Translator's Summary: The word, וַיָּרֵעוּ, is often translated as, “dealt harshly.” Chida offers seven different interpretations of the word that give us a variety of ways in which the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites: (1) they dealt harshly with us, bringing about an early escape; (2) They treated us like friends - and then turned on us; (3) They dealt harshly through oppression even before they enslaved us; (4) They made us sinners by teaching us their ways; (5) They dealt harshly by imposing demoralizing work on us; (6) They made us become miserly; (7) They forced us to worship idols. Note the clever way Chida began each explanation with the opening words of the passage from the liturgy Ya’aleh V’Yavo: יַעֲלֶה וְיָבֹא וְיַגִּֽיעַ וְיֵרָאֶה וְיֵרָצֶה וְיִשָּׁמַע וְיִפָּקֵד. There really isn’t a good translation for these words - they are simply used to count the different explanations, though I have tried to reflect each word below. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us… This passage is a continuation of the previous verse, “And they became a nation, great and mighty.” This alludes to the reason for their early departure from Egypt as a result of their proliferation. When it stated, va’rav, “And populous,” it implies that since they became prolific, one applies the principle that a commandment of the many overruled the decree, “They shall serve them,” (Gen. 15:13) as Rabbi Eliezer taught. This is what is being stated: “And populous:” they shall become many…''And they dealt harshly (vayareiu) with us:” This expression is refers to evil and sinners.¹²⁵ In other words, they tried to make us wicked and sinful, vayareiu so that we would descend into the fiftieth gate of impurity and so become impure. So, (here is how they hoped to accomplish this):¹²⁶ recited on Rosh Hodesh: Ya’aleh vayvo vayagi’a...

footnotes: ¹²⁵ Translate the expression vayarei’u, as they tried to make us wicked… ¹²⁶ Note that the first words of the next several paragraphs are also the opening words of the passage in the Amidah

(1) Let us raise the first explanation of Vayarei’u, “they dealt harshly,” as stated above. Israel increased so that the many would guarantee that they did not become impure and enter the fiftieth gate of impurity. In this way they escaped the decree, “And they shall serve them.” Their increase caused them to go forth before the allotted time. “And they oppressed them,” the Egyptians caused suffering to our souls; they embittered our lives. This brought about Israel’s redemption. It is similar to the law of not causing unnecessary suffering to animals in the Torah. “They imposed heavy labor upon us,” should be understood just as it is stated. The main reason Israel was redeemed was because the harshness of the slavery completed the 400 years. Then, “We cried out...And God heard our plea…”

(2) One can come up with a second explanation of this expression. At first, Pharaoh spoke with a soft tongue (b’feh rakh) and in the end he imposed upon them with harshness (b’farekh). This is what Scripture states was the wickedness of Egypt and the meaning of *vayareiu - “*They dealt harshly with us.” Vayareiu is also related to the word *rei’im ahuvim, “*beloved friends,” as is it is interpreted in the Zohar Chadash:¹²⁷ Ruth 333 - אַל תִּגְעוּ בִּמְשִׁיחָי וּבִנְבִיאַי אַל תָּרֵעוּ. מַאי אַל תָּרֵעוּ אַל תַּעֲשׂוּ עַצְמֵיכֶם רֵעִים וַחֲבֵרִים לִנְבִיאָי. Tarei’u is said to come from the word rei’ah, friend. Al tareiu is interpreted similar to the verse, “Don’t make yourself friends with my prophets.” Scripture says vayareiu otanu hamitzrim, which is taken to mean the Egyptians became our friends with a soft tongue - they said one thing and they had seventy seven abominations in their hard hearts. But Israelites were so good that they believed the Egyptians’ words were true and they were able to seduce Israel with their slippery tongues. In this way the Egyptians were able to trap and enslave Israel with rigor, against their will and not for their own good. When Scripture says vayareiu - they showed us friendship and love and in the end vayanunu, they oppressed us, with hard labor.

footnotes: ¹²⁷ See Zohar Chadash Midrash

(3) Here is another approach for interpreting: *Vayareiu otanu hamitzrim, “*The Egyptians dealt harshly with us.” If you ask, why are we accusing the Egyptians? Didn’t God decree, “They shall serve them and oppress them?” To this we say, “Incline your ear and listen to the words of the All-Merciful.” God said “They shall serve them and oppress them.” In other words when they are enslaved they may oppress them to get them to do their work. The enslavement came before the oppression to teach that slavery comes first and in this position of strength the Egyptians could use oppression. In their wickedness the Egyptians did not do this. It states that first they oppressed them and then they enslaved them. This was to teach us that the Egyptians oppressed Israel separately from enslaving them. The Egyptians' primary goal was to oppress the Israelites. As we say, the forced separation of the men and women was a form of oppression. The Maggid comments on this: “God saw our oppression - this is the forced separation of men and women.” Before they even enslaved them, the Egyptians began ‘oppressing them,’ so the oppression was separate from slavery. In their wickedness, they used hard labor as a form of oppression. Therefore, I have explained vayreiu otanu hamitzrim to mean that they dealt harshly with us of their own accord, even though God did not command them to do so. This is the meaning of the verse, “He made His people very fruitful, more numerous than His foes (mitzarav).” (Ps 105:24) God caused the Israelites to proliferate so that the wicked plans of the Egyptians (Separating husbands and wives) would not come to be. Because the Israelite women were righteous, God caused them to reproduce and proliferate as mentioned in the first chapter of Masechet Sota.¹²⁸ This is the meaning of “more than His foes (mitzarav).” (Ps. 105:24)¹²⁹ translate it “Because of his foes,” for they made the slavery heavy and oppressed them with hard labor. Therefore, “they oppressed them” was the reason for slavery. This is the plain sense meaning of the verse: after slavery, oppression is written since the oppression was an expression of the slavery, and not separate from it. If that is so, why did they separate husbands from wives? It would be enough with one type of oppression. That is why God made them, “More numerous than His foes.” This is how the author of Dat VaDin¹³⁰ explained, “When they oppressed them so they increased and spread out.” (Ex. 1:12)

footnotes: ¹²⁸ See BT Sota 11b ¹²⁹ Not that the word for than his foes is מצריו mitzarav which is very close to מִּצְרִים mitzrayim ¹³⁰ Possibly a book by Eliezer ben Nissim but Uncertain.

Reflecting on both interpretations, one can explain, “When they oppressed them,” as “they took their wealth and they ruled over their bodies with hard labor,” following the advice of Job, as the Zohar states (Parshat Bo, 33a). If this is so, then V’eenu can be from the word aniyut, they impoverish them. But if that is so, then we cannot explain, “They oppressed them” as meaning the forced separation of husbands and wives… This is an example of the explanations of the author of Dat VaDin: “They oppressed us,” (Deut, 26:6) - they made us poor. If that is correct then it is related to poverty. There is no oppression greater than this - for poverty is more bitter than death. Scripture states, “Because of that you have been tried by affliction.” (Job 36:21) Commenting on this verse the sages said, “Therefore poverty is the worst form of all suffering.¹³¹ It wasn’t enough that they impoverished them. They also imposed hard labor upon them so that one form of oppression led to another. If this is correct then I have spoken well when I said, “The Egyptians dealt harshly with us,” to mean that the Egyptians imposed various acts and abominations upon Israel to deal harshly with them of their own volition. (Not because God decreed it.)

footnotes: ¹³¹ See Exodus Rabbah 31:12

(4) It appears that there are sages who interpreted this expression to mean that the Egyptians tried to teach Israel to sin by instructing them in their evil ways, by worshiping other gods and other such acts. This gave Egypt the power to rule over them and oppress them through the forces of evil which seduced Israel. Sin became an accuser in heaven so that they could not move forward until judgement rose up from against Egypt. This is stated in the Holy Zohar. That is meant to show the wickedness and sins of Egypt. It followed the example of the aggressor who attacks the land (Nu. 10:9), he is Satan who is the evil inclination, causing one to fall in sin. He then accused them before God and sought to put them to death. This is the meaning of “Egypt made us evil.” It doesn’t see lanu, “Us,” but otanu, so that expression means, “Egypt sought to make us wicked evil doers.” They seduced us to make us leave the ways of our holy ancestors, the way of Torah, trying to make us follow their actions. When we refused, they oppressed us and lorded over us with hard labor.

