Miller's Musings Parshas Vayigash: What is there to fear?

בס''ד

Everyone is scared of something, so what was Yaakov scared of? From the manner in which Hashem tells Yaakov “Do not be afraid to descend to Egypt”, it would appear that this is what Yaakov dreaded.  Yaakov we know was not one to be fearful in the face of danger.  He had tangled with the master of deception Lovon, he had fought and vanquished an Angel, he had faced the might and fury of his warrior brother Eisov, so what was it that he so feared about Egypt?  And what was it about the nature of Egypt, that despite a surely rational reason for anxiety, meant their sojourn there was still an absolute necessity?

It is an obvious truth that if Yaakov was afraid of an aspect of Egypt, it was in regard to the spiritual challenges it held.  To think that Yaakov would simply be distressed about some material danger would not make sense since he was a man of such extreme trust in Hashem’s infinite good.  The fear Yaakov had must have been due to the tremendously depraved nature of the country he was heading towards and in the moral corruption of its people.  He was not worried for his life but for the impact such a place would have on his family.  The Seforno provides Hashem’s response to his unease, that the risks of staying in Canaan were in fact greater.  It is true that the Egyptians were a decadent people, but the fact that they despised the Jews meant that there would be much less threat of assimilation.  This is in contrast to the nation of Canaan, who may have been less of a danger in terms of their spiritual negativity, but were more of danger because of the heightened risk of his family being absorbed by the surrounding peoples, who did not possess the hatred the Egyptians had for them.

Trying to get the root of antisemitism is seemingly an exercise in futility.  Each hypothesis suggested can be quickly dismissed once it becomes clear that antisemitism existed even when this proposed cause was clearly lacking.  To take one example, if antisemitism was due to the differences in our way of life, why did it still rear its ugly head even when Jews strove to become a homogeneous part of society? Perhaps the message here goes some way to explaining this phenomena, that the hatred some have for us is Hashem’s way of ensuring our survival as a people.  It is this irrational hatred that to some degree keeps us a distinct nation, maintaining our core values, beliefs and proud identity, in spite of the influence of the outside world. It may in fact be what has kept us, us. 

*May Shabbos instil us with pride in who we are and what we believe*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון