In this week's portion we have the last three plagues. As each plague passes, Pharaoh still refuses to let the Hebrews go. The question that could be asked is "Why are all the Egyptians punished when Pharaoh is the one who is not letting the Hebrews go?" One answer is that the Egyptians are equally as responsible as Pharaoh because they either participated in the persecution of the Hebrews or just stood by and watched.
In school we are learning about bullying and silent witnesses. Silent witnesses are bystanders of the bullies' who see the bullying occur but don't do anything to help because they are either afraid of being the next target or because their friends are the bullies. Studies show that 88% of students in middle schools are bystanders or silent witnesses to bullying and often think that they aren't doing anything wrong because they aren't doing the bullying itself. We know, however, that doing nothing is really just as bad or if not worse of the bullying. So too in this case are the Egyptians being punished because of their earlier actions even if they didn't do the enslaving themselves, because they were responsible because they watched and let it happen.
In our lives, its important to always to stand up for those in need because if you don't who will?
By Maya Shapira and Charlie Burstiner (with comments by Rabbi Kenter)
Leave a comment