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Parshas Shemos
A Torah Thought By Rabbi Aryeh Goldman

The Medrash tells us that from the time that Yosef died until right before they left Mitzraim, the Jewish people didn’t circumcise their children because they wanted the Egyptians to like them.
The Eitz Yosef explains that the Egyptians were friendly with the Jewish people ever since Yosef was their leader because they appreciated everything that Yosef had done for them. However, the fact that the Jewish people had a bris created a barrier in their relationship because it clearly signified that there was a distinct difference between the two groups. Only when the Jewish people stopped performing the bris did they truly feel like one people.
The Medrash tells us that as a result of the Jewish people stopping the bris, Hashem caused the Egyptians to hate them, and that brought about all of the tragic events of the slavery and the holocaust of the Jewish people in Egypt.
The Radal (Rabbi Dovid Luria) explains that the reason that Hashem caused the Egyptians to hate us was not as a punishment for not doing the bris, rather it was an expression of Hashem’s compassion for us. The possibility that we would blend in with the Egyptians and become “as one nation” with them (as the Eitz Yosef says that this was the intended goal of their not performing the bris) would be terrible for the Jews. It was better for the Jews to have them hate us rather than to have the blend in with us!
The Rambam (Deos 6,1) tells us that a person’s nature is to be drawn In his opinions and in his actions after his friends and companions. Therefore, once the Jewish people had become friends and companions with the Egyptians it is likely that they would learn from the culture of the Egyptians, which promoted idol worship and immorality. Therefore, Hashem made the Egyptians hate us so that we would be much less likely to be influenced by their behaviors and their culture.
This Medrash is reminding us about what the purpose of life is and what true success in life is all about. There is infinite value and eternal significance to serving Hashem appropriately, and all of the pain and suffering that the Jewish people went through so that they would be less likely to be derailed from their mission was worth it!!
The fact that the Jewish people gave up on the bris so that they would be fully accepted into the Egyptian society needs to be understood. These were great people, who were very dedicated to serving Hashem properly. They were the direct descendants of Yaakov Avinu. They would not blatantly disregard their responsibility to do the bris without a legitimate reason? Also, they were smart enough to recognize that blending in with the Egyptians could result in being influenced by them to stray from their service of Hashem. If so how could they have blatantly disregarded this danger? It is even strange that they would have wanted to blend in to the Egyptian culture when they knew that it was a morally corrupt culture and it’s allure was based on vanity and emptiness?
It Is clear that the Jewish people had a reason to believe that it was appropriate and necessary for them to try to blend in to the Egyptian society. They may have felt that it was necessary for their safety and therefore they determined that they had a responsibility to protect themselves by trying to be friendly and close to the Egyptians. However, apparently it was actually not necessary and not appropriate for them to do so in this situation.
The Medrash informs us that they were actually influenced by their bias of wanting to fit in and that made them want to become more friendly with their neighbors.
It is important to recognize how much that we are drawn to feel accepted by our neighbors and to realize how dangerous that it is for us to try to be like our neighbors when they are distant from Hashem, the Torah, and morality.
To protect ourselves from being influenced by others it is important to be aware of the negative influences that we have within our lives, and to try to surround ourselves with people who help us to become better people. It is also important for us to have the inner strength to be confident in who we are and to not feel compelled to be like our neighbors when they aren’t acting appropriately.

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