Kommentar zu Schemot 5:4

תפריעו את העם ממעשיו means ye detach and take them away from their work, because they listen to you and believe that they may refrain from the work. Similar are: (Proverbs 4:15) “פרעהו pass not by it”, i. e. keep it far from thee, pass not by it; (Proverbs 1:25) “and ye withdraw (ותפרעו) all my counsel”; (Exodus 32:25) “for it is פרע” i. e. it had removed itself from the proper path and had made itself a thing to be abhorred (but cf. Rashi on this verse where he explains the word by מגולה — נתגלה שמצו וקלונו).

WHEREFORE DO YE, MOSES AND AARON…? Pharaoh asked them for their names, and he mentioned them by name in a manner indicating respect.

תפריעו, you make them idle, or “detach them” from their regular duties. The word פרע in Numbers 5,18 means to detach the hair of the woman from her head.

ויאמר..למה משה ואהרון תפריעו את העם, He said: "Why Moses and Aaron to you deter the people, etc.?" After Pharaoh had first faced both the elders and Moses and Aaron and they had told him about the demands of the Hebrew G'd, Pharaoh now turned to Moses and Aaron telling them that he had no complaint against the elders who were obviously motivated by their fear of pestilence. His complaint was directed against Moses and Aaron on two counts. 1) Seeing that Moses and Aaron had brought a message from their G'd, it appeared that the decision was up to him. They had therefore not been entitled to threaten the people with punishment by their G'd for something that was not up to them but up to him! 2) If Moses and Aaron had told the people that they could simply leave Egypt without being granted permission, why had they come to ask his permission at all? Perhaps this is what our sages had in mind in our Midrash when they said: "why does the Torah write אתם and why the word למה? This may mean that Pharaoh asked why they came at all, and why they told the people in the name of G'd that they could leave. Pharaoh then turned towards the Israelites and told them: לכו לסבלותיכם, "go and do your work!"

למה....תפריעו, “why do you disturb, etc?” According to Rashi the meaning of תפריעו is the same as תבטלו, “you are causing idleness.” Ibn Ezra interprets the word as תשבתו, you cause them to deteriorate as in Proverbs 5,23 (29,18) באין מוסר יפרע עם, “the people will become corrupt in the absence of discipline.”

And have thoughts of resting from the work. Rashi explains [as he does] because nowhere do we find Moshe and Aharon telling them to disengage from their work, or that they were commanded to do so.

V. 4. Bis jetzt hat Pharao gesprochen, jetzt spricht er als König und tritt ganz persönlich an Mosche und Aaron hinan. "Ihr seid ja mir wohlbekannte Greise! "Feste feiern", "Gotteserscheinung", ihr wisst ja sehr wohl, dass ich weiß, und ich weiß, dass ihr wisst, wie das alles ja nur für's Volk gesprochen ist; zwischen Männern, wie ihr und ich, ist ja Religion und Gottesverehrung nur Politik. Ihr wisst ja sehr wohl, dass ich weiß, wie das alles nur gefordert wird, להפריע וגו׳, das Volk von dem "Bande seiner Tätigkeit zu lösen." Bis jetzt weiß das Volk nicht anders, als dass es unter dem Bande des Gesetzes steht, dass Arbeiten sein natürlicher, angeborner Beruf ist; warum wollt ihr ihm die Idee beibringen, dass man auch einmal nicht arbeiten dürfe? Es ist das eurer, solcher bejahrter Männer, eines "Mosche und Aaron" nicht würdig. Pharao wählt sehr seine Worte. Hinsichtlich des Volkes hütet er sich wohl, von סבלות zu sprechen. Während Mosche und Aaron, die Vornehmen, Eximierten, ihre Berufslasten haben, während ebenso, wie wir weiter unten sehen werden, die Ägypter ihre Berufslasten haben, sind die Sklavenarbeiten, unter denen die Ebräer keuchen, nur מעשיו die ihnen gebührende angemessene Beschäftigung. לכו לסבלתיכם: geht zu dem, was eures ernsten Berufes ist. Diese Aufwiegelung eines Volkes ist eurer unwürdig und steht euch nicht zu.

