Shemoth: the Egypt we carry with us

Shemoth: the Egypt we carry with us

 

Bricks appear at the beginning of the parsha and at the end.  

In the beginning we have: 

וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים

 Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and brick

An at the end we have the problem of keeping up with the brick quota after the raw materials are no longer provided: 

תֶּ֗בֶן אֵ֤ין נִתָּן֙ לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ וּלְבֵנִ֛ים אֹמְרִ֥ים לָ֖נוּ עֲשׂ֑וּ וְהִנֵּ֧ה עֲבָדֶ֛יךָ מֻכִּ֖ים וְחָטָ֥את עַמֶּֽךָ׃

No straw is issued to your servants, yet they demand of us: Make bricks! Thus your servants are being beaten, when the fault is with your own people.”

Bricks are mentioned in only one other place in the Torah  

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃

They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.”—Brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.—

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה ׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.”

Bricks create a  connection between the Egyptian  bondage and  the tower of Babel,  huge projects that did not please the Heavenly authority. 

The Babel project, the project of the other great conquering power in the Middle East, has this הָ֚בָה , hava, word translated "let us"  The same word introduces the plan to subjugate the Israelites 

הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ   Let us deal shrewdly with them

The word conveys a sense of psuedo equality ( us) in an enterprise that is hierarchical ( who is saying the let, and what kind of permission is being requested) .  Somebody is going to make the bricks, someone else is going to place them, and a third individual or group is going to decide on the height and thickness of the wall.  In Egypt the intention is clear: to subjugate, and thus disarm, the imagined  Hebrew threat.  The reordering of the social structure is the primary purpose of the  "make work" construction project. 

 The great project, whether it is the store cities of Pithim and Ramses of Egypt or the tower of Babel, are ways to enlist the cooperation of large numbers of people who, for the sake of the work, put aside their differences of family and tradition.  The common goal unifies the diverse peoples and the roles (brickmaker, engineer) serve to keep the classes separate.  When the Israelites request a holiday of national unity, when they assert their difference, the pecking order is reasserted: 

Thus your servants are being beaten, when the fault is with your own people.”

Gd's instruction to Moses, to request the holiday,  cleverly turns the unifying endeavor into a dispute. 

Convincing Pharoah and the Egyptians to let the Israelites go was not the hardest of the tasks.  It was convincing the Israelites that hey should leave the place of their birth ...and employment.  They had to leave the great project, their life's work.  Ultimately,  they do not leave until the Pharoah sends them 

וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְ  When Pharaoh sent the people. 

The Haggadah tells us:

שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מְצֻיָּנִים שָׁם ; the Israelites were exceptional there [in Egypt]

I have no doubt that there were  Hebrews with  extraordinary  insights and plans.  The children of Jacob had come to Egypt because of the brilliant rescue plan of Joseph. 

 I note that both the Tower of Babel and the Egyptian projects involve a  שֵׁ֑ם (shem) a name.  This week's parsha is called Shemoth: names.  The word also means reputation - build a name.  Jews have built a name for themselves  in the great human endeavor: in medicine ( Paul Ehrlich, Jonas Salk and many more) in science ( Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and many more) in politics ( Karl Marx and many more).  The modern Jew is proud of these numerous associations and it is a major connection to the Jewish people.  This role in the great projects is an aspect of  Egypt  that we carry with us.  Our connection to the Torah keeps it from dominating our lives. 

The masthead of the Jewish Daily Forward used to read: Die Befreiung das arbeiter vendt sich in das arbeiter allein: The liberation of the workers depends upon the workers themselves.  Choose your meaning.