Parshat Shemot; Exodus 1:1-6:1 By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

In Parshat Shemot, the opening portion of the second book of the Torah, Exodus, we
meet Moses who will lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. Moses’ birth is recounted
by the portion, a Hebrew baby born into slavery who is rescued by none other than the
daughter of Pharaoh from a death sentence. In this portion Moses’ earliest years are described. The influences in his life are revealed and we meet the people who shape him into the leader of the Israelites. Many of the people who shape him into the person he will become are women: his mother, sister, adoptive mother, and wife.

Women play an important role in this week’s portion. Women act both behind the scenes and front and center to help shape and move Moses’ destiny forward. The women act as the hands of God. This emphasis on the strength and conviction of women to create a different reality than that of the ruling power begins with the story of Shifra and Puah.
The Pharaoh of Egypt had declared that all Hebrew male babies be killed at birth. We are told about two Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Puah, who defy the order of Pharaoh. These two brave and gutsy women engage in some of the first acts of civil disobedience in the Torah by delivering healthy Israelite children. Shifra and Puah, do all to keep life alive. They answer to a higher authority than Pharaoh. They place their trust in God. This is a radical idea in ancient Egypt. For the Pharaoh is not just the civil authority but also the divine authority. The Egyptians who oppress the Israelites with greater might and bitterness cannot possibly conceive that these simple women would delight in life. Shifra and Puah have a sense of justice that is rooted in something other than the Egyptian system and when called to account for why the children of Hebrew slaves are still alive they give the excuse that the Israelite women give birth too fast! Shifra and Puah are true heroines and foreshadow the idea that Pharaoh is a false god and false authority.
Moses’ birth is hidden from the authorities. But Moses’ mother called Yocheved then places Moses in a basket and sets him afloat in the river Nile. Moses’ sister, Miriam, ensures that Moses’ is discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh, known in Jewish tradition as Batya. Pharaoh’s daughter also defies the death sentence decreed by her father, the Pharaoh. She must realize that this child is a Hebrew baby afloat in the river and actually makes a deal to have baby Moses, nursed by his own mother! At a later time, Yocheved does take Moses to the palace to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. A network of women protects baby Moses.
They give him every advantage. The loving care of his own birth mother in the critical years of infant and toddler -hood and the privileges of being raised not in slavery but in the opulence of the Egyptian courts prepares Moses on many levels! Moses will have a foothold in many worlds. Moses will continue to span many worlds when he flees Egypt after murdering a cruel Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a Hebrew slave mercilessly. Moses will come to reside with a Midianite family and will marry Tziporrah, the daughter of the Midian high priest. Interestingly, Moses is now part of many priestly families. His own birth parents are of the tribe of Levi who will become the Israelites priests. He was raised in the Egyptian courts of Pharaoh who was seen as Divine and he was the son-in- law of the High Priest Midian. Moses is preparing to be a different kind of leader. He is preparing to be the one that God will choose to lead the Israelites to freedom and his priestly connections in these various households give him unique training in leadership.
During this week of Parshat Shemot, let us give thanks for these strong women who courageously and faithfully help create a powerful safety net and web of protection for the future leader Moses. Yocheved, Miriam, Batya and Tzipporah inspire us and perhaps remind us to thank the women in our lives who do the same!