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Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas
Shemos
Why Save the Babies?
By:
Daniel Listhaus
וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת הָאֱלֹקים וְלֹא עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶן מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם
וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת הַיְלָדִים
“And the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the
king of Egypt spoke to them, and they kept the boys alive.”
-Shemos 1:17
The Torah[1] describes
that the seventy members of B’nei Yisroel who originally descended to Mitzrayim
multiplied and increased tremendously within a short period of time.[2] A nation
was being born right in the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh and his advisors started
to worry. In order to slow down B’nei Yisroel’s population growth rate,
Pharaoh decided to make all the Jews work as slaves doing hard and crushing
labor. Additionally, he commanded the Jewish mid-wives to kill all boys that
they were asked to deliver, and keep alive only the girls. The passuk (verse)[3] testifies
that the midwives feared Hashem and despite Pharaoh’s decree they not only didn’t
kill the newborns but rather even did all that they could to ensure the babies
health.[4] Of course
they were quickly caught, after all keeping babies alive when they are supposed
to be dead as part of a population control plan is not an easy secret to keep,
and indeed it was not long before Pharaoh asked them why they were knowingly
transgressing on his decree. The midwives responded that it was not their fault.
They argued that they were doing the best they were able to but that the Jewish
women were giving birth without needing their services. Therefore, as they told
Pharaon, there was no way that they could be involved in his plan in ensuring
that the babies would not be able to live.
This story
is one with which many are familiar; however, there is often a small detail
which is overlooked. We know that the Torah tells us that the midwives names
were Shifrah and Pu’ah.[5] Rashi[6] explains
that really Shifrah was Yocheved, the mother of Moshe; and Pu’ah was Miriam,
Yocheved’s daughter and Moshe’s sister. The reason Yocheved was called Shifrah
was because she would beautify the children at birth, and the reason Miriam was
called Pu’ah was because she would coo and speak to the babies to sooth them and
calm them from their crying. The Torah calls them by these “nicknames” because
that was the essence of who they were. They were a team of two of the most
loving and caring people in K’lal Yisroel. They had an incredible amount
of love for each and every child as if it were their own. With this in mind,
the reason that the Torah offers as to why they saved the babies from Pharaoh’s
decree is peculiar. Interestingly, when the Torah records that they refused to
listen to Pharaoh and instead keep the babies alive, the reason the Torah gives
for their defiance is not because of their love for children, their social role
of ensuring the future of B’nei Yisroel, nor because of their moral
obligation to save innocent babies. Rather, the Torah states that the specific
reason why they continued to save the babies was because they feared Hashem.
How could we
understand this passuk? First, why does the Torah need to offer an explanation
as to why Yocheved and Miriam chose to save babies? Would we really be unsure
of a motive had the Torah simply stated they continued to save the children, without
expressing the reason why? There are many reasons why one would go out of their
way and even put one’s own life on the line to rescue an infant! The Torah’s
reason makes them sound like cold and emotionless people, not caring and loving
midwives. Was the reason they saved the babies really because they feared
Hashem? What happened to their boundless love and care?
Perhaps we could
learn from here an incredible, but fundamental lesson – that ultimately the only
reason to do anything is because it is what Hashem wants. Even an action as obviously
virtuous as saving the lives of innocent, helpless babies from an inhumane
decree, could be done on two different levels. One could save the baby because
he or she believes it is the “morally right thing to do” or one could do so
because it is what Hashem wants and therefore by definition it is the
morally right thing to do. Saving a pure, smiling baby is easy, but saving a
baby solely because Hashem said so is much more difficult. After all, it takes
the complete removal of one’s own biases and feelings of what should be morally
correct and humane and makes it secondary to Hashem’s will. The litmus test
being – what would happen if Hashem would tell you to do something which
opposes your own “personal moral compass”? Take Avraham avinu for
example. Hashem commanded him to bring Yitzchak as an offering. A person who generally
fulfills Hashem’s will because it happens to fit into his own moral compass,
would in Avraham’s situation, have been defiant. In contrast, one who defines
his or her own moral compass purely based on the will of Hashem, will be
willing to do what Hashem commands even when it may seem merciless and ludicrous;
such as bringing a son as an offering or wiping out an entire nation[7]
– men, women and children. Our challenge
is to align our moral compass with ratzon Hashem, not to try to squeeze ratzon
Hashem into the ethics and morals with which we feel comfortable. This is what
the Torah is describing regarding Yocheved and Pu’ah. They weren’t cold at all,
indeed they were of the most loving and caring. But there love and care was not
solely based on the “shallower” reason of them not being able to be involved in
killing babies. Rather, their love and care itself came from the fact that they
understood that ratzon Hashem was to keep the babies alive and therefore
their full efforts of expressions of love and care was by definition appropriate.
A few passukim
later, the Torah relates, “…And it was because the midwives feared G-d that
He made houses for them.”[8]
Rashi[9]
explains that these “houses” refer to the dynasties of kehuna (priesthood),
leviyah (tribe of Levi), and malchus (kingship) which became
destined to come from the descendents of Yocheved and Miriam. On the surface, a
simple understanding of the passuk would lead one to think that Hashem
rewarded them middah k’neged middah – measure for measure – that just as
they took the responsibility to ensure the perpetuation of B’nei Yisroel,
Hashem ensured that they would forever play essential roles in leading K’lal
Yisroel. However, the passuk does not say that they were rewarded
with these lines of descendents because they saved the babies, but rather specifically
because of their fear of Hashem. Based on what we explained above, perhaps we
could understand this passuk the same way but on a slightly deeper
level. It was specifically because they were able to be solely driven by the
fear of Hashem to do even the most obvious moral obligation that they were rewarded
with parenting the forefathers of kehuna, leviyah, and malchus. After
all, what is more important to have as a quality embedded in the ancestry of
the leaders of the Jewish nation more than people who strive to do everything
based on adhering to ratzon Hashem not just during difficult times when
there is no alternative, but even during easy times when the course of action
is “obvious”.
May Hashem guide
us on the right path and help refine our reasons, not just to do things because
they may be morally correct, but to do things because it is ratzon Hashem
and therefore it by definition is morally correct.
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