Sermon on Shmot

This week parsha tells us about the enslavement of the Children of Israel and that they were forced to build the storage cities of Pitham and Ramses.I want to ask and attempt to answer the following questions. Why was it necessary for the Israelites to be in Egypt and why does the Torah tell us they built Pithan and Ramses.My approach to the answer is based on geography and the spirit of Prof.Jared Diamond and not on theology or mysticism. The children of Jacob were shepherds nomads who lived in tents.They lived like Bedouins today. If they were to conquer the land of Canaan as G-d promised them they needed to increase their numbers in order to have suuficient soldiers for the task. In Canaan they did know about farming and water preservation.Even if they managed to have many children in the absence of sufficient water or food the children would die.They had to live in Egypt an advanced civilization, with enough food and water to feed a growing population.They had to build Pitham and Ramses to learn how to build cities and in particular Storage cities.The Israelites who were slaves in Egypt became a people with enough numbers to conquer Canaan, and they learnt from the Egyptians the skills and knowhow necessary to allow them to keep Canaan .