(5) If one wants, one can explain this passage according to the comments of the author of Ir Benyamin¹³² on the first chapter of Sota.¹³³ 11b It is stated there, “Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: They made them do work befarekh. This means Egyptians would exchange the responsibilities of men and women, giving men’s work to women and women’s work to men.” According to those who say that the word b’farekh comes from b’feh rakh, this is certainly crushing labor (perikhah).¹³⁴ This was certainly devised by the sinners to cause Israel to fall into promiscuity. God hates sexual obsenity; therefore, they set up men to teach the women and women to teach the men so that they would be acclimated to sin. This is also taught in the Mishnah: “A bachelor may not act as a teacher of children, nor may a woman act as a teacher of children.”¹³⁵ 4:13 Here it became necessary for a man to teach his skill to women and a skilled woman to teach the men. According to those who explain the word b’farekh (with oppression) as b’feh rakh (with soft words) and in the end b’frikhah, this was meant to be crushing oppression. It is impossible that this means “with soft words,” as if Israel desired this. For Israel is holy, and the sages say: “Stops his eyes from looking at evil,” (Isaiah 33:15) “This refers to one who does not look at women when they stand over the laundry at the river.¹³⁶ According to the explanation of the Maggid, “And populous: as it is stated, “I let you grow like the plants of the field.”” We have explained this verse to mean, as various types of herbs did not mix with one another, so the Israelites did not mix. This implies that they grew separately so that they didn’t come to sin. And is stated, “And there they became a great nation,” not engaging in promiscuity and keeping a standard of purity. Even when the Egyptians tried to make us wicked by looking at women in order to learn from them, they might come to sin, as it stated above, “A bachelor may not teach… Furthermore, “They oppressed us:” by separating husbands and wives,” with the purpose of causing them to sin. This was also not done with “soft words,” but rather with crushing oppression. For their souls were wrapped up with their wives to make sure that they did not sin. And this was the reason for, “And we cried out...and God heard…” It is why the Maggid said, “Our oppression,” - this is the forced separation of husbands and wives; and “Our labor,” means work, making men performed women’s work and women perform men’s work,” to cause us to sin “And our pressure:” This was certainly crushing oppression.”

footnotes: ¹³² Binyamin Zeev Wolf ben Shmuel, Frankfurt an der Oder, 1698 ¹³³ BT Sota ¹³⁴ That is, it was demoralizing. ¹³⁵ Mishnah Kiddushin ¹³⁶ BT Makkot 24a

(6) I have heard another explanation for this passage from Rabbeinu Baachya. He explains that Israel was subjugated in Egypt because they became miserly (tzarei ayin). This expression has the numerical value of 430. They learned this behavior from the Egyptians, the source of the demonic realm. As a result the Israelites did not show generosity and were cheap (ra ayin) whose gematria is 400. As is stated, “They shall be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years.” As a result, they fell into the hands of the Egyptians because “You caused us to wander because of our iniquities.” (Is. 64:6) “The Egyptians made us evil,” though we are the children of Abraham, the most generous person who filled the world with kindness, but we went down to Egypt who were just like their name. They became miserlym Tzari Ayin living amongthe Egyptians (Mitzarim). They refused to support the poor and the needy. Thus, we began to practice this transgression, and we became like them, becoming miserly. It was because of this that they were able to strike and oppress Israel.

(7) One may visit another interpretation based on the Yalkut,¹³⁷ or simply the Yalkut, is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Bible. It is a compilation of older interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, arranged according to the sequence of those portions of the Bible to which they referred. Parshat Behaalotecha, based on the verse, “It was evil in the eyes of God.” (Jud. 4:1) Evil is always a reference to idolatry. It is well known that Israel was forced to worship idols as the Holy One said to the angelic prince of Egypt who came to make claims against Israel and accusing them of worshiping idols. This also teaches us that Israel was judged as Noahides. This sin did not endanger their status as a people of God. According to this, Abraham did not acquire the land by traveling about ¹³⁸ since Noahides cannot acquire land of Israel through usucaption since then it could have been called “A land not their own.” If that was the case then the 400 years of subjugation could be counted from the birth of Isaac, when they were sojourning in the land of Canaan. The statement, “The Egyptians dealt harshly with us, should be translated “The Egyptians made us wicked by forcing us to worship idols. But since this was forced on Israel, they were judged as God’s children who are not obligated to give their lives for the sanctification of God's name. According to this explanation, the sojourn began with Isaac and his sons. It was with them that slavery was established. Thus, when it says “They placed hard labor upon us,” it is problematic since the decree of sojourn was placed on others, removing it from the 400 years. “And we cried out to Adonai, the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - they were the beginning of the sojourn. And God heard our voices, for the time had come to complete 400 years. And now we will return to the words of the Maggid.

footnotes: ¹³⁷ Yalkut Shimoni ¹³⁸ Usucaption is a method by which ownership of property (i.e. title to the property) can be gained by possession of it beyond the lapse of a certain period of time (acquiescence). While usucaption has been compared with adverse possession (that is, squatting), the true effect of usucaption is to remedy defects in title.Tor

