ot Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possiNewton’s Third Law of Motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I wonder if this same Law can be loosely applied to social science as well. Rabbinic literature comments that the exodus from Egypt was predicated on three things: they did not change their names; they did not change the style of their garments; and they did not change their language. By not abandoning their given names, style of clothing and language the Hebrews cleaved to their cultural social and religious identity, refusing to assimilate into mainstream Egyptian society. The biblical account of the exodus story can be understood as the struggle between two competing cultures. It is a beautiful text because it does not present a one sided version of the events, but explains too the concerns of the Egyptians. They were worried that the Hebrews were becoming too numerous and too influential and would one day threaten their political/culture hegemony.

From the text it is not clear what exactly their fears were. Were they afraid that the sheer number of the Hebrews would turn the Egyptians into a minority? Were they concerned over their rising political influence? Were their fears simply that they did not wish to deal with a fifth column, a parallel and perhaps competing culture developing within their midst? We’ll probably never know for sure what their fears were but we can assume that whatever they were, the Egyptians resented the Hebrews because apparently they were “in their face.” This is reinforced by the biblical account that the Egyptians were concerned that the Hebrews were "Rav V’atzum Mimenu": much too powerful and numerous. I also believe they were becoming too influential, otherwise why say Rav V’atzum? The antidote of course was to get a handle on their proliferation, and the rest as they say is history.

This story of the Exodus is not hard to conceive. If we fast forward to America in the twenty first century we find a similar trend. After all, are not Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possib

us identity, refusing to assimilate into mainstream Egyptian society. The biblical account of the exodus story can be understood as the struggle between two competing cultures. It is a beautiful text because it does not present a one sided version of the events, but explains too the concerns of the Egyptians. They were worried that the Hebrews were becoming too numerous and too influential and would one day threaten their political/culture hegemony.

From the text it is not clear what exactly their fears were. Were they afraid that the sheer number of the Hebrews would turn the Egyptians into a minority? Were they concerned over their rising political influence? Were their fears simply that they did not wish to deal with a fifth column, a parallel and perhaps competing culture developing within their midst? We’ll probably never know for sure what their fears were but we can assume that whatever they were, the Egyptians resented the Hebrews because apparently they were “in their face.” This is reinforced by the biblical account that the Egyptians were concerned that the Hebrews were "Rav V’atzum Mimenu": much too powerful and numerous. I also believe they were becoming too influential, otherwise why say Rav V’atzum? The antidote of course was to get a handle on their proliferation, and the rest as they say is history.

This story of the Exodus is not hard to conceive. If we fast forward to America in the twenty first century we find a similar trend. After all, are not Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possi

tly their fears were. Were they afraid that the sheer number of the Hebrews would turn the Egyptians into a minority? Were they concerned over their rising political influence? Were their fears simply that they did not wish to deal with a fifth column, a parallel and perhaps competing culture developing within their midst? We’ll probably never know for sure what their fears were but we can assume that whatever they were, the Egyptians resented the Hebrews because apparently they were “in their face.” This is reinforced by the biblical account that the Egyptians were concerned that the Hebrews were "Rav V’atzum Mimenu": much too powerful and numerous. I also believe they were becoming too influential, otherwise why say Rav V’atzum? The antidote of course was to get a handle on their proliferation, and the rest as they say is history.

This story of the Exodus is not hard to conceive. If we fast forward to America in the twenty first century we find a similar trend. After all, are not Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possi

ace.” This is reinforced by the biblical account that the Egyptians were concerned that the Hebrews were "Rav V’atzum Mimenu": much too powerful and numerous. I also believe they were becoming too influential, otherwise why say Rav V’atzum? The antidote of course was to get a handle on their proliferation, and the rest as they say is history.

This story of the Exodus is not hard to conceive. If we fast forward to America in the twenty first century we find a similar trend. After all, are not Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possi

ot Americans concerned that the illegal immigration of Mexicans and others challenging our porous borders might result in a ‘take over” of Anglo-Saxon culture or pose a security risk? In fact there are several states that have passed legislation making English the legal language. Many Americans are concerned with the issue of foreign population control within the borders of the United States. Could you imagine American culture falling under the influence of Mexican /Hispanic culture? Is it possible that we are beginning to experience a backlash to Mexican “in your face” presence with current proposed legislation? What about Jews? We are disproportionately represented as Members of Congress and disproportionately hold academic posts in our best universities as well as a disproportionate presence in the national media. Do you think that we may be “in their face”? Could you imagine if all 5.5 million Jews in the United States were dressed in Eastern European Jewish garb -- and all speaking Yiddish? How would that impact the way Americans view us? Do you think that there is some truth to Newton’s third Law of Motion within a societal context?

Our history, unfortunately is riddled with terribly ugly shades of anti-Semitism and my intention here is not to exonerate the predators but to pause a moment and check whether or not we may have indirectly become enablers -- enabling them to perpetrate their evil. A minority group too visible in its host society is begging for a backlash. Could this be the lesson of the enslavement of the Hebrews? It is very easy to assess the African American or the Hispanic community in the USA through this prism and see the forces of prejudice coalesce in response to the minority groups’ growth politically and socially.

The Jewish community is not exempt from this phenomenon. A generation ago the Jewish community was not as strong as it is today, politically or financially and assumed a modest posture within the American cultural/political matrix. We did well, prospered and our children benefited from the best education and living standards in the world. But with the growth of our political presence we became more aggressive and more “in their face.” We began making demands in terms of legislation based upon equality and religious freedom. For example, it became illegal for an employer to deny employment to Sabbath observers. I am not suggesting that this legislation was flawed but only suggesting that there are no free rid