Community Magazine April 2014

74 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE build the golden calf, as well as a bounty of precious metals to make the holy portable Mishkan in the desert – the Tabernacle – shortly thereafter. The Torah explains that these riches came from the slaves’ captors, who released their belongings without a struggle. The economic loss, according to the Ipuwer account, was devastating to Egypt. The papyrus says, “Gold is lacking…the palace is despoiled.” The papyrus ties it all together in the end by paying homage to “The Lord of All,” the singular Hebrew deity, as opposed to the pagan worship of the ancient Egyptians, who believed in many different deities. This conclusion testifies to the fulfillment of Gd’s promise to Moshe before the Exodus, “Veyadu Mitzrayim ki ani Hashem – Egypt shall know that I am Gd” (Shemot 5:7). As believing Jews, we do not need any sort of confirmation of our precious tradition and heritage. Nevertheless, the discovery of the Ipuwer papyrus can be a valuable asset in our annual effort to fulfill the dictum, “A person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt.” Seeing the events of the Exodus through the lenses of a grieving Egyptian helps us appreciate the magnitude of the divine power which theAlmighty unleashed against our ruthless tormentors, and how a powerful empire was brought to its knees for persecuting our ancestors. And it inspires us with the hope that Gd will similarly assist us in dealing with the seemingly insurmountable problems we confront, both nationally and individually, and bring us all “from darkness to light, from subjugation to redemption,” amen. IPUWER PAPYRUS - LEIDEN 344 TORAH - EXODUS 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere. 2:10 The river is blood. 2:10 Men shrink from tasting – human beings, and thirst after water. 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin. 7:20 …all the waters of the river were turned to blood. 7:21 ...there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt …and the river stank. 7:24 And all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire. 10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps... The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong [by right] wheat and barley, geese and fish. 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side. 5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which was yesterday seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax. 9:23-24 ...and the fire ran along the ground... there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous. 9:25 ...and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. 9:31-32 ...and the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in sea- son, and flax was ripe. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten; for they were not grown up. 10:15 ...there remained no green things in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt. 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan... 9:2-3 Behold, cattle are left to stray, and there is none to gather them together. 9:3 ...the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field... and there shall be a very grievous sickness. 9:19 ...gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field... 9:21 And he that did not fear the word of the Lord left his servants and cattle in the field. 9:11 The land is without light. 10:22 And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt. 4:3 (5:6) Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls. 6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets. 6:3 The prison is ruined. 2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere. 3:14 It is groaning throughout the land, mingled with lamentations. 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the prison. 12:30 ...there was not a house where there was not one dead. 12:30 ...there was a great cry in Egypt. 7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land. 13:21 ... by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. 3:2 Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and malachite, carnelian and bronze... are fastened on the neck of female slaves. 12:35-36 ...and they requested from the Egyptians, silver and gold articles and clothing. And Gd made the Egyptians favor them and they granted their request. [The Israelites] thus drained Egypt of its wealth. THE IPUWER PAPYRUS In the early 19th Century an ancient papyrus was found in Egypt. It was taken to the Leiden Museum in Holland and interpreted by A.H. Gardiner in 1909. The papyrus was written by an Egyptian named Ipuwer and appears to be an eyewitness account of the effects of the Exodus plagues. The account parallels the Book of Exodus. The chart below compares the text from the papyrus with the text in the Torah.