Parshat Shemot: From Pharaoh to President (a Response to this Past Week's Riots in Washington)

This week’s parashah is Shemot (Shemot/Exodus 1:1 - 6:1). Shemot means names and it begins with a list of the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt with Jacob after reuniting with his beloved son Joseph. The Israelites then multiply greatly in numbers until we are told that a new king/Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. He was afraid that the Israelites were becoming too powerful and so he enslaved them. Not remembering that their ancestor Joseph was the one who saved Egypt from famine he had no problem exercising his royal prerogative to do this.

Why did Pharaoh fear the Israelites so much that he enslaved them? Perhaps it was not that he didn’t remember Joseph, but that he chose to erase him from history. Perhaps he intentionally desired to forget the past. He wanted to be in complete control. He wanted to be the only person the people thought about. And knew that the Israelites, not only because of their numbers, but because the people remembered their ancestor Joseph, were a threat to him. The word used to describe the Israelites literally means that they “swarmed” the land. The same word was used to describe insects who desired to devour everything around them. That is how Pharaoh saw the Israelites and what led him to erase the memory of Joseph and enslave his descendants.  

Erasing the past and creating a new reality enabled him to convince his subjects that the Israelites were a danger and not real Egyptians. He convinced them to fear the swarming of the Israelites. So they assisted Pharaoh in his new endeavor, which was based on fear, a need for power, a disregard of and disrespect for the past, and the desire to create a new society which satisfied the Pharaoh’s megalomaniacal wishes.

Some things never change. We saw the proof this past Wednesday when the President of the United States fomented a crowd of followers and urged them to riot and storm the Capitol building. This was the logical conclusion of the last two months in which he created the false narrative of a stolen election. It was also the logical conclusion of the last 4+ years during which this president chose to erase the past, create an alternative reality, and encourage his followers that there were “others” trying to destroy their country. There were “others” trying to come here illegally and ruin our way of life, “others” who wanted to create a socialist of communist country, “others” who dared to claim that our country was built on racism, and worst of all, “others” who did not think that he was the greatest president of all time whose only concern was the welfare of our great country and its people.

Both he and Pharaoh believed the reality that they created in their minds and that they were under attack, and by extension, the country. Pharaoh forgot that Joseph, himself initially a slave brought to Egypt against his will, was responsible for the salvation of Egypt and the development of its great economy. The current president forgot that slaves brought here against their will from Africa, were responsible for the economic success of our country. He forgot that immigrants from all over the world, some who arrived legally and others who did not, were responsible, together with the descendants of African slaves, for the continued success of our country. Therefore, rather than fighting against the forces of white supremacy which tried to keep those populations either enslaved or oppressed, he denied that white supremacy even existed and created a fictional narrative in which those who have been oppressed, along with white people who supported them, were responsible for the “carnage” in America. And they would be our ultimate downfall if he did not save “us” from “them.”

He saw these oppressed as a swarm trying to take the country away from “real” Americans, the white and the wealthy. From these beliefs he stoked people’s fears and created swarms of white supremacists and xenophobes who were truly dangerous. This past week we truly saw them in action. We saw them swarming the Capitol building and attempting to overtake the symbol of American freedom and democracy. We saw the unavoidable results of the unethical actions of the man that currently resides in the White House. 

Of course, we know that the freedom and democracy represented by the Capitol has always been beyond the reach of many of the oppressed in our country. And yet it represents the potential for America to truly someday become one nation with liberty and justice for all. But that is not what the modern Pharaoh and his followers want.

The chilling presence of a confederate flag in the Capitol, a hangman’s noose on the grounds, and people wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “Camp Auschwitz” and SMWNE (Six Million Were Not Enough) is proof of what so many of them and their leader truly believed. 

Yet, in the end, I don’t think that either Pharaoh or the president really cared about the good of the people or the country except for how they could be of benefit to them and their family. By stoking the fears of many, both men believed that they would be assured of their sycophants’ loyalty, otherwise they couldn’t amass power and receive accolades, even though neither man didn’t truly care about them. They only cared for maintaining their status and their power.
Of course, we know that eventually Pharaoh and his minions learn that they are not really in power. God shows them who’s the real boss and Pharaoh is eventually fired. This doesn’t occur until the people are either mourning the loss of their first born, trying to recover from the decimation of their land, or drowning in the sea.

But what will become of those following their modern day Pharaoh? When he eventually leaves office I assume that most of them will still believe the false narrative that he has created. They will still see real science and real news as fake  and dangerous lies as truth. They will continue to believe revisionist history and current events.

We also don’t know what happened to Pharaoh after his army was drowned? One can imagine that he hid himself away, embarrassed and dejected. Or perhaps he rewrote the history and told the people that the army had defeated all the Israelites and so he gave them a long holiday to relax and celebrate. That’s certainly what the current president would have done if he were in that position.

But he is in that position. He has been defeated, though he refuses to admit it. Who knows what he is going to tell the swarms of people who still follow him after he leaves Washington? And who knows what he might do before then in order to wreak havoc on our country?

We don’t have God leading Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. We are not going to see a miracle. But we can hope that together with our new democratically elected leaders (which is real, not fake, history) they will find a way to act in a godly way. They will turn not only to their supporters, but even to those who see them as enemies, and work to eventually bring redemption to our country.

They will work to put us back on the path of righteousness. The path which will eventually lead to the realization of the dreams represented by the Capitol. They will work towards the creation of a country with true liberty and justice for ALL.

The journey will not be easy. Pharaoh is not going off into the sunset. His followers will not immediately see the light and change their ways. But we must never give up hope. We must remember that together we can split the sea of hatred, and division and reach the other side. But it can only happen if we realize that we are all America and America is all of us. That is what is waiting on the other side of the sea. Let us hope that we reach it speedily and in our days. 
All of us.