When Yaakov’s household arrived in Egypt, they went to live in the land of Goshen, a separate area of Egypt with the most fertile land. Yosef took great pains to ensure that the Jews (well, really Hebrews at that point in time) would remain separate from mainstream Egyptian society. Even their profession was different; they were shepherds, an abominable profession in Egypt, because sheep were worshipped as deities there (see Rashi 46:34). Therefore, the Egyptians would want distance put between themselves and Yaakov’s family. Why all the trouble? Why cause the Egyptians to feel antagonism or mistrust from all of the special treatment and keeping separate?
Had the Jews simply moved into the neighborhood, they would have ceased to exist as a nation. Too many corruptive influences were around in Egyptian society to be exposed to. How long might it have taken for the Jews to have stopped being shepherds to please their Egyptian neighbors? The next step could very well have been to start worshipping sheep like the Egyptians and stooping to the Egyptian levels of immorality. In order to ensure a future for the Jews as a nation, steps had to be taken to keep them separate from the corruptive Egyptian influences.
It is the same for us today. Our neighbors may not bow down to sheep or anything like that, but perhaps now we are in an even more perilous situation. We live in a very inviting country, where everyone is free to live as they please and everyone is equal. While we obviously should appreciate the religious freedom this grants us, one must be wary as well. We are not just the same as our non-Jewish neighbors. We are Hashem’s chosen people, and we have a Torah to guide our lives. Sometimes it’s easier to just be like everyone else around you, but we march to a different drum than the rest of the world, and we should show it.