Translator's Summary: Though וַיָּרֵעוּ**** in Deut. 26:6, “dealt harshly …” is translated as a verb of action “to deal harshly” the commentary reads it differently. The verse from Ex. 1:10 understands the word as an internal attempt to plan for Israel’s demise, “Let us deal wisely.” This leads the Maggid to two conclusions. First, the Egyptians plan was not only to oppress but to find ways to bring about Israel’s downfall. And second, the Egyptians’ actions were part of a concerted plan on their part to destroy Israel. They were guilty not only for what they did but for creating a scheme to bring about Israel’s and God’s downfall. Chida uses a legal concept to make this argument. While Israel gains credit for good intentions and is not guilty of bad intentions, non-Jews are responsible for bad intentions but do not receive credit for good intentions. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us, as it is stated, “Let us be shrewd toward them…” (Ex. 1:10)**** Let us examine this verse; It is brought to reflect the thinking of Egypt. They thought, “Lest they increase…” (Ex. 1:10) This is meant to explain why, “The Egyptians dealt harshly…” One might think that the Maggid chose this verse because subjugation was not a result of Egypt; it was God’s decree. That is why the Maggid states: “The Egyptians dealt harshly,” as it says, “Let us be shrewd toward them…” the purpose was to test if Egypt planned to fulfill God’s decree or if their actions were unrelated to God. Rather the Egyptians intended to act against God, as the sages explain in Masechet Sota,¹³⁹ ““Let us be shrewd with Him (lo).” It should have said lahem, “With them” (lahem). Rather it says “With Him,” (lo), with the Savior of Israel. This makes explicit that the actions of Egypt were not part of God’s decree. Rather “God redeems them from fraud and lawlessness.” (Ps 72:14) The Egyptians presumed that since it was permissible to light a fire for one purpose (to oppress Israel)¹⁴⁰ it was permissible to act shrewdly against God, the Savior of Israel. Now we can better understand the verse, “Egypt dealt harshly with us.” In their wickedness they rose up against Israel but it was not to fulfill God’s decree. That is why the Maggid states, “Egypt dealt harshly….Let us be shrewd with Him.” It purposely departed the plain meaning of the verse because their intention was not written but to deal shrewdly with Israel’s Savior.

footnotes: ¹³⁹ BT Sota 11a ¹⁴⁰ BT Ketubot 7a דְּמִתּוֹךְ שֶׁהוּתְּרָה הַבְעָרָה לְצוֹרֶךְ הוּתְּרָה נָמֵי שֶׁלֹּא לְצוֹרֶךְ

Another interpretation: the Maggid tells us that the Torah could have been more exact in its choice of words. The Torah could have stated, “The Egyptians oppressed us.” Why does the Torah say “They dealt harshly with us,” implying oppression? What was missing in the verse that the Maggid interprets “The Egyptian dealt harshly with us,” to mean, “Let us deal shrewdly…” The sages said, “With regard to non-Jews, God links evil thoughts with actions but He does not link good thoughts to actions. With regard to Jews the Holy One links good thoughts to actions but God does not link bad thoughts to actions.”¹⁴¹ 39b-40a This may be the intention of the verse, “And the Israelites went and did so; just as Adonai had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did,” (Ex 12:28) Rashi comments, “Scripture enumerates their going also, to give them a reward for going (halichah) and a reward for doing (asiyah). Because they had been idolaters, Israel was not given credit for their good thoughts. Yet, once they were commanded, “Draw out, and take you lambs,” (Ex 12:21) and they were commanded to be circumcised and accept the Torah with gladness, Scripture teaches that God’s compassion increased and they were considered Israelites. Then they were given credit not only for their actions but for their their intentions (halichah) . This is the meaning of the final words of the verse, “So they did,” (Ex. 12:28) though they appear to be redundant. The verse is meant to teach us that their thoughts and their intentions were all considered a form of ‘doing.’ That is why the verse states Vayarei’u, “They dealt harshly with us,” this word applies to the thoughts of the Egyptians. The evil thoughts of the Egyptians were considered like their actions while, vayanunu, “They oppressed us,” applies to actions. Both of them are linked to evil actions. That is what the Maggid is trying to tell us. “They dealt harshly with us, as it is written, Let us be shrewd with them.” This is referring to the evil plans of the Egyptians. Scripture held them liable for their thoughts as if they actually did them because actions and thoughts are linked for idolaters.

footnotes: ¹⁴¹ Based on the Discussion in BT Kiddushin