רַב הוּנָא אָמַר בְּשֵׁם בַּר קַפָּרָא בִּשְׁבִיל אַרְבָּעָה דְּבָרִים נִגְאֲלוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִצְרַיִם, שֶׁלֹּא שִׁנּוּ אֶת שְׁמָם וְאֶת לְשׁוֹנָם וְלֹא אָמְרוּ לָשׁוֹן הָרָע, וְלֹא נִמְצָא בֵּינֵיהֶם אֶחָד מֵהֶן פָּרוּץ בְּעֶרְוָה.

Rav Huna said in the name of Bar Kapara “Because of four things Israel was redeemed from Egypt: that they did not change their names or their language, and that they did not speak ill of others, and that none of them was promiscuous.” (Vayikra Rabbah 32, 5)

It is well known that racism and xenophobia allow for the oppression of those who are different in appearance or culture by fostering common irrational fears among a critical mass of people in the ethnic majority. When Pharaoh said that the Hebrews might join Egypt’s enemies and rise up in war against them, enough Egyptians believed him, and they feared and hated the Hebrews for a military uprising that they had no intention of taking part in.

It is also well known that loss of ethnic uniqueness is no defense against anti-Semitism. Hitler declared that anyone with one Jewish grandparent must be sent to the camps. Assimilated Jews who knew only German, along with their non-Jewish children or grandchildren, were punished for being Jews.

We live in a time when Jewish people either remember the evils of racism and ethnic oppression, or they remember their Jewish names, language, and dress. To remember both has become rare. When we read the Midrash quoted above, we must look at both the beginning, which praises the ancient Hebrews for keeping their cultural distinctiveness, as well as the end, which praises them for their moral character.       

We must also look to the opening phrase of this Midrash, which points out that the four qualities mentioned above of maintaining their own personal and cultural integrity along with their moral strength are what led to the Hebrews’ redemption from slavery. Maintaining personal integrity even under the worst kind of oppression is not only possible, but it is the key to freedom. We can take inspiration from Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist who survived Auschwitz, when he tells us:

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. (Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning)

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Aaron Shub