וַיְעַנּ֑וּנוּVa’yanunu:“And oppressed us.” One should know that the actions of Pharaoh and the Egyptians were planned with great shrewdness. God’s words to Abraham in the Covenant of the Pieces were not ignored , “And they shall be enslaved and oppressed.” (Gen. 15:13) Therefore they began to fulfill God’s word by placing heavy taxes and tributes upon them so that they would become impoverished. The possessions of the entire nation were reduced, similar to what the sages stated, “Like a lily among thorns…” (Song 2:2) “Just as a lily, when it is situated among the thorns, a north wind blows and tilts it and the thorn pierces it, a south wind blows and tilts it and a thorn pierces it, a west wind blows and tilts it and a thorn pierces it, and so with the four directions…”¹¹⁵ 23:4 and Song of Songs 2:2 for two variations on this Midrash. It strikes me, that Rabbi Foa was quoting these texts from memory both here and elsewhere in the commentary and so he changes the actual version of the Midrash So, it was with the people of Israel; they made their homes subjugated among the nations. These ones said to them, “Give us taxes (פִּיסִּים)!”¹¹⁶, cmp. Lat. tributum,] taxes, esp. pissim, pissin, name of a Roman tax laid on the community and distributed by the latter according to assessments, Jastrow. and these ones said to them, “Give us your appointed service (זימון)!” and these ones said to them, “Give us your tribute!” and these ones said, “Give us your head tax.” (גִּלְגּוּלֵ). Thus, they were like a lily among the thorns. Similarly, when they rented them houses they charged them ten times the amount compared to what they would charge gentiles. They did the same with anything they sold them. (Akh) “They neither know nor understand, they go about in darkness,” (Ps. 82:5) God said, first, “They shall enslave them,” and afterwards, “They shall oppress them.” (Gen. 15:13) (Because they did it the other way around - first oppressing and then enslaving) the Egyptians never succeeded. They did just the opposite.¹¹⁷ The more they oppressed them, “the more the Israelites increased and spread out.” In other words the more they oppressed Israel the more the Egyptians enriched the Israelites.” The word yifrotz יִפְרֹ֑ץ comes from the verse, “the man grew exceedingly prosperous פְרֹ֥ץ הָאִ֖ישׁ,” (Gen. 30:43) which is said about Jacob. The Egyptians then saw that their decrees did not have an effect and their actions turned against Egypt. The wealth that they took from the Israelites actually destroyed the wealth of the Egyptians, as is written, “the more they increased and spread out,” (Gen. 1:12) this is to be interpreted, “The more the Israelites’s wealth increased and the more the possessions of the Egyptians were lost,” based on the verse,פָּרַ֖צְתָּ עָלֶ֣יךָ פָּ֑רֶץ “What a breach you have made for yourself!” (Gen. 38:29) This was especially true for Pharaoh who had the intention of building a treasury, and it turned into garrison cities עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙¹¹⁸, מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ and sakanah, which means danger. which became a danger to the Egyptians. As a result, “the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites,” (Ex. 1:12) that is, the loss of their wealth caused the Egyptians pain that was like thorns in one’s flesh. Therefore, the Egyptians took counsel and decided to leave their wealth and only to enslave them. As it is written, “The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed slavery upon the Israelites and they made their lives bitter with hard labor…” (Ex. 1:13-14) From this point forward, the Egyptians only imposed hard labor and slavery are mentioned. It also says, “The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out… their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God.” (Ex.2:23) And if you say, “, “I have marked well the oppression עֳנִ֥י of My people in Egypt…” (Ex. 3:7),¹¹⁹ I have already answered this question in Goren Arnon: two explanations of the word עֳנִ֥י are offered. One is imposed upon them. עֳנִ֥י is an allusion to exile besides the exile experienced in Egypt, as God said, “I will be what I will be,” (Ex. 3:14) which the sages explained as, “I will be with them in this exile and I will be with them in other exiles.” See what I wrote there at length. And even if it was their intention to do this evil to Israel by oppressing them, they were not able to, “oppressed us,” since the Holy One combines thought with action…and even more so when the thoughts involve action.¹²⁰

footnotes: ¹¹⁵ See Vayikra Rabbah ¹¹⁶ [distributions ¹¹⁷ Instead of enslaving and oppressing the Israelites as is stated in Genesis 15:13, first Egyptians oppressed them and then they enslaved them. ¹¹⁸ Some translate the expression as store cities. Here Rabbi Foa plays on the connection between miskenot ¹¹⁹ He just said that “Oppression” wasn’t mentioned once they enslaved him and yet here we do find mention of the oppression brought upon the Israelites. ¹²⁰ I am uncertain about the last section of this passage. Possibly, Rabbi Foa is saying that thoughts of oppression are the same as actual oppression because they lead to action, and therefore the Egyptians were punished for their “thoughts.”

Aray Miskanot: Store Cities. The expression עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ “garrison/storage cities,” is derived from the wordsakanah, danger, since the builders were in constant danger. The ground was moist so that if one built a tall building it would not remain standing. When the Israelites built a tall and lofty building according to Pharaoh’s will they were constantly afraid that the walls would collapse on them. God performed wonders, so that the buildings only collapsed at night. That is why they called the place Pithom, from Pi Tehom, the mouth of the abyss swallowed it up.

Ramses: “They (the garrisons) collapsed [mitroses] one by one.”¹²¹ 11a, Shemot Rabbah 1:10 The rest of “Egypt enslaved them… ruthlessly... with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.” (Ex. 1:13-14) When the verse states, “Egypt enslaved them,” instead of “They enslaved them,” it teaches that many Egyptians together would command one Israelite. They did so with cruelty, בְּפָֽרֶךְ b’farekh (ruthlessly). It was in this way that they made their lives bitter. Further, since it says, וַיַּעֲבִ֧דוּ vaya’avidu, “they enslaved,” (Ex. 1:13) it teaches that they acted according to their law, which states that a master can say to his servant, “Do as I say or I won’t feed you!” Thus, even though the Israelites were not the property of the Egyptians they subjugated them and refused to feed them, as is stated in Scripture, “We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt…” (Num. 11:5) If the Egyptians had given it to them as payment for their efforts, it would not have been free. Rather, the Egyptians dismissed the Israelites with nothing! The fish that the Egyptians threw at them were already dead fish, as implied wherever the word daga, fish, is used. They would take it without payment as is implied by the word chinam, free.

footnotes: ¹²¹ See BT Sota