The Women Who Defied Pharaoh
The first chapter of Sefer Shemot describes the enslavement and suffering of the Jewish people. Though Pharaoh tried to suppress their growth, the Jewish people flourished anyway.
Pharaoh’s first attempt was through slavery. He hoped that enslavement would break the nation’s spirit and lead to their decline, but his plan backfired: “As they persecuted them, so they grew (1:12).” Though the Torah tells us that Pharaoh’s plan failed, it does not explain why.
The Torah adds this detail in its presentation of Pharaoh’s second, more devious, plan – the extermination of Jewish baby boys. Here, too, the Torah tells us that the plan failed. This time, it tells us why: the Jewish midwives, Shifra and Puah, defied his orders and brought Jewish life into the world. It was righteous women who saved the Jewish baby boys.
Though his plans kept failing, Pharaoh persisted. He now commanded all the Egyptians to kill the baby boys by throwing them into the Nile. Despite this genocidal edict, Jewish women continued finding ways to bear and raise their children.
Like Shifra and Puah in the first chapter, Yocheved and Miriam in the second chapter brought a baby boy into the world and protected him. First, Yocheved gave birth to Moshe and followed the letter of Pharaoh’s law by putting him in the Nile, but in a protective basket, and then Miriam stood firmly by the river to ensure his safety.
Then a third woman, Pharaoh’s own daughter (!), retrieved Moshe from the river and raised him in her home. Like the other women in Shemot’s first two chapters, Pharaoh’s daughter defied his orders. Pharaoh had tried to kill the Jews from within – by using inside assistance in the form of their midwives, but ironically, his own daughter saved and raised the Jewish savior.
Moshe was ultimately G-d’s agent to save the Jewish people, but he owed his own life to the women who saved him.
Women Who Inspired Others
The next pasukim describe Moshe’s first efforts on behalf of the Jewish people – his intervention to protect the Jew beaten by an Egyptian and the one threatened by a fellow Jew.
The Torah tells these stories immediately after depicting how Moshe himself was saved to show us how Moshe embodied what he experienced. He was saved, so he saved others. Though he was drawn from the water, he was named Moshe (to draw), not Mashui (drawn), because he would become someone who saved others.
The righteous women not only saved Moshe; they also inspired him. And they inspired many others as well – including their own husbands. Chazal (Sot. 12a) tell us that, depressed by their suffering in Mitzraim, Jewish men decided to stop bringing children into the world and divorced their wives. Why bring children into a world in which boys were killed and girls were enslaved?
Righteous women, emboldened by their great faith, convinced the men to reverse their decision. Miriam challenged her father, Amram, who had led the divorce initiative. She argued that Pharaoh’s decrees were harsh, but they were not absolute – ultimately, Hashem determines the results; our job is to do our part. Amram was convinced and led the remarriage initiative.
Even after the family was forced to leave Moshe in the Nile, Miriam maintained her faith. Amram expressed his frustration to Miriam, but she was not deterred and even predicted that Moshe would become the savior of the Jewish people. Even in bleak circumstances, when redemption could only be seen “from a distance,” Miriam continued to believe.
Miriam, Yocheved, and Bat Pharaoh were not the exceptions. They were the rule. Chazal (Sot. 11b) tell us that the masses of Jewish women showed similar faith and strength. Like Amram, their husbands were depressed and did not want to have children. The women visited their husbands working in the fields. They fed them, pampered them, and convinced them to have children. When their husbands were unable to help them with the birth, they gave birth on their own, and Hashem sent angels to care for the babies.
The Merit of Righteous Women
Chazal saw the faith and righteousness of these women as the reason the Jews merited redemption from Egypt: “In the merit of righteous women, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt.” Though Hashem promised Avraham that his descendants would be redeemed, the merit of righteous women allowed them to leave after 210 years instead of 400. Hashem wanted to redeem the Jews, but they needed to show faith in Him first.
The women demonstrated this faith. It inspired the midwives and Pharaoh’s own daughter to defy his genocidal orders. Miriam used her faith to encourage the men to remarry their wives, Jewish women showed their faith by inspiring their husbands to have children, and Yocheved’s and Miriam’s faith gave them the strength to conceive, deliver, protect, and raise the Jewish people’s future savior.
The Jews enslaved in Egypt were not the last of our ancestors redeemed through the merit of righteous women. Women played central roles in many subsequent redemptive processes throughout our history, including Yehudit against the Greeks and Esther in Persia.
Our Generation – The Past Eighteen Months
Women in our generation, particularly over the last eighteen months, continue to exhibit unique faith and strength through their critical role fighting for, supporting, and inspiring the Jewish people. Women sacrificed their lives defending us on October 7 and in the months since, and they have also fought as well as supported their husbands and children on the front.
Women have also responded to personal loss with heroic, inspiring expressions of faith.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin is one such example. When her son Hersch was wounded and taken hostage from the Nova Festival, she embarked on a worldwide campaign to secure his release and inspired thousands to join her in prayer. Tragically, after nearly twelve months in captivity, Hersh was found murdered.
Yet, even in her profound grief, Rachel’s faith remained unshaken:
From the late morning of October 7, I felt Hashem was here… The relationship is extremely strong because I know, I am so confident that Hashem is here. I know Hashem is involved with this; I know that Hashem knows what is going on and has a plan.
Righteous women have also been among the hostages. Many of those released have inspired us with their faith. Agam Berger is an excellent example. Agam was wounded and kidnapped on October 7 and held for almost 500 days, much of the time alone. Though isolated in a hostile environment, she observed Shabbat and kashrut and fasted on Yom Kippur.
Upon release, she shared the following message: “I chose the path of faith. I went with the path of faith and returned with the path of faith.” Agam’s suffering reinforced rather than shook her faith.
As we prepare for Pesach, let’s pray that the faith and inspiration of Rachel, Agam, and the many other righteous women merit our redemption, just as our foremothers’ faith merited our ancestors’ redemption. “Ba’yamim ha’hem, ba’zman ha’zeh, in those days, at this time.”
