וַיְעַנּ֑וּנוּ וַיִּתְּנ֥וּ עָלֵ֖ינוּ Vayitnu alaynu, They placed upon us: (Deut. 26:6) They placed hard labor on the Israelites both at home and in the field. At home they would cut wood, move rocks, and other such work. They were burdens that they carried on their shoulders. And the work of building which is explicitly stated in Scripture: “With mortar and bricks…” (Ex. 1:14)

“With mortar” (Ex. 1:14) because the land in Egypt was moist, it was not stable so that the Israelites had to seek dry earth to combine with the moist earth. They then had to knead them together in order to make it stable.

“And with bricks” (Ex. 1:14) - They place a daily quota of bricks, according to the number that they made on the first day when they asked with “a gentle tongue” (peh rakh), so that they would work quickly, saying the matter is urgent for the King, and that he, in his great majesty was also helping. They assumed that they would only have to help on the first day. As a result they all helped out with all their might in order to curry favor with the king. The Egyptians then obligated the Israelites to bring the same quantity every day.

“And with all manners of work in the field…” (Ex. 1:14) digging trenches, plowing, seeding, planting, pruning, winnowing, and herding the flocks. “With hard labor”- it is the practice of shepherds to attend to the flocks in one place, cattle in another, horses in yet another because the cattle won’t graze in the same place as the flocks because of the smell of what they leave behind. And when they are together in one place one group goes to one area and the other to another area so that they can find grazing land that is good for them. TheMidrash says that the Egyptians insisted on grazing all five types of animals together: horses, donkey’s, camels, cattle, and sheep. This made it especially hard to watch over all of them together. The Egyptians also commanded them to go to places without trees so they couldn’t stand guard in the shade. Further, the Egyptians didn't allow them to cool off with pickled foods and vegetables which are good to have in the heat. They enslaved them also at night by placing torches and lamps before them (so they could continue to work). (Od) Furthermore, the Egyptians told the Israelites to collect insects and reptiles like crabs, frogs and the like. The Israelites were careful not to eat them and it was difficult to hunt for them. The Egyptians told them to hunt for bears and lions. Another type of hard labor mentioned in the Midrash involved men doing women's jobs and women doing men's jobs. This was hard labor even when the labor was less strenuous. It is hard for one to do a job who doesn’t know how to do it. Further, since it says, “They ruthlessly enslaved the Israelites,” (Ex. 1:13) and not, “They enslaved them,” it implies that it was Egypt’s intention to first enslave the most important Israelites. It also states, בְּפָֽרֶךְ “Ruthlessly, and they embittered their lives…” (Ex. 1:13-14) to teach us that the Egyptians sought to make them feel disgust in their food and drink things that were to eat. Their bread was made filthy with mortar as is stated in the Zohar. It seems to me that they made their food detestable by forcing them to scrape and clean their privies when they were about to eat. This is hinted at in the abbreviation of בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּפָֽרֶךְ Bnei Yisrael B’farekh**- בִּיב** (sewer) and juxtaposed to this is the verse, “And they embittered their lives.” In other words, that which maintains life - food was made bitter for them because of the terrible stench which followed them from the drainage ditches.