Shemoth: authority

There are two times in the parsha when a new king replaces the outgoing king.  At the begining , a new king arises who does not know  Joseph. וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף Onkelos translates this as:וְקָם מַלְכָּא חַדְתָּא עַל מִצְרָיִם דְלָא מְקַיֵם גְזֵרַת יוֹסֵף a king who did not fulfill Joseph's edicts. 

At least one  edict is mentioned in the prvious chapter, at the end of Genesis (50;21):וְעַתָּה֙ אַל־תִּירָ֔אוּ אָנֹכִ֛י אֲכַלְכֵּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֖ם וְאֶֽת־טַפְּכֶ֑ם    Jospeph   had  arranged for a  welfare system for the Israelites They would be fed by the state.  But the new king started taxing them instead until they were  impoverished and subjugated. וַיָּשִׂ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מִסִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן עַנֹּת֖וֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם. Rashi relates this word misim to mas, tax. One can see poverty (oni) in the word anatho.

  This new king had instituted a new system that persecuted the previously privileged Israelites.  The fall must have been terrible, but they accepted it. They accepted the authority of the king.  They even participated and developed an internal hierarchy for the implementation of the servitude.  This was the new order.  Work to survive. 

Even the ultimate disrespect for Israelite life, the edict of infanticide, did not create a rebellion.  These people were cowed. 

 When Moshe grew up, he showed the people that they could protect each other, fight against their oppressors. The Israelites remained  loyal to the regime. 

But they hoped for a change. That is where the second change of administration comes in.   While Moshe, who had failed to generate a revolution, was in Midyan, there was another coronation, a new king appeared and the verse says that the people moaned וַיְהִי֩ בַיָּמִ֨ים הָֽרַבִּ֜ים הָהֵ֗ם וַיָּ֙מָת֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיֵּאָנְח֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מִן־הָעֲבֹדָ֖ה .  Why the juxtaposition of a new king and the groaning of the Israelites? Because the people hoped that the new administration  would lighten the burden, grant some rights to the Israelite, perhaps even remember Joseph and his edicts.   But they were sorely disappointed. There is no change. The people are disappointed , perhaps a bit hopeless.  Now they are ready for Moshe's arrival.  The elders accept his claim that redemption will come from another source, not from internal reform of the government.. 

But the people in the trenches do not accept the revolution.  When the Pharaoh has them collect their own straw, they just do it.  When they cannot fulfill their daily quota of brick production, the Israelites blame themselves.  They are jockeying for work permits, they are trying to please the boss, the immediate supervisor.  They do not listen to  Moshe, they do not listen to the organizers in the ghetto telling them to fight.  They try to work- as their brother and sisters are carted off.  They look for survival permits from the Reich, as the number pf permits dwindles and more and more friends are taken away. 

Did the story of  Moshe teach them the right lesson for the umschlagplatz?