Who did "Rashi" call a "Rasha" in Parshas Bo?

 

Rashi the quintessential "Rabban shel Yisrael" lived in Troyes, County of Champagne, in France. He lived from the years 1040-1105. 

He lived during very turbulent times for the Jewish people, namely the First Crusade that took place from the years 1096-1099.

Many of the Crusaders were from Champagne, France, where Rashi resided, that's like having Hamas living in Boro-Park. 

According to Wikipedia, the first Crusade was initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Latin Church! The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule.

This call was met with an enthusiastic popular response across all social classes in Western Europe. Mobs of predominantly poor Christians numbering in the thousands and led by Peter the Hermit, a French priest, were the first to respond. 

What do Christians do in a holy war? They kill Jews! 

So on the way to Yerushalayim they passed through Germany and massacred innocent Jews in the Rhineland, which was infamously called the "Rhineland massacres!" They decimated the Jewish Communities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. There had not been so broad a movement against Jews by Catholics since the 7th century's mass expulsions and forced conversions! 

Jews were first attacked in France where Rashi lived, and the Jews of France were of course terrified, and there are letters from Jews who lived in France to the Jews living in the Rhineland warning them of the upcoming disasters, some of which they had experienced themselves.

So what does this have to do with Parshas Bo? 

Rashi lived during those turbulent times and of course, knew about the massacres, but when you read Rashi's commentators on the Torah or even throughout Shas . you would never ever know what he was going through, his commentaries are so gentle and kind and inciteful, and never gives away the fact that Jews were being murdered all around him. 

He doesn't look for answers from the Ribbono Shel Oilim, he doesn't write whether those murdered and raped were frum or chilonim. He doesn't record the miracles (which I'm certain there were many) that happened only to the frum people. Reading Rashi you would think he is sitting in his bungalow in Swan Lake surrounded by his grandchildren. 

And yet, in Parshas Bo, Rashi goes out of his gentle character and calls other Jews "rashaim" evil!!! 

What happened? 

The Torah records for posterity the last plaque before the slaying of the "First Born," namely the plaque of Choshech.... Darkness!

Rashi wonders why Hashem brought this plague of Darkness specifically. 

?ולמה הביא עליהם חשך

שהיו בישראל באותו הדור רשעים ולא היו רוצים לצאת ומתו בשלשת ימי אפלה

כדי שלא יראו מצריים במפלתם 

ויאמרו אף הם לוקים כמונו

Why did He bring the plague of darkness against them? 

(Because) there were amongst the Jewish people of that generation wicked individuals, who did not wish to leave Egypt, and so they perished during the three days of gloom so that the Egyptians would not witness their downfall, and say "They, too, are being smitten as we are."

Wow! A lot to digest... 

Let's take this apart. 

This happened before Matan Torah, the Jews did not have any mitzvos to speak of. The mitzva of placing blood on the doorposts didn't happen yet, and they basically only kept some traditions as Chazal mentioned, that they dressed as Jews, spoke their own language and kept their Hebrew names. 

Not much! 

So why were there Jews in Egypt that were called "evil" rashaim?

What did they do? 

Keep in mind that they were slaves like the rest of their brothers and sisters, and at this point, they were all penniless and all waiting to finally get out of this hell hole?

Except for one incident roughly 50 years prior, between two brothers Dasan & Aveeram, there are no recorded bad incidents amongst the Jews, and what is puzzling is that this particular incident couldn't have been too bad (though Moshe called one a Rasha) since both Dasan & Aveeram survived the plague of darkness and went out of Egypt with the rest of the Jews.

There is only one possible answer and I touched on this in an earlier post November 13, 2023 titled "DIN"s  Take on the war..."

Hashem will not tolerate anyone not appreciating His gift to the Jewish people, Eretz Yisrael! 

Therefore, Rashi calls a spade a spade, those who do not want to leave Chutz Ler'aaretz are "Rashaim."

Now don't get all crazy on me, I know that there are reasons why Jews remain and refuse to make Aliyah, but those reasons had better be great ones. 

I suggest that before  you get all defensive with all kind of answers, trying to learn another "pshat" in Rashi, look in the mirror and see if it can work, and if it doesn't work for you, at least instill in your children a"love of Eretz Yisrael." Hang an Israeli Flag in your home, yes! An Israeli Flag, because even if you personally think that this flag does not represent Yiddishkeit, and I respect that, the goyim, though do think that the flag represents Jews ....ALL JEWS!

Dassan & Aveerom wanted to leave Egypt and come to Eretz Yisrael and so despite them not being "tzaddikim" they survived the plague! Because it's all about appreciating and looking forward to leaving Chutz L'eaaretz and making actual plans to settle in Israel.

There is an interesting Midrash that relates that a part of the tribe of Efrayim, 300,000 of them, actually left Egypt 30 years early but got wiped out in  Gaza in the land of the Philistines because they left early!

The Navi Yechezkel, in reference to the "bones of the tribe of Efrayim" prophesizes:

"Thus said the L-rd G-d to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live."

Rest Assured that The Bnei Efrayim will come back to life in the days of Moshiach, why? because, though they left Egypt without proper "hadracha" from the Elders, they desired to go to Eretz Yisrael, and so at the ends of days, they will have their wish, the Meraglim, however, would never come back because they despised Eretz Yisrael!