In this week’s Torah portion Moses attempts to convey the message of freedom to the Children of Israel, and fails.

The Children of Israel don’t hear him due to the hard manual labor. In fact they initially respond to him, but then Pharaoh demands to increase their work load and as a direct result they oppose Moses and forgo the message of freedom which he delivered. Actually, in the Egyptian enslavement case the Children of Israel are willing to change their position only following a remarkable set of miracles, primarily the ten plagues; and even then after the end of the slavery, we find they look back nostalgically towards their period of enslavement:

“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge”

(Numbers 11, 5).

The redemption narrative of the Children of Israel teaches us some fundamentals regarding subjugation and liberation. It points out that a subjugated and oppressed person gets used to his situation and finds it difficult to oppose; it indicates the limits an external force has in empowering from within another’s freedom. Such for instance is the experience of a recurring sexual assault victim, who finds it difficult to stop the situation but rather acknowledges it as part of his daily tapestry of reality. In some cases the victim cannot realize already the subjugation in which he is in and views it as security and an immutable, satisfactory position. The duty of society in this situation isn’t to attack the victim for his behavior, but rather assist him to find the strength within himself and the resources around him which he can use in order to reach a better state. The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire emphasizes this especially:

“This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. The oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power; cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. Any attempt to “soften” the power of the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed almost always manifests itself in the form of false generosity; indeed, the attempt never goes beyond this. In order to have the continued opportunity to express their “generosity,” the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well. An unjust social order is the permanent fount of this “generosity” which is nourished by death, despair, and poverty. That is why the dispensers of false generosity become desperate at the slightest threat to its source. True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the “rejects of life” to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so that these hands — whether of individuals or entire peoples — need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the world.”

Freire emphasizes the concern that the liberator’s engaged activity will become a renewed oppression, and furthermore, that he will derive benefit from the state of injustice. Therefore he asserts that liberation from oppression can only arise from the oppressed himself.

Indeed in Egypt Moses had by his side the supernatural and miracles to liberate the slaves. However, it seems to me the lesson here is that redemption in our world won’t come from the involvement of outer forces but rather only from the power of resistance and uprising of the oppressed themselves. Only when the one suffering objects and opposes the pain and suffering which he experiences, only then can he change it.

Recent Articles by Rabbi Avi Novis Deutsch

• Behar: Not standing idly by - May 10th, 2007
• Shemot: Changing the pain and suffering of the oppressed - January 12th, 2007
• Shemot: The power of resistance - January 11th, 2007
• Eqev: Human Rights and equality - August 11th, 2006
• Rabbi Avi Novis Deutsch - June 8th, 2006
• Vayyiqra: Hurting others and seeking atonement for our failures - March 30th, 2006

Categories: Shemot
Tags: Bo, ease, human rights, order, palestinians, settlers, virtue