“And there arose a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph… (Exodus 1:8). After Jacob, Joseph and his brothers all died, we are told that a new king arose “who did not know Joseph.” Rashi brings two opinions from the Talmud of Rav and Shmuel (Sotah 11a) – one that it was literally a new king and the other that it was actually the same king who changed his edicts. Rashi continues by stating that “who did not know Joseph” means that the king pretended as if he did not know Joseph. He does not indicate to which opinion this pretending applies to, therefore we can assume that whether it was a new king or the same one he conveniently forgot all that Joseph had done in saving Egypt and the entire surrounding area from the devastating plague and how he restructured Egypt in a manner that concentrated vast power in the hands of the king.
The Torah is eternal and its “stories” are archetypal in nature. Therefore we see in this verse and the commentary of the Sages an amazing pattern alluded to which has manifested itself countless times.
Throughout Jewish history Jews in exile have been invited into various kingdoms, provinces, empires and nation states. The rulers or governments recognized the many talents and advantages having Jews would have to them. Invariably, like Joseph who rose to the top of his society in power and influence, Jews have managed to rise to the upper echelons of power, government and financing, as well as in the arts, sciences and professions.
Until, that is, a “new” king would arise “who did not know Joseph,“ or pretend not to know how much the Jews had done for them. Eventually, the very success of Jews in their host country leads to jealousy, distrust, and accusations of duel loyalty and treason. Jews became (and still are) the scapegoat of all sides: the rich and the poor, conservative and liberal, communist and capitalist etc…
As the success of Joseph was followed by slavery, so too throughout Jewish history an initial “golden period” was followed by crusades, inquisitions, mass expulsions, ghettos, pogroms and holocaust. Yet, like the Jews in Egypt survived their oppression, so too, Jews throughout history have weathered every storm until this very day. This archetypal pattern repeated over and over again is alluded to in the story of the birth of our people as told in the book of Exodus.
