Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
(ח) וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃
A new king rose up over Egypt who did not know Yosef.
In the next few pesukim, we hear that this king is concerned that Benei Yisrael might rebel. So he decides to make Benei Yisrael into slaves.
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder: Yosef was so famous! Is it really possible the new king hadn’t heard of him? Or could the words in our pasuk have another meaning?
עָשָׂה עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ לֹא יְדָעוֹ.
The new king acted as if he didn’t know about Yosef.
- Why might the new king have wanted to pretend he didn’t know about Yosef?
- Rashi thinks our pasuk is giving us information about the character of the new king. What is his character, according to this interpretation? Does this understanding of the king fit with the other things we know about him from our parashah?
אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהָיָה זִכָּרוֹן מִמֶּנּוּ בְּדִבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לַמְּלָכִים בְּלִי סָפֵק, בִּפְרָט בְּעִנְיַן הַחֹמֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר שָׂם לְחֹק, לֹא עָלְתָה עַל לֵב הַמֶּלֶךְ הֶחָדָשׁ אֶפְשָׁרוּת הֱיוֹתוֹ מִזֶּה הָעָם, וְשֶׁהָיָה עַם זֶה רָאוּי לָשֵׂאת פָּנִים לְעַמּוֹ בַּעֲבוּרוֹ.
Yosef was mentioned in the kings’ history books, especially the laws he had made that saved Egypt from famine. But the new king didn’t realize Yosef had come from this nation (Benei Yisrael), and that it would have been appropriate to treat this nation with special consideration because of Yosef.
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