Sh'mot 5767 VaYakom Melekh Hadash

“VaYakom Melekh Hadash al Mitzrayim asher lo Yada et Yosef.” This verse is usually translated “A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Yosef.” Other commentators argue that there was not a new king, but rather that the old king merely passed new decrees. For example, Rashi brings a machloket between Rav and Shmuel precisely to this effect. Another interesting proof for this second view comes from the Hizkuni, who notes that while the death of Joseph is reported again in 1:7, there is no mention of the death of an old king; therefore he must still be alive and still ruling.

The Kli Yakar makes two wonderful observations on this verse. First, he notes that “VaYakom Melekh Hadash – A new king arose” is not the simplest way to convey that there was a new king. That would have been “VaYimlokh Melekh Hadash – A new king became ruler.” The verb “To arise” is more often seen in the context of an enemy who arises against someone (“VaYakom al …”) to harm him/her, as the Hizkuni and Kli Yakar both note. This being the case, against whom did the Melekh Hadash arise? The Hizkuni answers, logically, that Pharoah rose up to harm B'nei Israel. Although this is logical, it's textually problematic -- the verse states "VaYakom Melekh Hadash al Mitzrayim -- a new king arose against Egypt." The Kli Yakar therefore says that Pharoah rose up to harm Egypt.

So in what sense could Pharoah be said to have arisen against his own people to harm them? The Kli Yakar explains that Pharoah was his, and his people’s, own worst enemy. Pharoah set out to destroy the Jewish people because their great population increase represented a threat. Acccording to most commentators, this great population growth was unnatural, the result of divine blessing. Therefore, the very reason that Pharoah wanted to destroy the Jewish people – that God was on their side, as it were – caused him to fail. Moreover, this evil and misguided plan brought down the punishment of the 10 plagues on Egypt. In this sense, Pharoah’s lust for oppression, either as the new king or via new decrees as the old king, ensured the destruction of the Egyptians – “VaYakom Al Mitzrayim.”

The Kli Yakar makes a related drasha on “Asher Lo Yada et Yosef,” which he reads as “Asher Lo Yada Mah sh’Karah L’Yosef – who didn’t know what happened to Joseph.” It is not so much that Pharoah had never met Joseph, but that he did not know Joseph’s life story. He did not know that Joseph's brothers had endeavored to kill Joseph and to nullify his dreams, to no avail; his dreams came true, because they reflected divine prophecy. To add to the Kli Yakar, if Pharoah had known the principle of “Rabot Mahashavot B’lev Ish, Atzat Hashem Hi Takum – there are many thoughts in the human heart, but the divine plan is the one that lasts” he never would have launched his evil folly. As such, his lack of knowledge of Yosef’s story was what made him an enemy to his own people.

I want to suggest a further homiletic reading that follows in the same footsteps. Rather than reading VaYakom Melekh Hadash as a reference to Pharoah (which is perhaps a stretch since we’re viewing the Melekh as an enemy of Egypt) let it be a reference to God, who is the sovereign of the entire universe. Moreover, God is sometimes identified simply as “Melekh” -- and not “haMelekh” – as in the terms of the Amidah, Melekh Ozer u'Moshia u'Magen. The verse could then be read “VaYakom Melekh, Hadash al Mitzrayim sh'lo Yada et Yosef -- And God arose, anew against the Egyptians, because they did not know the story of Joseph.”