Invitation

In Zionism I, we learned about how Queen Salome Alexandra did everything in her power to strengthen Judaism in Judea during her rule.  Once she died, her sons had a civil war over who would gain power.  One of them INVITED the Romans into Israel to help his defeat his brother.  Obviously, that is not what happened.  In the end, the Romans got rid of both brothers and conquered the land.  This directly led to the second exile.

The first major exile of the "ethical monotheist nation" A.K.A. Bnei Yisrael was their slavery in Egypt.  Although it was predicted by G-d, it still hit the Jews pretty hard.  I can't help but compare the above situation to this one.  A truly good person with all the right intentions did the right thing in trying to save their people.  In the above situation, the good leader died and left an opening for "evil" to come through.  By the Jews not protecting themselves against the Romans and not assuming that they might have come to Israel to take over, they led to their own demise.  In the case of Yosef and his brothers, Yosef gained power in a foreign country and was able to save lots of people from starving to death in the famine.  Here comes the problem:  After Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, he invited them to come and live in Egypt until the famine was over.  The Midrash says that as soon as Yaakov entered Egypt, the famine ended.  So why did the Jews stay in Egypt?  Maybe it was because Yosef could provide for them there.  As they all had professions, I don't see why they couldn't have returned home and shepherded for themselves.  Maybe it was so that they would be in position to enter slavery and be redeemed later.  This is slightly reminiscent of the other situation where the Jews were also "set up" for failure and ruin.

Although these two scenarios are not identical, they do remind me of each other.  What do you all think?  Are these pieces in the Jewish people's puzzle? Why did these saddening events happen?  Why did the people have to suffer?