By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Many people find at least one aspect of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt unsettling: “The Israelites had done Moses’ bidding and borrowed from the Egyptians objects of silver and gold, and clothing. And the Lord had disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people, and they let them have their request; thus they stripped the Egyptians.” (Ex. 12:35-36)
What does the Torah mean when it says the Israelites “borrowed” silver, gold, and clothing from the Egyptians? Surely they and the Egyptians knew that there was no intention of returning anything! It seems more like a mafia shakedown than the act of a Godly people.
Many commentators explain that the Israelites were justified in seizing Egyptian property and that the Egyptians knew they would never receive their possessions back. The treasures the Israelites received were not stolen, but rather a rightfully earned remuneration for their years of work. As the Israelites left Egypt, the Egyptians were forced to compensate them for their years of unpaid slavery.
Other commentators, however, understood the moral dilemma posed by the Israelites’ seizure of Egyptian property and reinterpreted the Torah, rather than make excuses for the Israelites’ strong-arm tactics.
The Rashbam (Samuel ben Meir, 1083-1174) explained that the Hebrew word ve-yishalu did not mean that the Israelites “borrowed” the Egyptians’ treasures but rather “requested” them. They asked nicely. The Egyptians gladly honored their request in the hopes that the Israelites and their plagues would swiftly leave their land. “They [the Egyptians] were neither forced or deceived by the departing Israelites,” concludes Rashbam. They gave them gifts with fullness of heart.
There is a major difference of opinion between the Midrash and Rashbam on the appropriateness of using force to right a wrong. The Midrash seems to say that if you are wronged, you have the right to use any resource at your fingertips, including force, to right a wrong. Rashbam, however, says “no.” You may not act immorally or illegally. You may request compensation but you cannot just help yourself.
A few years ago O.J. Simpson was arrested for theft when he met a sports memorabilia broker in a Las Vegas hotel and took by force those items which he believed were rightfully his. He was tried and convicted and is currently incarcerated.
It seems that while O.J. accepts the Midrash’s position condoning the use of force to take from another party what you think is rightfully yours, the U.S. court system ruled in accordance with the Rashbam. No, you can’t! Whether or not the sports memorabilia in question was O.J.’s is irrelevant. In the United States there are legal remedies available to determine guilt and rectify wrongdoing.
You may not take the law into your own hands no matter how valid you believe your case.
If the Israelites did, indeed, steal their slave master’s property, it would have been an ignominious way to celebrate their newfound freedom.
I prefer to believe that they took the upper hand and requested, rather than demanded, that the Egyptians pay them fair wages for time served. I have no doubt that the Egyptians would have only been only too happy to give them what was rightly theirs and wish them a happy and pleasant journey.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego