Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Egyptians Sue

Sixteen centuries ago, Egyptian representatives appeared before Alexander the Great's court. The wanted Jews to pay restitution for all the Egyptian gold and silver they took along with them during the Exodus. Whether they believed the story to be true was irrelevant.

Pesisa's son Geviha requested permission to present a defense on behalf of the Jews.He asked for evidence Jews absconded with their wealth.

The Egyptians response: "The crime is clearly recorded in your Torah."

"In that case," Geviha said, "the Torah also says that 600,000 Jews were unjustly enslaved by the Egyptians for many, many years. So first let us calculate how much you owe us."

Egyptian representatives had three days to prepare their response. The declined the opportunity and fled on the 25th of Nissan and never mad ethe argument again.

In Talmudic times, Jews celebrated the day when the Egyptian delegation fled as a (minor) holiday.

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