Persecution: Cause and Effect
Question
It is recorded in Torah that Jews got stronger and stronger under the persecution of Pharao in Egypt. There are great influence of Jews to the Western society where persecution against Jews was very severe. While in China, where there was almost no persecution, Jews have had almost no impact to that civilization. This is so unique, because most of the nations tend to be prosperous when they are lived by the surround, and decline when they are persecuted. By contrast Jews get greater when there is persecution. Why is it so? Why are Jews more thriving when there is persecution?
Answers
While it is certainly a fascinating theory, I am not sure that it is entirely accurate. It is true that the Jewish People grew in numbers while they were in Egypt but they did not really become “stronger.” They were persecuted and murdered by the Egyptians without any recourse until God deemed the time was right to take them out of Egypt. So too, for example, in Spain during the Inquisition and the Pogroms and the Holocaust, the Jews were decimated and lived in abject fear for their lives.
Our Sages compare the Jewish Nation to an olive. In the same way that an olive only produces its beautiful and nutritious oil after it has been crushed, so too the Jewish People become more connected to God and are able to tap into His Torah in a more significant way when they are crushed by the other nations of the world.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team