How could the Rambam have lived in Egypt? Doesn’t the Torah prohibit Jews from living there?
Not really, writes Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch in his commentary to this week’s parsha. What the Torah actually states is: “You shall henceforth return no more in this way” (Deuteronomy 17:16). What way is that? The way of dependence, writes Rav Hirsch.
When famine struck the Land of Canaan, where did Avraham go? To Egypt. When famine struck the land again in the days of Isaac, where was he about to go before G-d told him not to? Egypt. Where did Yosef’s brothers go twice when famine struck the Land of Canaan yet again in their days? Egypt.
Hashem doesn’t want us to be reliant on Egypt. Not anymore. That’s why He forbids a Jewish king from possessing too many horses. Horses were the tanks of ancient times; they were vital if one wanted a powerful fighting force. But they primarily came from Egypt. Which means that a king who desired many horses would have to “always keep on friendly terms and keep up a lively traffic with Egypt and with the import of horses,” writes Rav Hirsch. And “with the import of horses, the Egyptian outlook on state management and the general Egyptian outlook on life also filter into the land.”
Thus, a Jewish king may not own many horses nor may Jews go to Egypt in such a manner that “would show or effect a dependence and subordination of [Eretz Yisrael] on and to Egypt.” Indeed, according to R’ Eliezer MiMetz (cited by Rav Hirsch), only a Jew living in Israel is barred from moving to Egypt. All other Jews are permitted to move there. For the problem, again, is dependence and subordination.
What all this means for the contemporary State of Israel is unclear. Obviously, Israel needs a strong army to fulfill the mitzvah of defending itself. But one could argue that Israel is a bit too reliant on America - the superpower of our era as Egypt was of its era - and that this military reliance makes Israel more receptive to the decadent cultural values of post-modern America.
Perhaps immediate change is not possible. But we should always keep in mind - and work toward - the ideal. Hashem doesn’t us to be dependent on, or subordinate to, others.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) - head of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, Germany for over 35 years - was a prolific writer whose ideas, passion, and brilliance helped save German Jewry from the onslaught of modernity.
Elliot Resnick, PhD, is the host of “The Elliot Resnick Show” and the editor of “The Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch Dictionary.”
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