Today we leave the book of Genesis to begin the saga of Exodus. First we examine two stories: one about the plight of the Hebrew people following the death of Joseph and the other concerning the birth of Moses. Both are about strangers. One story entails slavery and suffering, the other compassion and adoption. One is about “imperfect strangers” who remain such. The other is about complete strangers who become very close as adopted child and mother.

Story number one sets the scene with one short verse: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8).” Once the rulers of Egypt lost their memory of Joseph and the great things he had done for Egypt, they had little affection for the Hebrews. Indeed, they began to fear them. Ironically, they feared them because of …