(ג) וְאֵ֖ת שְׁנֵ֣י בָנֶ֑יהָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאֶחָד֙ גֵּֽרְשֹׁ֔ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר גֵּ֣ר הָיִ֔יתִי בְּאֶ֖רֶץ נׇכְרִיָּֽה׃ (ד) וְשֵׁ֥ם הָאֶחָ֖ד אֱלִיעֶ֑זֶר כִּֽי־אֱלֹהֵ֤י אָבִי֙ בְּעֶזְרִ֔י וַיַּצִּלֵ֖נִי מֵחֶ֥רֶב פַּרְעֹֽה׃
(3) and her two sons—of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, “I have been a stranger*stranger Heb. ger. in a foreign land”; (4) and the other was named Eliezer,*Eliezer Lit. “(My) God is help.” meaning, “The God of my father’s [house] was my help, delivering me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
וַיִּקְרָ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם הַבְּכ֖וֹר מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה כִּֽי־נַשַּׁ֤נִי אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־עֲמָלִ֔י וְאֵ֖ת כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית אָבִֽי׃ וְאֵ֛ת שֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖י קָרָ֣א אֶפְרָ֑יִם כִּֽי־הִפְרַ֥נִי אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּאֶ֥רֶץ עׇנְיִֽי׃
Joseph named the first-born Manasseh, meaning, “God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home.” And the second he named Ephraim, meaning, “God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction.”
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld
Stranger in a Strange Land: Yitro 5782
Both Moshe and Yoseph name their sons as a way to make sense of their experiences living in the heart of a vast non-Jewish empire which was a site of both great peril and great opportunity to each of them. And their subjective experiences of Egypt colored their evaluation of Egypt. Yoseph remained appreciative of the empire in which he overcame the hatred of his brothers and attained great power and wealth and prestige. Moshe, ignorant of his own Jewish birth, grows up with every privilege imaginable as a member of a royal household, before recognizing that Egypt is an evil empire and a land where Jewish life has no future.
Who is right? They are both right because they encountered Egypt in different times in which different political forces were dominant. If Yoseph had seen the world the way Moshe did he would not have seized the opportunity to rise from prison, attain power, and use it to save the world. If Moshe had seeen the world as Yoseph did, he never would have went out to see his brothers toiling in bondage and we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt.
I was born and raised in a country that had rescued my family from near certain death. The branches of my family that were behind the front lines of an Allied Army survived The Second World War. Those who did not have that protection, did not survive. America offered my family safety and offered them prosperity. My grandparents had working class jobs, my parents had advanced degrees, and I felt completely free to embrace my Jewish identity and to walk the streets of any city or town in this country identifiable as a Jew with no fears of any hostility or aggression or violence. I remember striding across Harvard Yard each Shabbat, dressed in my Shabbos clothes, and feeling at home on campus as a proud Jew, and I felt that my ancestors would be proud of me too, trying to care about mitzvot while making it in America.
I still feel, fundamentally, safe in America. But I sense more peril, and that sense of threat grows every time there is a violent antisemitic attack in America. The sense of safety that would last forever that I felt for my entire childhood and into my adulthood now feels naive to me. And I suspect many Jews are feeling more than a little anxious or frightened. What should we do with that fear?
Stranger in a Strange Land: Yitro 5782
Both Moshe and Yoseph name their sons as a way to make sense of their experiences living in the heart of a vast non-Jewish empire which was a site of both great peril and great opportunity to each of them. And their subjective experiences of Egypt colored their evaluation of Egypt. Yoseph remained appreciative of the empire in which he overcame the hatred of his brothers and attained great power and wealth and prestige. Moshe, ignorant of his own Jewish birth, grows up with every privilege imaginable as a member of a royal household, before recognizing that Egypt is an evil empire and a land where Jewish life has no future.
Who is right? They are both right because they encountered Egypt in different times in which different political forces were dominant. If Yoseph had seen the world the way Moshe did he would not have seized the opportunity to rise from prison, attain power, and use it to save the world. If Moshe had seeen the world as Yoseph did, he never would have went out to see his brothers toiling in bondage and we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt.
I was born and raised in a country that had rescued my family from near certain death. The branches of my family that were behind the front lines of an Allied Army survived The Second World War. Those who did not have that protection, did not survive. America offered my family safety and offered them prosperity. My grandparents had working class jobs, my parents had advanced degrees, and I felt completely free to embrace my Jewish identity and to walk the streets of any city or town in this country identifiable as a Jew with no fears of any hostility or aggression or violence. I remember striding across Harvard Yard each Shabbat, dressed in my Shabbos clothes, and feeling at home on campus as a proud Jew, and I felt that my ancestors would be proud of me too, trying to care about mitzvot while making it in America.
I still feel, fundamentally, safe in America. But I sense more peril, and that sense of threat grows every time there is a violent antisemitic attack in America. The sense of safety that would last forever that I felt for my entire childhood and into my adulthood now feels naive to me. And I suspect many Jews are feeling more than a little anxious or frightened. What should we do with that fear?