The Undercity That Remained Above – Question
behind the beautiful forevers
I wonder how the Children of Israel survived their slavery in Egypt. Did they strive to escape their makeshift settlements to live near the skyscraping Pyramids? Did they dream of lounging at moonlight cocktail parties under the Sphinx? Did they form a hierarchy of people with connections who could help them get access to the Cairo Utilities Department? Did fathers murder babies who would drain the family’s finances? Did they steal from each other? Did they fight each other for scraps of food?
We know that this is what desperately poor people are doing in the 21st century; what happened in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago? I wonder.
The Sages are convinced that the Egyptian slaves never fell this low; but how do they know? Is there a hint in the text to indicate that they maintained their humanity?
Do we mention this aspect of their dignity in the Haggadah?
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Our Sages instruct us the challenges of wealth are even greater than the challenges of poverty.
If one wants to test the mettle of a person’s character, it is instructive to observe the behavior of a formerly downtrodden person who has been elevated precipitously to heights inconceivable.
Do they remember their poverty challenges and think outside of themselves or do they become totally self-absorbed and ignore others’ plights?
The Hagaddah’s prefacing the story of our redemption with ‘Ha Lakhma ‘Anya ‘ clues us in that you can’t exalt the past victory and comeuppance without enacting the most important lesson of all – Don’t forget where you came from and lend a helping hand to someone who is currently in the position you once had been found.
The ability to carry out this lesson learned is a fair indication that you never lost your humanity, even under the most extreme challenging conditions.