לכו לסבלתיכם, “get to your labours!” Rashi comments that Moses and Aaron did not personally have to perform manual labour, as they belonged to the tribe of Levi which was exempt from that. Accordingly, what Pharaoh meant was that they should attend to their affairs and not meddle in those of the other tribes. (Sh’mot Rabbah 5,15.) According to the Midrash there, the members of that tribe already at the very outset, when Pharaoh “invited” the people to build fortifications and show their patriotism, explained that they could not engage in such manual labour as they were destined to perform different holy tasks in the Temple in the future. They would not engage in such activities regardless of how well Pharaoh would pay them for this. They remained exempt from such labour. When Moses grew up and saw that the other tribes were forced to work seven days a week, he went to Pharaoh and explained to him that unless he gave these people at least one day of rest during each week, instead of their producing more bricks, they would fall over dead from exhaustion and produce no bricks at all. This made sense to Pharaoh, and he empowered Moses to tell the people that they could select one day of the week as their day of rest. A miracle occurred and they chose the Sabbath as their day of rest. This is why Moses was able to tell the people (Exodus 16,29) that G–d had given them a day of rest on the Sabbath. They themselves had already chosen this day as their day of rest while still slaves in Egypt.

!לכו לסבלותיכם, “go back to your labours! “The reason why the tribe of Levi had been exempted from performing slave labour when the Egyptians first began to enslave the Israelites was that Pharaoh pretended to share that burden with them in order to encourage them to perform these labours for patriotic reasons, building fortifications against potential invaders. This is how the sages interpreted the word: בפרך in Exodus 1,13, i.e. as meaning: בפה רך, “spoken softly.” Pharaoh had appealed to their loyalty and told them that by performing this labour they could prove that they were loyal Egyptians citizens. The Jews of then [as we know only too well from all the Jews serving in the German Kaiser’s army in the first world war, 12000 of them giving their lives for the aggressive designs of Germany, Ed.] were only too eager to prove their loyalty, not suspecting how they would be exploited. At that time the tribe of Levi remembered what their founding father Yaakov had said to them on his death bed, that Levi was not to be one of his pall bearers as that tribe was destined in the future to carry the Holy Ark on its shoulders. They therefore declined at the time to participate in the building of fortifications, and Pharaoh did not make an issue of this as also the Egyptians had a caste of priests who Joseph during the years of famine had completely excused from any taxation. Furthermore, we found a Midrash according to which Avraham already taught his son Yitzchok the whole Torah (the written Torah that would be given to the Israelites in the desert) Yitzchok in turned transmitted it to Yaakov, and Yaakov to Levi, who in turn transmitted it to his direct descendants. Seeing that these people had not learned any vocation, they were not physically suitable to perform the kind of physical labour the other tribes were used to. They were therefore rewarded by G-d not to have to share this burden with their brethren. (Compare Torah shleymah by Rabbi M. Kasher item 32 on our verse.) According to that, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron not to try his patience and be content that they, being Levites, were not required to do slavelabour.

לכו לסבלתיכם. GO YE UNTO YOUR BURDENS — Go to your work which you have to do at home; but it cannot signify “go to your labours as slaves”, for he was speaking to Moses and Aaron who were of the tribe of Levi, and the work of Egyptian slavery had not been imposed on the tribe of Levi. You may know that this was so, because Moses and Aaron went and came just as they pleased (Exodus Rabbah 5:16).

TAPHRI’U’ THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR WORK. Onkelos translated: t’vatlu (you cause them to idle from their work). Similarly: ‘porei’a’ (refuseth) instruction;³³²Proverbs 13:18. Now Rashi explained taphri’u as meaning: “taking them away.” Ramban therefore calls attention to Onkelos, who interpreted it as meaning “idle,” “making to nought all their work.” ‘vatiphr’u’ (and ye have set at nought) all my counsel.³³³Ibid., 1:25.

