And it seems possible to suggest a new idea, that even from the perspective of the Israelites, the beginning of this enslavement was a recompense for ingratitude, as they also stumbled somewhat in recognizing the goodness of Joseph's actions toward them.

We shall explain our intention: Behold, in the Parashat Vayigash, the words of Joseph to his father are brought when he invites him to come live in Egypt: "And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, etc." (Genesis 45:10), and similarly later in his words to his brothers before they come before Pharaoh: "And you shall say, 'Your servants have been cattlemen from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, etc.'" (Genesis 46:34). The word 'so that' (בעבור) is a term of condition, thus it is explained that Joseph conditioned their dwelling to be only in the land of Goshen, and not to mix with the Egyptians in their places of residence, so that they would not, Heaven forbid, be influenced by their evil deeds. They accepted this condition, as they said to Pharaoh when standing before him: "And they said to Pharaoh, 'We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.'" (Genesis 47:4).

Indeed, even Pharaoh himself desired this for his own reasons. Although at the beginning of his words to Joseph he said, "The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land," he later said again, "Let them dwell in the land of Goshen, etc." (Genesis 47:6). It is evident that he also conditioned their dwelling in the land of Goshen, presumably thinking that their mixing with the local population could create friction due to cultural differences.

Thus, Joseph acted practically, as told later: "And Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded." Rashi explains: "Rameses – it is part of the land of Goshen."

From all this, we learn that this hospitality that the Israelites received was conditional from both hosts, Joseph and Pharaoh, that the area of residence should not extend beyond the borders of the land of Goshen. Nevertheless, we surprisingly see how over the years this matter weakened, and the Israelites filled the land, as testified by the verse (Exodus 1:7): "And the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied, etc., and the land was filled with them." Even though the Ibn Ezra in his long commentary wrote that 'the land' mentioned here is the land of Goshen, in his short commentary he wrote that it means "the entire land of the kingdom of Egypt." Similarly, the Netziv wrote in Haamek Davar: "And the land was filled with them – if it meant the land of Goshen, it should have said 'by them,' and so Onkelos translated: 'by them,' but the biblical language 'with them' comes to teach that not only the land of Goshen, which was designated for the Israelites and was filled with Israelites alone, but even the entire land of Egypt, which was primarily inhabited by the Egyptians, was filled with Israelites, etc."

Thus, it turns out that the Israelites themselves were somewhat ungrateful for the kindness of Joseph and Pharaoh, who treated them hospitably. Instead of recognizing their kindness, they violated their condition and moved out of the designated area to live with the rest of the Egyptians throughout the land of Egypt.

It is possible that this is what the verse hints at when it says: "And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation" (Exodus 1:6). And it connects this to the story of their expansion throughout the land: "And the Israelites, etc., and the land was filled with them" (Exodus 1:7), as if to say, because Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died, the new generation forgot the kindness of Joseph and the condition he made with them, and therefore: "the land was filled with them," as they broke out of their designated area to fill the entire land of Egypt.

We learn from this that the beginning of the Egyptian enslavement, from both their side and the Israelites' side, stemmed from this reprehensible trait of ingratitude. This ingratitude is the impurity of Egypt, and from it originates Pharaoh's insolent refusal against the word of God by the hand of Moses and Aaron, saying, "Who is the Lord