The last chapters of Bereshit conclude in an atmosphere of tranquility for the patriarch. On his deathbed, the patriarch Jacob refers to each of his children and shows that he recognizes them individually; he knows their flaws and virtues, unlike his father Yitschak, who is deceived by a son in disguise.

Yaacov has resided in Egypt where his family enjoys the food that was scarce in the Promised Land. Yosef, who is the son of his favorite but deceased wife Rachel, had become the ruler of the country and therefore there was no reason to fear the future. Was Yaacov willing to abandon the land of his father and grandfather in exchange for the abundance in the fertile valley of the Nile? The patriarch had asked to be buried in Israel because he considered Egypt to be no more than an intermediate station. The fate of his descendants, he thought, was ineluctably tied to the land that God had promised Avraham and his descendants. Even the successful Yosef, insisted that his remains be included in the future exodus from Egypt.

How did the Hebrews avoid the natural process of assimilation? The Midrash suggests that they held onto various elements. They kept alive their native language Hebrew. They probably spoke Egyptian in order to communicate with the natives, but among themselves, they continued to use the paternal language. It should be clear that language does not mean a simple substitution: table for shulchan, for example. Language implies a particular manner of thinking, formulating ideas. It includes values, priorities in life. Language reflects a culture. In the Hebrew civilization, there was the imperative to believe in one and only one God. Even though the Torah never demands it and begins directly with the account of Bereshit, “at the beginning God created heaven and earth”, it is naturally understood. The Torah does not require to believe God because God is an axiomatic postulate. The universe is inconceivable without the Creator. They did not fall prey to Egyptian idolatry because they actually felt the Presence of God in their midst.

The episode of Yosef’s “sale” and its apparent consequences had deepened their certainty about the existence of God. Hadn’t Yosef himself made the argument that the sibling’s jealousy had been the mechanism used by the Creator to ensure the sustenance of the family in the time of famine? The events were part of the destiny that God had designed for the Hebrew people.

The second element that prevented its assimilation was the retention of their dress style. They did not succumb to the advanced Egyptian fashion world. The Talmud, for example, insists that the scholar, the student of the Torah, must be jealous of his clothing. Even in our cultures, uniforms are representative of the investiture of the priesthood, the police and armed forces. 

But there is something else, by retaining the original manner of dress, a person expresses his or her desire to retain an identity and transmits a firm message to others: the will to remain true to what they are and their unwillingness to shed their identity.

Name retention is the third item that secured fidelity to the ancestral tradition and prevented total assimilation into the Egyptian culture and social environment. In the U.S, for example, it is often difficult to recognize a Jew by his name.

For various reasons and not always because of an assimilatory nature, many people changed their names. Some did it out of fear, so as not to be easily identifiable by some anti-Semite as was the case in many a European city or village. 

A long history of persecution was responsible for this precaution. Yet, a change of name, invariably leads to a loss, even if only partial, of identity. However, the basic reason that caused resistance to assimilation was the retention of ancestral values, a fact insured by Yaacov’s presence when the family moved to Egypt. 

Having stayed away from his family, Yosef would have been fully integrated into the environment that he finally embraced and would have forgotten his roots.

Thanks to the presence of the entire family, they gave each other support In order to resist the temptations of the seductive Egyptian culture. Judaism started as a family business with Avraham and Sara. 

The innumerable humiliations and persecutions did not make them change their identity because the basic nucleus, the family, was always well defined and constituted. On the contrary, adversity only served as a catalytic agent to deepen these ties that until present times constitute the most important asset: the feeling of security and inclusion in a family that defy all the rules of History and remains true to its God-given principles.