Shemot 1:1-6:1
In our Parsha named Shemot we begin the book of Shemot (Exodus). In the Hebrew Bible we use the first important word in each parsha to name that parsha, and the name of the first Parsha becomes the name of that book. A new Pharoah is in power and he either forgets or ignores the good Yosef did for their country. The people Israel have multiplied and prospered in Goshen and Pharoah is concerned. The Hebrews are enslaved, forced to make bricks. Still the people are so numerous that Pharoah instructs the Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Puah, to kill all boys born to Hebrew women. They however do not, telling Pharoah that the Hebrew women are delivering their babies before they can get there. Pharoah then commands all baby Hebrews be thrown into the river. One Hebrew couple from the house of Levi have a baby boy and hide him for three months. Then they weave a basket and place him in it, placing the basket and the child into a Nile tributary where his sister watches to see what becomes of him. Pharoah’s daughter comes to the river to bathe and finds the boy among the reeds. She is touched seeing this baby, then realizing he must be one of the Hebrew babies. The baby’s sister approaches Pharoah’s daughter and asks if she would like for her to fetch a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. She says yes and she brings the baby’s mom to nurse the child. After three months, the mother brings the baby to Pharoah’s daughter, and she names the child Moshe (Moses.)
Moshe grows up, sees the mistreatment of the Hebrews. He intervenes and kills an Egyptian overseer. Pharoah hears about it and Moshe flees to Midian. He waters the sheep for the daughters of the priest of Midian, Yithro and later marries a daughter, Zipporah. They have a son Gershom, named for the fact he was a stranger in a foreign land. This Pharoah dies, but the Hebrews remain enslaved. Moshe is out tending the sheep for Yithro when he sees a burning bush, but the bush is not consumed. Hashem speaks to Moshe. Moshe removes his shoes and lies face down so as not to gaze on the face of Hashem. Moshe is told to return to Pharoah and tell him to let his people go. Moshe is reluctant. Hashem demonstrates ways to convince Pharoah, like staff turning to snake, making the water turn to blood etc. Moshe is still reluctant until he learns Aaron will speak for him. It’s pretty clear Moshe had a speech defect, So, he goes back. Pharoah of course says no and makes the life harder for the Hebrews. The people come to Moshe complaining, but Hashem explains now they will see the power of Hashem.
As I reviewed this parsha, and a host of commentaries, one recurrent theme occurred to me. We see ordinary people like most of us, who when the time comes, take heroic action. First look at Shifra and Puah. Two midwives, and we do not know if they were Egyptian or Hebrew. But when Pharoah ordered them to kill baby boys, they instead disobeyed the order. Their moral compass told them this was wrong.
In my studies of the Shoah, we know that many go along with unspeakable acts, but there are some quite ordinary people who provided hiding places for the Jews, protecting them from unspeakable horrors. Our heroines, Shifra and Puah chose to do the right thing at real danger to their own lives. When confronted by Pharoah, they simply said the Hebrew women were vigorous, delivering the babies before the two could get there. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory offered in a talk on Shifra and Puah that “Often the mark of real moral heroes is that they do not see themselves as moral heroes.” They simply do what they do because it’s the right thing to do. He goes on and points to this as the first recorded incidence of civil disobedience, and it became the tool of Ghandi and was enshrined in law at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals who complained they were only following orders.
But these were not the only moral sheroes in our parsha. What about the Egyptian princess, daughter of Pharoah? First, she goes down to the river and mingles with the ordinary folks. There is of course rabbinical discussion of the entire idea of going “down” to the river. Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Shimon offers that the reason for the descent was to cleanse herself from the idolatry of her father. (Babylonian Talmud Sota 12B). While she is there, she sees a basket in the reeds, and discovers the baby within. She is touched first with pity, then the realization this must be a Hebrew baby. She is aware of the edict by her father, and failure to honor that edict puts her in danger. Plus, she is there with her servant and gossip was rampant in the court. Then the baby’s sister asks her (think of that, speaking to a royal but just as one person to another) if she should get a Hebrew mother to nurse the child and Pharoah’s sister says yes. The child then goes to the actual mother of the baby who nurses the child for three months, then brings the baby to the princess who takes the child as her own, naming him Moshe. So not only was there a moment of compassion at the river, but she takes on the task of adopting the child and raising him as her own.
In both cases, people took actions that brought great risk to their own lives, driven by their moral compass rather than the edicts of a tyrant. I cannot help but reflect on our own time. We are moving into an era of uncertainty, with a rise of the extreme right, fed by bizarre conspiracy theories, and calls for Christian nationalism and fascist ideologies. We as Jews are witnessing a rise in hate crimes and antisemitic acts. Also, common targets are immigrants, LGBTQIA folks, Muslims, and Orientals. Plus, a handful of radicals in Congress poised to let our debt default if they don’t get their way. Time and again I’m hearing statements comparing now to the time just before our Civil War back in the 1860’s. Do we, will we show that moral compass demonstrated by Shifra and Puah, or the daughter of Pharoah? Can we see that spark of Hashem within each, and govern our actions by our moral compass rather than submit to the hate perpetrated by those seeking raw power? I know this. Torah offers us in this parsha guideposts for the present and future. May we all be well and safe. Baruch Hashem!
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