Parashat Shemot 5777 Joanna Samuels וַיָּ ָ֥קם ֶֽמ ֶל ְך־ ָח ָד֖שׁ עַל־ ִמ ְצ ָ ֑ריִם ֲא ֶשׁ֥ר ֽלֹא־יַָד֖ע ֶאת־יוֹ ֵֽסף׃ A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Yosef.
Rarely in human history has a pasuk found a more fertile moment in which to be studied. וַיָּ ָ֥קם ֶֽמ ֶל ְך־ ָח ָד֖שׁ עַל־ ִמ ְצ ָ ֑ריִם ֲא ֶשׁ֥ר ֽלֹא־יַָד֖ע ֶאת־יוֹ ֵֽסף׃ A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Yosef.
What happens as a result of this ֶֽמ ֶל ְך־ ָח ָד֖שׁis well known. Observing the increasing numbers of Israelites in Egypt, this new king informed his people, “Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they don’t increase any further; otherwise in the event of war, they will join against our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”
When we explore whether this perceived threat is based in reality, we recall, in fact that the Israelites began as a tiny minority group in Egypt, first just Yosef, and then his 70 family members. Over time, they grew, and became more numerous.
Interestingly, the Torah does not tell us how many Israelites there actually were, how “numerous” they were in real numbers. It tells us only the
perception of how many Israelites there were in the mind of Pharaoh. The Israelites are
ַר֥ב וְ ָעצ֖וּם ִמ ֶֽמּנּוּ They are too many for US, says Pharaoh -- not necessarily an actual majority, let alone a real threat. They are “too many” in the realm of relativism and ratio -- but not necessarily of fact, not to mention of behavior.
And so despite the fact that Israelites were a minority in Egypt, this melech chadash accomplished his goal. He set one group of people against another, based on the ability to sow fear in people, and the ability to forge what is an easy and well-trodden path: the path where fear turns to obedience.
Thus, the Israelites were enslaved, due to rumor and speculation about how many of them there were, and what they might be capable of doing.
We all know the end of this story, and we know that the Egyptians will pay a very steep price for the fear that enabled them to acquiesce to Pharaoh’s plan.
But that is cold comfort, while we are very much inside of this story.
For what is the immediate result of fear-based, paranoia-stoked totalitarianism? It is, of course, oppression and violence; it is vulnerability and fear. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh .וַיְ ָמ ְרר֨וּ ֶאת־ ַחיֵּי ֶה֜ם ַבּ ֲעבָֹד֣ה ָק ָשׁ֗ה .labor
It is in this moment that, it would seem, all hope is lost. A totalitarian dictator has risen. A people has been cruelly enslaved. There is not yet an obvious opposition leader in place. And The Holy One, Blessed be God is, as yet, silent.
What happens next?
My friends, Enter the Ladies.
In quick succession, the Torah offers three examples of women who, in different ways, found the path to fight back against oppression and violence; in so doing, they set the stage for the overthrow of power, and the redemption of the Israelite people.
The first group is are the midwives, Shifra and Puah, who are tasked with delivering babies for Israelite mothers.
There seem to be three people in Egypt who understand how important the work of the midwives is: Shifra, Puah, and Pharaoh. When Pharaoh sought to expand his program of oppression into full-scale genocide, he went straight to the midwives. “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”
Yet, a funny thing happens when there is a battle brewing that pits cruelty against authenticity. Authenticity always bats last.
The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
This did not escape the attention of the Pharaoh. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?”
As though they expected this challenge, the midwives gave a clever answer.
The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.”
Why was this answer clever? Well, not only did this tiny lie absolve them of the crime of going against Pharaoh’s edict, it also, in a strange way
flattered Pharaoh by -- falsely -- affirming his belief that the Israelite women were Chayot, were like animals.
But how were the midwives clever?
The midwives understood that there can be no genocide when the apparatus that brings and sustains life into this world refuses to participate in violence and degradation.
The midwives refused having their role reversed, from being life givers to life deniers. They were conscientious objectors, who understood what a powerful part of the resistance they could be, and they acted accordingly.
Here’s what the midwives knew: there can be no mob mentality, when individuals refuse to be part of the mob.
Next up in our story, one pasuk later:
In the continued enslavement and degradation of human life for the Israelites, we learn, Pharaoh’s latest edict is that male babies must be thrown in the Nile. Despite this, Israelite women continued to bring life into the world. ִקּ֖ח ֶאת־בַּת־ ֵלוִֽי׃ ַ וַ ֥יֵֶּל ְך ִא֖ישׁ ִמ ֵ ֣בּית ֵל ֑וִי וַיּ
A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.2 ִשּׁה וַ ֵ ֣תּ ֶלד ֵ ֑בּן וַ ֵ ֤תּ ֶרא אֹתוֹ֙ כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה֔וּא וַֽ ִתּ ְצ ְפּנֵ֖הוּ ְשׁלֹ ָשׁ֥ה יְ ָר ִֽחים׃ ֖ ָ תּ ַהר ָהא ֥ ַ ַו The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months.
What did the mother of then do, when she could no longer maintain this life secretly? She created for this baby a teva, an ark, and placed him in the Nile.
