אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ שִׁפְרָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית פּוּעָֽה
Pharaoh planned the final solution to the Jewish problem. The plan begins by recruiting collaborators. It was not easy to convince the Egyptians that they should denounce and send the Jews to labor camps (concentration), and then they should kill the Hebrew babies. After all, the Jews had been neighbors of the Egyptians for several generations. To gain the collaboration of his people, Pharaoh delivered the famous inflammatory anti-Semitic speech (see above) in which he accused the Jews of being traitors. And his plan worked.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
The first phase of Pharaoh’s plan is done in secret. To prevent the demographic growth of the Jewish people, Pharaoh orders the midwives to “discreetly” kill the babies, probably by hitting their little heads on the stone on which Jewish women give birth. The main thing was to make it look like an accident. Surprisingly, the midwives decided to disobey Pharaoh! Sages have different opinions about the ethnicity of these midwives. Were they Hebrew or Egyptian? The biblical text is ambiguous. hamyaledot haibriot could be understood as “Jewish” midwives or Egyptian midwives “who assisted Jewish women in giving birth.”
Today, we will explore this second opinion, which seems to me to be the most compatible with the peshat textual narrative and represents, among others, the opinion of Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel ( מיתו ולדיהן, אבל היו מצריות מילדות את העבריות, ר”‘). These Egyptian midwives who refused to follow Pharaoh’s orders and let the children live are presented explicitly with their names “Shifrá” and “Puá.”
This extraordinary act of courage cannot be taken lightly.
Let’s analyze it a little more in-depth.
WHAT DID THE MIDWIVES DO?
The midwives disobeyed a direct order from the man with supreme authority in Egypt, considered “a god”, the ruler of the most powerful country in the world, at the time of Egypt’s highest peak, the beginning of the 18th dynasty. This was not an ordinary act of giving up assigned tasks; it was an act of rebellion, of civil disobedience, perhaps the first recorded in the history of humanity.
WHY DID THEY DO IT?
Why did the midwives let the Jewish children live? The Torah explains it with simple but very profound words. “vatirena hamyaledot et haEloqim,” these non-Jewish women “feared God.”
Although the topic of fear of God is very deep, I will mention three brief ideas about it.
First, in the Tora, fear of God (=Eloqim) appears many times in the context of the behavior of non-Jews. When it comes to a Jewish context, the fear of “HaShem” is usually mentioned with the Divine name in Hebrew (A-do -nay) . The fact that the midwives mentioned “God” and not “HaShem” gives more weight to the claim that these midwives were not Jewish.
Secondly, the “fear of God” prevents a person from doing something wrong, refusing to do something wrong “in the eyes of God.” To understand it better, let’s compare it with the “love of God”, which leads someone to act with generosity, dedication, and kindness. The love of God is active, and the fear of God is passive but no less important!
Third, and perhaps the most critical point, is that the fear of God is presented in opposition to the fear of man, in this case, the fear of a tyrant. Midwives embrace the fear of God and minimize the fear of Pharaoh. And in a way, they are willing to accept Pharaoh’s punishment – torture and execution – inspired by their fear of God.
WHAT PRICE DID THEY PAY FOR THEIR DISOBEDIENCE?
Pharaoh receives the complaint that they have disobeyed him and summons them to his court to demand an explanation. The midwives present their arguments and explain that Jewish women give birth naturally (חיות הנה), on their own, and when they arrive to “kill male Jewish babies by accident,” it is already too late for that not to be noticed. Although I do not remember any commentator explaining it this way, I think it is also possible that this bravery inspired Pharaoh’s daughter, who, defying her father’s will, saved a Hebrew boy from certain death. That child was Moses.
Then come the enigmatic Hebrew words vaya’as lahem batim —”he made for them houses.”
First interpretation: Pharaoh did not forgive them but sent them to prison (batim, “houses, cells”). Following this interpretation, these women paid for “houses of perpetual confinement” in jail for their brave actions to save the Hebrew children.
HOW WAS YOUR ACT OF BRAVERY REWARDED?
But there is a second possible interpretation of the Hebrew word “batim.” Memorable dynasty, nobility, and fame. Like when one says that he or she comes “from the House of David.” Always following the opinion that these midwives were not Jewish, it is possible that the token of gratitude for having saved so many lives of the people of Israel was that the Tora mentioned these women “explicitly” by their names: Shifrá and Puá.
When we pay close attention to the biblical text, peshat, we will realize that in the entire story of slavery and the birth of Moshe (first two chapters of Shemot), the Torah does NOT mention the names of any of its protagonists, not even Yochebed, Miriam or Bitia—Pharaoh’s daughter. The only exception is SHIFRA AND PUA. Thus, the act of bravery of these simple midwives was immortalized in the memory of the Jewish people, who repeat their names every time we read the Torah. It is worth mentioning – and realizing this contrast – that the Torah does not even mention Pharaoh by name, the most powerful man on earth; he ends up being an anonymous tyrant who does not deserve to be remembered and who, even Today, his identity is disputed.
YAD VASHEM: TRIBUTE WITH NAMES
The Tora pays tribute to the memory of these brave women, “mentioning their act of valor and their names.” This is the way that the Jewish people—and the State of Israel—pay tribute to the memory of the Gentiles who risked or sacrificed their lives to save Jewish lives. This biblical gratitude is repeated, for example, in the section of the YAD VASHEM Holocaust museum dedicated to “the righteous among the nations” חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם perpetuating their memory, the mention of their “yad”, actions, and his “Shem”, his name, just as the Torah did with Shifrah and Puah.
Today Israel has many – too many enemies who shamelessly celebrate the Hamas massacre, accuse Israel of defending itself and avoiding a new massacre, and practice the hypocrisy of double standards, such as the Secretary General of the United Nations and many more (yemach shemam = may their names be erased, forgotten), who will never take the side of truth, justice, and objectivity.
On the other hand, many, many non-Jews support us, silently or out loud, like the author and journalist Douglas Murray, Erin Molan, and so many others, who deserve our deepest gratitude and tribute.