לסבלותיכם, to your regular occupation, and neither interrupt your agenda nor try to disrupt my own agenda.

לכו לסבלותיכם, “go about your own business!” Rashi equates סבלותיכם with עבודתכם, “your work,” as opposed to סבלות, forced labour, as the members of the tribe of Levi were exempt from forced labour. Ibn Ezra does not perceive the word סבלותיכם as addressed to Moses and Aaron, but as referring to the forced labour of the masses of the Israelites whom they claimed to represent. Some commentators claim that even the ordinary Israelites did not have to join the workforce until they had reached the age of nine, and that they could “retire” at the age of 60. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the words Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to rather perform their duties for their King, together with the remainder of the nation, seeing that on that occasion Moses and Aaron appeared before him accompanied by the common people. Pharaoh therefore told those people to get back to work instead of wasting their time dreaming of an illusory redemption. When Moses and Aaron, instead of complying with Pharaoh’s command, appeared before him once more, he commanded them to legitimize themselves by means of a miracle. Once Moses and Aaron had done so, he no longer looked upon them as part of the common people but respected them as elders, as sages. Once they had begun to decree plagues upon Egypt, he no longer treated them only with deference, but with fear, with dread. It appears that not all of the Israelites were slaving away making and laying bricks all the time, for if so the country would have become a large heap of bricks. Making bricks was a tax imposed by Pharaoh on the entire population, but the Israelites were singled out by working far longer hours and by having to supply a much larger percentage of their manpower.

GET YOU TO YOUR BURDENS. If we follow the simple interpretation of Scripture, reference here is to the work for the king,³³⁴Rashi’s interpretation, mentioned further on in the text, is: “Go to your work which you have to do at home, etc.” Now although Ramban will later agree with this explanation of Rashi, his point here is that in line with the simple meaning of Scripture, “the burdens” are a reference to the labors imposed upon them as slaves. since Moses and Aaron were part of the [Hebrew] people for at this time they came before him with all the people. But he did not listen to them and commanded them: “Return you all to the work.” Later when Moses and Aaron returned before Pharaoh and he said to them, Show a wonder for you,³³⁵Further, 7:9. and they did so, they appeared to him like the magicians, sorcerers, and wise men, and he showed them respect. Still later, when the plagues began coming upon him, he was in dread fear of them.
It appears furthermore that not all the children of Israel worked all the time for Pharaoh in mortar and in brick,³³⁶Above, 1:14. for in that case they would have filled the whole land of Egypt with cities. Rather, they worked in levies, and he pressed his yoke upon them by taking many of the Israelites [into his labors].

Now Rashi explained: “Get you to your burdens, i.e., ‘to your work which you have to do in your homes.’ But [it cannot signify ‘go to your labors as slaves,’ for he was speaking to Moses and Aaron, who were of the tribe of Levi, and] the work of Egyptian slavery was not imposed upon the tribe of Levi. You may know that this was so because Moses and Aaron went and came as they pleased.” This is correct. All man’s work whether at home or in the field is so called [sebel (labor)], just as in the verse: over all the ‘sebel’ (labor) of the house of Joseph.³³⁷I Kings 11:25. And it is customary among all people to have wise men who teach them their laws. Therefore Pharaoh did not impose slavery upon the tribe of Levi, who were the teachers and the elders of the children of Israel, and it was all caused by G-d.
I have seen in V’eileh Shemoth Rabbah:³³⁸Shemoth Rabbah 5:2. “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the tribe of Levi was free from servile labor. Pharaoh said to them, ‘It is because you are free [from the forced labor] that you therefore say, Let us go and sacrifice to our G-d.³³⁹Verse 8. Get ye unto your burdens for Israel.’³⁴⁰In other words, “attend to your work of teaching them their laws, but do not divert them from doing my work with such a plan as going on a journey.” Another interpretation: Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, ‘It is enough for you that you are free! Perhaps you are displeased because you are not doing this forced labor; [if so], get ye unto your burdens.’”
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the verse, Get ye unto your burdens, as meaning the burdens of the entire people, since Pharaoh spoke to them for all Israel.