Joseph wanted to raise the Egyptians to a higher spiritual and moral plane. So he arranged that they be circumcised. That way, perhaps the exile destined upon his people would be shortened. The plan backfired. Rather than alleviating the Egyptian exile, Joseph empowered the Egyptians to oppress his people yet more viciously. Joseph believed he could shortcut the Egyptian exile. We sometimes delude ourselves that we can hot-wire our own darkness. We imagine we can bring thousands more to Torah, if we just would compromise with electronics on Shabbat. Or that we could achieve so many more mitzvahs, if we just would bend the rules of...