וַיָּמׇת יוֹסֵף וְכׇל־אֶחָיו וְכֹל הַדּוֹר הַהוּא׃

And Yosef and all his brothers died, as well as that entire generation. (1:6)

The Midrash comments that these words teach us that the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt (which begins to be told in verse 8) only began once no one was left from the originals that descended to Egypt from Canaan. Why is this important to know? The next verse reads:

וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם׃

The Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, and the land was filled with them. (1:7)

Rabbi Naftoli Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (1816-1893), known as Netziv, in his commentary Ha’amek Davar on the Torah explains that the last words of the verse, “and the land was filled with them” teach us that the not only did the Jewish people fill the area of Goshen where they were originally settled, but they spread out amongst the Egyptians and filled up the entire land of Egypt. Anywhere that there was a space to purchase and occupy, they were there. They were abandoning the plan of their grandfather Yaakov who wanted them to live in Goshen separate from the Egyptians. His descendants wanted to live within Egyptian society.

Not only that, but the Midrash tells us that once Yosef died the Jewish people stopped practicing the mitzvah of Brit Milah, circumcision. Why would Yosef’s death be a catalyst for the abandonment of that important mitzvah? Netziv answers that as long as Yosef was alive he wouldn’t allow the Jewish people to live outside of Goshen. Once he died they had the freedom to live amongst the Egyptians. Their desire to be like the Egyptians they lived amongst led them to abandon Brit Milah. The result of that, says the Midrash, was that Hashem turned the hearts of the Egyptians from loving the Jewish people to despising them and turning them into slaves.

Thus the words, “and the land was filled with them”, are teaching us an important factor in what led to the harsh enslavement of the Jewish people. The Jewish people wanted to assimilate but Hashem would not allow that to happen.

And perhaps this is why it’s important to know that the enslavement began only once all the originals who came to Egypt were gone. They were what prevented the next generation from leaving the protective confines established by their grandfather Yaakov.

This carries a serious lesson for all generations. If we try to assimilate Hashem may interfere and turn those who we thought were our friends against us. We've seen this so many times in our history.

A great sage once made a play on words and said that If we don’t make Kiddush (which translates as sanctification) they (i.e. the nations of the world) will make Havdalah (which translates as separation)!

Conversely, when we see a rise in antisemitism we should take into account a Heavenly message calling us to remain proud and true to who we are.

Shabbat Shalom,
Yitzchak