I READ AN ARTICLE this morning (12 JAN 2021) by R. Marc D. Angel titled Outgrowing Slavery: Thoughts on Parashat Va-era (https://tinyurl.com/yy5qnaob)
The rabbi was focusing on how the people Israel commemorated their slavery to the pharaohs.
(https://tinyurl.com/y6cs3d6x)
According to the article, Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa recently deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE that read "You shall not do it, but worship the Lord. Judge the slave and the widow; judge the orphan and the stranger. Plead for the infant, plead for the poor and the widow. Rehabilitate the poor at the hands of the king. Protect the poor and the slave, support the stranger."
Judaism officially demands that a slave owned by a Jew must be treated humanely; if the salve is injured, there must be compensation and, often, that includes medical care and then freedom.
I keyed “”officially” since then, as now, not all Jews follow the laws.
”Them” and “Us”
The people who came to be known as “Hebrews” — Jews — came to Egypt as welcome guests. Over the years, the indigenous population threw out their foreign rulers and a new “pharaoh who knew not Israel” came to the throne.
The new pharaohs had two primary concerns:
✡ Seeing the Hebrews were abundant, they worried that if Egypt was attacked, the Jews would side with the attackers. A logical thought and validated twice in Spain.
✡ Building monuments (pyramids) to themselves.
In an effort to resolve two “problems” with one solution, the Egyptian rulers enslaved the Hebrews and put them to work building the monuments.
This condition lasted about 200 years.
According to the Torah, Moses managed to bring the Hebrews out of Egypt (following the famous 10 plagues). The Torah also notes that the Egyptians made a one-time “reparation” by giving the Hebrews gifts.NB
How many Hebrews left in the exodus and how many non-Hebrews left is debatable. What us patiently obvious is that the people in the exodus still had a slave mentality. Almost all of the people fleeing with Moses had to die in the wilderness to expunge that mentality.
Eventually the Hebrews became a nation.
Over the centuries, groups of Jews have been persecuted, enslaved, slaughtered, but for the most part the “slave mentality” did not return.
Today, Jews are recognized as leaders around the world. (That does not mean we are not plagued by anti-Semitism and, specifically relating to Israel, anti-Zionism, both from within and without.)
Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves in the Confederate states (but not in states that remained in the union); he needed cannon fodder for his armies. The emancipation came well after Mr. Lincoln’s war commenced (and the Union suffered numerous defeats). Lincoln expected the newly freed slaves to rise up against their former masters and be a Fifth Column in the confederacy. For the most part, that did not happen.
The war ended, along with de jure slavery, in 1865.
Now, in the beginning of calendar year 2021 — more than 155 years later — apparently some descendants of emancipated slaves still are burdened by a slave mentality.
Slaves received free housing, food, and medical care. Bear in mind that a slave was an investment, often an expensive investment and the likelihood that a slave owner would mistreat (endanger) a slave (investment) is untenable. Granted, there were a few “Simon Legrees,” a Harriet Stowe character in the fictional Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but economics precluded this in reality.
As an aside: Most of the Confederate soldiers owned no (zero) slaves and worked their own fields, giving us the now-pejorative “red neck” from sun burned necks.
IN ANY EVENT, while a number of the descendants of slaves have risen to great heights, many still (apparently) have yet to throw off the slave mentality.
The ThoughtCo web site (https://tinyurl.com/lawex8q) lists blacks who have achieved prominence in many fields. These men and women go far beyond the stereotype of jocks, preachers, civil rights activists, and entertainers and include long lists of authors, inventors, scientists, educators, politicians, lawyers, and government leaders.
via Getty Images
It is unfortunate that far too many descendants of slaves (and some new immigrants) have elected to remain “on the dole” — rent subsidy, food stamps, aid for dependent children, et al.
Worse, too many descendants “supplement” their income by crime.
All generalities are lies
The U.S., state, and municipal governments, including the post office, are the primary employers of the descendants who are willing to work.
Admittedly, until the mid-20th century there was, in many places, discrimination in education. For the most part, that was eliminated by government-mandated school integration. That does not mean that all schools are equal — parents’ groups raise funds for their children’s schools.
Education for many of the descendants is not a priority.
With a mentality that “It’s not worth the effort, I can’t be what I want to be because (pick an excuse),” it does not encourage any effort to leave the slave mentality behind.
When immigrants arrived from Europe and the Orient, the newcomers made an effort to learn English and to work at any job they could find. One generation later, the newcomers’ children are found in all manner of positions, some “grand,” many not. But they avoided the dole.
Most assuredly, these immigrants “stuck together” to support and encourage one another.
The descendants of U.S. slaves have the same opportunity. Some have taken advantage of every opportunity (see ThoughtCo ibid.), but too many have either ignored or chosen to retain the slave mentality — “the master will provide” — the U.S. taxpayer being billed for the “master’s” largess.
To be fair, the descendants of slaves are not the only people who fail to take advantage of the opportunities available. There are descendant’s of Europeans, South and Central Americas, and the Orient who opt for the dole, albeit in lesser numbers that the descendants of slaves. Proportional or not? I lack the statistics.
Allow me to reiterate: There are many descendants of slaves who have made their mark. They cast off the “slave mentality” and rose to prominence.
Just as the Jews threw off the slave mentality before they entered “the promised land.”
They were, from time-to-time slaves to foreign rulers or religions. They have a long history of persecution.
But that did not prevent them from rising above their beginnings.
The descendants of slaves can do the same.
If they are willing to cast off the “slave mentality.”
NB: The Germans are making reparations to survivors of the Holocaust. Hungarian, Polish, and other nations that contributed to the slaughter of millions of Communists, Jews, physically and mentally handicapped, Roma, and some “uncategorized” victims are ignoring their own citizens participation.
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