people were being held captive by Pharaoh and subjected to unbearable suffering. In addition to their enslavement, they were subject to decrees of genocide and attempts of ethnic cleansing.
Whilst the decrees were made by the king and enforced by his military, the Egyptian populace were not without guilt. They were all willful participants or supporters of the enslavement. They held Jews as slaves in their homes and benefitted from their labour. There were no innocent civilians.
Moshe came to Pharaoh with an unequivocal and non-negotiable demand, “Let my people go.”
This was not just a demand, but a warning and threat. Should Pharaoh refuse to set the Jewish people free, Hashem would raise His Hand against Egypt and wreak destruction on the land and its populace.
Confident in his own strength and denying the power of Hashem, Pharaoh ignored and mocked Moshe’s warning. Without the force of a “strong hand” Pharoah would not yield. And so, the onslaught began.
After the initial plagues and suffering, Pharaoh begged Moshe to stop the plagues. With crocodile tears he confessed “I am wrong”. But each time there was relief; a cease-fire, Pharaoh only further hardened his heart and returned to his stubborn defiance.
As the plagues continued, meeting out even further and greater destruction, Pharaoh was ready to negotiate his way out.
First, he proposed that they “Sacrifice in the land. Go but don’t go too far”. Then he proposed a partial release of the captive slaves, the men can go, but the children must remain behind.
Moshe did not budge. He would not give up on one Jew. There would be no partial or staged releases. “We shall go with our youth and with our elders, we shall go with our sons and our daughters, we shall go with our flock and with our cattle.”
Moshe was coming from a position of strength and dominance and had no reason to compromise. Pharaoh was in no position to dictate terms. If he would not surrender, the bombardment would continue with even greater force.
After the subsequent plagues of locusts and darkness, Pharaoh offered a further compromise. “You may even take your children,” but your cattle and flocks must remain.
It sounded fair. At least all of the people would be free and safe.
But Moshe stood firm, responding that “not a hoof will remain”. The victory over Egypt and their surrender, had to be total and complete. There was no room for any weakness and with Egypt basically destroyed, why should Moshe accept Pharaoh’s terms and allow them to claim any form of “victory”. They would be broken into submission and the Jewish people would leave on their terms. Only then would the plagues end.
More pressure was required to bring Pharaoh and Egypt to their knees.
The plague of locusts brought starvation to the Egyptian population. Only when they were starved into submission, the Egyptian people came to their leaders, demanding that they release the slaves, “send out the men… do you not yet know that Egypt is lost?”.
As long as his own people supported him, Pharaoh could remain defiant. The Egyptian spirit had to be broken, so that they would realize that if they did not let the Jewish people go, they would all die. The pressure had to reach a level where the people of Egypt would storm their own streets and demand that their leaders release the captive Jews.
With the warning of the final plague and staring death in the face, the Egyptian people had finally had enough of the path of destruction that their leader had taken them down. They turned on their leaders sparking an internal revolt as they attempted to overthrow their regime.
Finally with the final plague, the suffering was so great that the Egyptians themselves urged the Jewish people to leave, coming to the realisation that otherwise “all of us are dead”. Pharoah was brought to his knees. In utter defeat, he surrendered unconditionally to Moshe and consented to let all the Jewish people go. There would be no “victory” celebrations in the streets of Egypt and no defiant parades of soldiers and chariots in the streets.
Now, imagine if the United Nations, ICC or EU existed back then. Imagine if the Exodus had taken place in the age of Facebook and TikTok. Imagine the outcry!
Of course, there would have been nary a peep that millions of Jewish people were being held in captivity as slaves. There would have been not a word of condemnation of the wholesale attempted murder of the Jewish baby boys. And there would have been silence over the abduction and assault of the Jewish women.
But as soon as the plagues would have commenced, these impotent bodies would have quickly discovered their voices.
With the water-supply cut-off with the plague of blood, the livestock destroyed by pestilence and the crops decimated by locusts, they would have surely slammed the unfolding humanitarian crisis. They would have ordered Moshe to provide aid and food for the “innocent” starving Egyptian civilians, the very people who celebrated, supported and enabled the enslavement.
They would have slammed the disproportionate use of force. How dare Moshe bring the infinite power of G-d against the finite, human military capabilities of the Egyptians! How dare G-d unleash plagues that would strike the Egyptians but leave the Jewish homes untouched!
They would have decried the genocide of the Egyptians and labelled Moshe a murderer of innocent civilians, a baby-killer, with the plague of the firstborn.
Moshe and Aharon would have been put on trial and branded war-criminals who should be arrested in any country that they set foot.
We would have heard incessant calls and resolutions demanding ceasefires (cease-plagues?) throughout the year-long campaign of the Makkos. Pro-Egypt demonstrators would hold protests and rallies in cities and universities across the world, accusing the Jews of committing genocide. Social justice warriors would be jumping up and down with moral outrage and social media would be awash with posts that glorified the brave resistance fighters of the Egyptian army.
The sympathetic media would display the misery and suffering of Egypt; the buildings reduced to rubble by the hail, the animals strewn dead across the ground in the pestilence, children with bleeding boils.
And there would have been immense pressure to accept one of Pharaoh’s “generous” offers to negotiate a compromise that would have left him in power and seen at least some of the Jews remain captive.
The truth would be conveniently ignored and the facts distorted. Logical arguments of Hasbara would fall on deaf ears.
No one would consider that if Pharaoh had never enslaved and oppressed the people in the first place, there would have been no plagues. Had he agreed to let the Jewish people go with the first warning, there would have been no plagues.
And after each plague the destruction of Egypt could have been halted, if they would have let the Jewish captives go free. Moshe gave them ample chances. Each plague came with 3 weeks of advanced warning.
Thank G-d the Exodus happened in those times and not in ours. If not, the world would have ensured what we say in the Hagadah, that we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.