Bo – True Justice

By Rabbi Ezra Friedman

In this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us of the climax of the saga of the children of Israel in Egypt. The final plague is inflicted on Pharaoh and his nation, and Am Yisrael receives its very first commandment and the Jewish calendar. In addition, the journey to the Promised Land begins.

Prior to leaving Egypt, Hashem commands Am Yisrael to ask the Egyptians for their valuables. The Egyptians were scared and realized that Am Yisrael was the chosen nation and should not be meddled with. The Egyptians gave their gold and silver utensils to Am Yisrael immediately. They handed over their most precious possessions to those who had been their slaves for centuries.

Why did Am Yisrael need to take the Egyptians’ valuables? At first glance, the situation looks like a form of stealing. Why would the Egyptians give over their belongings unless they were terrified of the consequences if they did not. Many commentators discuss in detail the commandment to Am Yisrael to leave with the Egyptians’ wealth. In this article we will focus on a very important lesson that we can learn from this perplexing request.

As mentioned it might seem unethical for Am Israel to take the Egyptians’ valuables. A potential answer could be that the nation people of Israel felt they wanted some type of revenge and that the Egyptians should suffer financially. However when reviewing the words of our Sages, we see that this idea does not fit. The verse claims (Shemot 11,2):

דַּבֶּר־נָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וְיִשְׁאֲל֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ ׀ מֵאֵ֣ת רֵעֵ֗הוּ וְאִשָּׁה֙ מֵאֵ֣ת רְעוּתָ֔הּ כְּלֵי־כֶ֖סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃

Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.”

The Hebrew word “Na” is superfluous. Normally when giving a command, it would be sufficient to use the simple word “Daber”, which means to speak. Rashi, in the name of our Sages, contends that the word “Na” connotes a gentle request. Hashem, rather than commanding, was requesting. Why is this request different from other commandments? Rav Shimson Raphael Hirsh answers that Am Yisrael felt that that request had no moral basis. The people didn’t need Egypt’s wealth, and they felt no reason to demean the Egyptian people. The reason for the change in Hashem‘s words was to show that there was something much deeper in this request- a hidden message. When Am Yisrael would hear this style of a commandment from Hashem, the people would understand that the purpose of taking Egypt’s wealth was not to steal from the evildoers, but rather something deeper.

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 91A) describes a dialogue between the Jews and the Egyptians during Alexander the Great’s siege of Jerusalem. The Talmud describes the Egyptian nation accusing the Jews of stealing their silver and gold vessels. The people answer by saying that they would happily return the vessels, if Egypt would pay for the work done during the two hundred and ten years of slavery. Alexander the Great turned to the Egyptians who were speechless. The story concludes with the Egyptian nation fleeing its land after not being able to give an acceptable answer to Alexander the Great. The lesson from this story is that Egypt owed Am Yisrael something for the horrific years of slavery. Giving their belongings to Am Yisrael was an act of true justice because it was the right thing to do according to the letter of the law. Am Yisrael‘s years of back-breaking labor deserved restitution and the only sum that would be adequate, was all of Egypt’s wealth.

There is even a deeper message in this payment. The people of Am Yisrael were slaves in Egypt, both physically and mentally. They needed an action to let them know they were no longer slaves and that justice would be served. Perhaps there was no real need for all that wealth. Hashem could have provided them with wealth after they entered Eretz Yisrael. However, Am Yisrael needed to lose the mindset of a slave. As we saw earlier, the people were reluctant because of their mindset. When the people of Am Yisrael were knocking on the doors of their former masters to ask for their golden utensils, they were surely terrified. Nevertheless, when they saw the Egyptians’ acquiescence, they realized that they had the power to influence; to lead and not be led. Claiming the Egyptians’ wealth was surely a statement to both Am Yisrael and the Egyptians that slavery was over and that the tables had clearly turned.

We can learn a modern-day lesson from Hashem‘s command. The Sages claim that those who are merciful to the wicked, will become wicked to the merciful. The idea is that if one lacks the understanding and knowledge of the significance of true justice, there could be a negative effect in other areas. In next week’s Parsha, when Hashem splits the sea, he meted out the punishment that the Egyptians deserved. The question is how would Am Yisrael experience a sense of justice?  In order for the people to internalize the importance of the balance of right and wrong, Hashem insisted that Am Yisrael take Egypt’s wealth. If Am Yisrael had left without Egypt’s golden and silver vessels, the people’s sense of justice might have been warped. They would not value the fact that the world cannot function without a system of justice.  They had to personally see the Egyptians’ faces when they took their valuables.

The fact that Am Yisrael felt no need for revenge is commendable, but if brought the extreme, it could cause people to become unconcerned about need for law and order. This idea is important in today’s world. When Adolf Eichman was sentenced to death in Israel, some Jews from overseas sent a letter to the Israeli government claiming that it would be cruel to execute him. This is, of course, a warped moral perspective and it sprouts from a basic misunderstanding of the principle of justice. There is right and wrong, good and evil. The good and righteous must triumph and evil must be destroyed. Hashem related to Avraham that his nation would suffer as slaves in Egypt and then leave with a bounty of wealth. The same message was told to Moshe. The virtue of a single truth and real justice must be put on a pedestal. That is why it was mentioned numerous times in the Torah even before Am Yisrael left Egypt. Justice must prevail, not only because evil must fall, but for the benefit of the righteous as well. A lack of justice can cause apathy, which is just as dangerous. As Edmund Burke beautifully claimed, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.