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Why does the Torah (תורה) switch between calling Klal Yisrael "Bnei Yisrael" and "Ivrim"? The shiur explains that when Pharaoh conferred Egyptian citizenship—which meant legal ownership—the Jews became halakhically similar to slaves of a goy, exempt from mitzvos like bris milah and Shabbos (שבת). Amram instituted chuppah and kiddushin to preserve the nation's tzelem elokim even in slavery, ensuring that Shechinah would rest between husband and wife so their children would retain their essential Jewish identity.
Rabbi Zweig addresses a profound difficulty in the pesukim describing the slavery in Egypt. When Pharaoh became afflicted with tzara'as and began bathing in the blood of Jewish children—slaughtering thousands weekly according to Rashi (רש"י)—the pasuk tells us the Jews cried out "min ha'avodah," complaining about the difficult labor. This seems inexplicable: parents are watching their children being murdered, yet they're complaining about hard work? Furthermore, why does the Torah (תורה) need to mention Pharaoh's tzara'as at all if the complaint is only about labor? The shiur identifies another textual puzzle: the Torah alternates between calling the nation "Bnei Yisrael" and "Ivrim." Pharaoh himself begins by calling them "Am Bnei Yisrael" but then switches to "Ivrim." Even the narrator uses both terms, and Hashem (ה׳) instructs Moshe to identify himself sometimes as "Elokei ha'Ivrim" and other times as representing "Bnei Yisrael." What accounts for these shifting designations?
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Shemos 2:23-25, Behar, Vayigash
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