                    It is Time to Recover from
                    the Sickness of our Exile
                      by Gary M. Cooperberg
                       December 18, 1991
                                
       When Joseph's brothers came with their father and their families to live in Egypt
during the famine, Joseph arranged to have them meet with Pharaoh.  Before the meeting
Joseph was very careful to warn his brothers not to mention to the Egyptian monarch that they
were shepherds by trade, as the Egyptians worshiped sheep.
       Gen. XLVI, 34: "That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from
our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of
Goshen; FOR EVERY SHEPHERD IS AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE EGYPTIANS."
       Clearly Joseph understood the Egyptian mentality and did not want to offend
Pharaoh by openly stating that his brothers were keepers of the Egyptian deities.  He was
worried lest the ruler of Egypt not permit his family to live in Goshen.  It is apparent that, just
by living in the galut of Egypt, even as second in command to Pharaoh himself, Joseph had
already fallen victim to the sickness that attacks every Jew who is exiled from his homeland,
the need to please the goyim and to keep a low profile.
       His brothers, who had only just arrived from Hebron, had not yet experienced this
affect of living in galut as is evidenced by their total disregard for the warning given them by
Joseph.
       Gen. XLVII, 3: "And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? 
And they said unto Pharaoh, THY SERVANTS ARE SHEPHERDS, both we and also our
fathers."
       We Jews, who have been subjected to the many trials and perils of two millennia of
exile have fallen victim to the sickness of feeling a need to swallow our Jewish pride and keep
a low profile.  Certainly our exile has created conditions under which, for our very survival,
we were forced to lower our heads and not offend the feelings of our host nations.  But, with
our return to the Land and the restoration of Jewish sovereignty therein, it is time for the Jew
to remember how to hold his head up high, despite the greatness of the Pharaoh of our times.
       Just as Joseph's brothers failed to accept his concept of diplomacy, which they
viewed might be interpreted as an indirect recognition of the false Egyptian deities, and thus
sanctified the Name of G-d by refusing to pretend not to be shepherds, so too must we, who
have returned to the Land of Israel, sanctify His holy Name by rejecting, outright, any
recognition of the claims of others to our holy inheritance.  
       Let every Jew realize that the time for Jewish pride has returned.  No longer is there
any reason to grovel before the goyim in order to survive.  If we can learn the lesson taught by
Joseph's brothers, never to apologize for our Jewish way of life, our faith in G-d and loyalty to
His Torah, no matter what the threat may be to us, we will help to usher in the speedy arrival
of Mashiach.