Shemos

At the beginning of parshas Shemos, the Torah says, “And a new kind arose who did not know Joseph...” (Exodus 1:8) Rav and Shmuel, amoraim, apply two slightly different understandings to this verse. One of them applies a literal understanding, saying that a new king was appointed (usually implying the death of the previous). The other maintains that it was fact the same king, but that he acted as if he did not Joseph, i.e., he had a change of heart and became hostile to him.

What is peculiar about the king's new attitude towards the Jews was the way in which he chose to oppress them. The Torah says that he made them built the storage cities of Pithom and Rameses. The Torah records the following:

He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we are. Get ready, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they increase, and a war befall us, and they join our enemies and depart from the land." So they appointed over them tax collectors to afflict them with their burdens, and they built store cities for Pharaoh, namely Pithom and Raamses. (Exodus 1:9-11)

Rashi explains that these storage cities “were originally unfit for this [storage], and they strengthened them and fortified them for storage.”

While the king's choice of punishment seems random, the elements come together in a rather curious, yet telling, manner; there is an inherent relationship between Joseph and the store houses. In parsha Mikeitz (Genesis 41:1–44:17), Joseph saved all of Egypt by proposing that grain be stored during the years of famine. Storage implies store houses and demonstrates the fundamental link between them and the Jews. As an expression of his new found hatred, the king decrees that the Jews must build the very items that saved Egypt. This is a clear indication that the days of glory had passed.

But something deeper bubbles beneath the surface. In Derech Hashem, the Ramcha”l states:

God thus made the rectification and elevation of all creation totally dependent on the Jews. To the extent that this can be expressed, we can thus say that He subjugated His Providence to them. Through their deeds, they can cause [His Light] to shine forth and have influence, or, on the other hand, hold it back and conceal it.

The deeds of the other nations, on the other hand, do not add to or subtract from the state of creation, nor do they cause God to reveal Himself or withdraw. All they can do is bring about their own gain or loss, and strengthen or weaken their own directing angel. (Part 4 2:4:9)

The king's choice of punishment was an expression of this Providence. The king unknowingly adhered to his Divine programming to lash out against the Jews for their sins. In another way, however, it was an unpremeditated act of desperation, for through “their deeds (the Jews), they can cause [His Light] to shine forth... (or) conceal it.” If light isn't coming to the world, if the storage houses aren't being filled, lash out against those responsible. I'm suggesting that the “store houses” represent the reservoirs or banks of spiritual accumulation that were running dry. Because the Jews apparently failed in their role of causing the banks to be filled up, the king forced them to build “store cities for Pharaoh.” Little did he know that biting the hand that feeds you is not the way to go. What we learn from this is that the Gentiles need this light just as much as the Jews do and that they'll do what they need to get it.

The Jews control the banks!