It is a total distortion of history and theology to claim that we must sympathize with and help the illegals, because we “were foreigners in Egypt.”
“‘Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt,’ Exodus 22:21 — How should we treat our refugees?”
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s insights into the Holiday of Passover
Biblical Jacob and family had been invited by the Pharaoh of the time to sit out the famine in Egypt where, due to Joseph’s phenomenal administration, there was enough food. When the situation got better, our ancestors didn’t rush back to the Holy Land. They felt too comfortable, and then afterwards, there was a new administration in Egypt. That new Pharaoh had forgotten that Jacob and family were privileged as a thank-you to all that Joseph had done. He enslaved them. And then the Jewish People were forbidden to leave. That’s where the Passover Story begins.
I don’t see how illegal migrants have anything in common with Jacob and family thousands of years ago. It pains me to see respected rabbis, adopting Leftist ideology to Jewish History and Theology.
The illegal migrants come to Israel attracted by our high standard of living, a chance to live in a secure society with excellent healthcare and sympathetic, kind citizens, such as Rabbi Riskin. They know that they will be protected, their children educated and cared for. That’s the type of society we have here in Israel. The illegals are also willing to take on jobs that very few Israelis want to do. But we didn’t invite them and we don’t owe them anything. The illegals are in no rush to leave Israel, because they know that they won’t be enslaved.
We are not like the Egyptian Pharaoh. And the illegals are not like the Jews who were enslaved in Egypt. The neighborhoods in Israel in which the illegals live have become high crime areas. Veteran Israelis are in danger, and they are the ones we should be worrying about and caring for. Why don’t I hear the rabbis, like Riskin, and politicians preaching that we must care for and protect Israelis from the dangers caused by the illegals?