What does it mean to send a child alone, into the raging waters of this broken planet, in a tiny handmade ark, with only a layer of caulking to keep him dry and safe?
What does it take to maintain the optimism and faith to bring life into a broken world, a world in which we can not control, and world in which we can not keep our children safe?
This is the lesson of Moshe’s mother, who refused to dwell in the world of fear and who brought a child into terrible circumstances -- perhaps out of the belief that, truly, embedded in each individual life on this planet is the promise of repair and redemption.
The fact that this baby, floating down the river, grows up to be the Moshe who does in fact lead us to our redemption is testament not just to Moshe.
It is as also a testament to the visionary stubbornness of love: love that creates, nurtures, and sustains life in impossible circumstances, across this country and this planet, every day.
But how is this baby saved, and how is he raised? In the very next pasuk, we learn: ֣וֹך ַהסּ֔וּף וַ ִתּ ְשׁ ַל֥ח ֥ ֶֹתּ ֶרד בַּת־ ַפּ ְרעֹה֙ ִל ְרחֹ֣ץ עַל־ ַהיְאֹ֔ר וְנַ ֲער ֤ ֵ ַו ְ תי ָה הְֹלכֹ֖ת עַל־ ֣יַד ַהיְאֹ֑ר וַ ֵ ֤תּ ֶרא ֶאת־ ַה ֵתּ ָבה֙ ְבּת ֶאת־ ֲא ָמ ָ ֖תהּ וַ ִתּ ָקּ ֶֽח ָהThe daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to fetch it. וַ ִתּ ְפ ַתּח֙ וַ ִתּ ְר ֵא֣הוּ ֶאת־ ַה ֔יֶֶּלד וְ ִהנֵּה־ ֖נַעַר בֶֹּ ֑כה וַ ַתּ ְחמֹ֣ל ָע ָ ֔ליו וַתֹּ֕א ֶמר ִמיְַּל ֵד֥י ָֽה ִע ְב ִר֖ים זֶֽה׃When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.”
Pharaoh’s daughter did three things: וַ ֵ ֤תּ ֶרא-- she saw, וַ ַתּ ְחמֹ֣לshe felt, and she took action, raising the child as her own and naming him for her act of bravery.
Pharaoh’s daughter used the privilege afforded to her to save and nourish and sustain life, when it would have been easy not to notice. She raised
this baby, this child of the so-called enemy in the palace of the very man whose decree sent that baby to the Nile. In fact, the daughter of Pharaoh may have been the ONLY person in all of Egypt to be able to save and raise an Israelite baby, without risk to her own safety and well-being. And so she did.
I am holding the stories of these women close to me, today and into the future, and I hope you will, too.
What do we learn from the midwives? We learn that each one of us has an orbit that is in our control, where we can -- and where we MUST exercise resistance to violence and degradation. Each one of us has a place where we can speak truth to power, and demand change, and sustain life. Each one of us is a cog in an important system that can either denigrate human dignity or elevate human dignity. Please consider what is the arena in which you have agency to act on behalf of life.
We also learn a bit about methods. The midwives literally saved lives -quietly, with yirat Hashem. Their revolution was decidedly analog: the intimate and bloody work of bringing life into the world. The midwives did not mistake a posting an article on FB post about justice for actual justice. We too can learn from this -- to do the work of justice with authenticity and without need for recognition.
And Moshe’s mother, who brought a child into a broken and scary world, what do we learn from her?
Well, we learn to recognize her, everywhere, for one thing.
She is our mother or grandmother, who birthed babies in DP camps after the war, in record numbers, out of the stubborn belief that we can’t change the past, but we can cultivate some sense of optimism for the future.
She is the mother who sent her children on the kindertransport, or through the deserts of Mexico and Texas, or on a boat from Syria to Turkey to Greece.
She is an African-American mother who sends her child into the world, but only after giving him “the talk” -- what to do to avoid being stopped by a police officer, what to do if a police officer does stop you, how to avoid becoming a the tragic example of our nation’s incomplete path to justice.
Moshe’s mother is everywhere. Let’s join her in the belief that bringing life, that nourishing life, that protecting life in an imperfect world is one of the ways in which we help to bring redemption to our world. Moshe’s mother is everywhere. Let’s please, every one of us, recognize her. And let’s please look out for her children.
Finally, Pharaoh’s daughter is an example of what we do when we have privilege. And my friends, each one of us does. What is privilege? When, like Pharaoh’s daughter, we see things, we feel compassion and then we have the ability to ACT. If an Israelite mother had spied that basket in the river, she could not have acted. It was only Pharaoh’s daughter who had the “cover” to save this baby.
What is the bold act that you can take, because you do not fear deportation, or losing your health care benefits, or not having enough food to eat?
And once we get practiced at that, what are the bold acts that each of us must take that DO come with risks? Like the risks of “offending” people who are not used to being offended by us, in the service of restoring truth to our discourse? The risks of doing with less, so that we can give more? The risks of getting out of our own bubbles and into the pain and vulnerability of others?
Ultimately, all of which amounts to the risk of encountering the cries of a small child, whether in real life or on the news, and taking action that will change the future of our world.
Pharaoh’s daughter is inside of us all. Moshe’s mother is our mother. The midwives have taught us well.
Let’s get going on the redemption of this nation.
