One aspect of the exodus story that i always found intriguing is that to punish the Israelites, Pharaoh forced them to make bricks (apparently, the main task for which they were enslaved) without using straw, thus making weak, inferior bricks. But the Israeli slaves would not themselves have lived in brick houses. Their abodes would have been made of straw or thatch at best. The bricks would have been for use in the houses and buildings of the Egyptian upper classes who could afford such luxury and expense. So the Pharaohs punishment would have had no effect upon the Israelites, but would have placed the Pharaohs friends and supporters in crumbling structures that would collapse around them with the first rain or wind storm.
I'm sure that when the Egyptian taskmasters came around to see how the brick making was going, the Israelites would wail "Oh nos! Bricks without straw! How shall be ever endure?!"