Passover, Slavery in Egypt, and Inherent Human Value*
When faced with difficult business decisions, it is critical to keep in mind the value of the humans who work for and with us.
Passover is coming. This Passover I will teach my kids a lesson that applies to their lives, but also to my clients who are CEOs, fund managers, and supervisors - now more than ever.
The story of Passover is one of liberation from slavery and nation-building. While we focus on the success of the Jews and the evils of slavery, Passover is also a story of a society that took a dramatically wrong turn; a society that misplaced its priorities and focuses. We can learn from this society.
With new tools, ancient Egyptian society became hyper-focused on productivity, development, and building. They started to view growth and industrial progress as paramount. In their myopic pursuit of progress and results, they could build better with better tools. But, they also realized that they could make humans into tools. If one human can make a small amount of progress, by bundling humans together they could build bigger and higher.
Human value became tied only to their production. Then they went a step further and believed that if enslaving people created more progress, they were actually doing something good because progress was most important.
For those of us in supervisory roles, this lesson is intensely important. In this current economic environment, it is easy to start viewing people as units of productivity or expenses on a spreadsheet. Of course, hard decisions have to be made and businesses must remain true to their goals of profitability. As a private equity acquisitions lawyer, I am dedicated to the ideals of capitalism and achieving as much profit for shareholders as possible. However, we should not default to the ancient Egyptian perspective. The actions we take during this difficult time should be informed first and foremost by the idea that each human has value.
This perspective is not only morally right but will create an environment where employees are more dedicated to achieving their team’s goals which will result in better economic outcomes. When an employee is viewed as a means of expendable production, they feel it and they are less motivated to step up and go the extra mile for their team.
This Passover, I will tell my kids and advise my clients that despite the difficult times, they must always act humanely and recognize the inherent value in humans
*This is the first of 6 posts about lessons learned from Passover that can make us better professionals.
**This interpretation of the fundamental transgression of the ancient Egyptians was told to me by my Rabbi, Rabbi Yaakov Mosbacher of the Golan Heights, Israel.
Eli,
You're an anointed lawyer & writer; big fan of [don't] Passover lessons. []≡[] 📜. My favorite versus shine out of Exodus versus the Hagadah SEE 20:5 & 34:7 as they are hyper relevant today. When I appointed HaShem CEO of Legal Link Confidential, revelations followed:
i] We are between 3 and 4 generations post the Holocaust as the dry bones resurrection prophecy of Ezekiel 37 is close. (Goød word, lead by those who perishĚd)
ii] Reverse plagues are coming as a warning not written scripturely, yet here. HaShem does not lose the ability to speak through prophets, burning bushes or even she asses/donkeys like {Numbers 22:21-37} (potential bad prophetic word)
Jeremiah 11:11 - Be the difference.
Last supper, last call, Isaiah's full book.
Rabbi Yeshua deliverEd & [Mel] Gibson Dûnn Hollywood.
Good video on threats to modern slavery:
https://covidandvaxfaqs.substack.com/p/help-on-dig-passport-patent-again
I had to warn that mentioned firm which retaliated, which you would understand if you read Ezekiel / Yechezkel chapters 3 & 33.
Shalom 🕊
gG. "Watchman" Wexler