EXOD12 The opening chapters of Exodus plunge us into the midst of epic events. Almost at a stroke the Israelites are transformed from protected minority to slaves. Moses passes from Prince of Egypt to Midianite shepherd to leader of the Israelites through a history-changing encounter at the burning bush. Yet it is one small episode that deserves to be seen as a turning point in the history of humanity. Its heroines are two remarkable women, Shifra and Puah. We do not know who they were. The Torah gives us no further information about them than that they were midwives, instructed by Pharaoh: "When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is if it isa girl, let her live" [this verse]. A Hebrew description of the two women as hameyaldot haIvriyot it could mean" the Hebrew midwives"; so most translations and commentaries read it. But it could equally mean, "the midwives to the Hebrews," in which case they may have been Egyptian. That is how Josephus [Antiquities of the Jews, 2.9.2], Abarbanel, and Samuel David Luzzatto understand it, arguing that it is simply implausible to suppose that Hebrew women would have been party to an act of genocide against their own people. What we do know, however, is that they refused to carry out the order: "The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told him to do; they let the boys live" (Exodus 1:17). This is the first recorded instance in history of civil disobedience: refusing to obey an order, given by the most powerful man in the most powerful empire of the ancient world, simply because it was immoral, unethical, inhuman. The Torah suggests that they did so without fuss or drama. Summoned by Pharaoh to explain their behavior, they simply replied: "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive" (Exodus 1:19). To this, Pharaoh had no reply. The matter-of-factness of the entire incident reminds us of one of the most salient findings about the courage of those who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. They had little in common except for the fact that they saw nothing remarkable in what they did. [See James Q. Wilson, The Moral Sense (New York: Free Press, 1993), 35-39, and the literature cited there]. Often the mark of real moral heroes is that they do not see themselves as moral heroes. They do what they do because that is what a human being is supposed to do. That is probably the meaning of the statement that they "feared God." It is the Torah's generic description of those who have a moral sense (See, for example, Gen. 20:11).

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EXOD13 The Bible offers examples both of heroes who refused to follow immoral orders and others who carried them out: Pharaoh ordered the midwives Shifra and Puah to kill all Israelite male babies at birth, but "the midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them" [this verse]. Had other Egyptians acted with the same courage, no evil would have ensued. Unfortunately, the other Egyptians cooperated in Pharaoh's plan to wipe out the Israelites Exodus 1:22.

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EXOD14 Torah study provides, and inspires, us with models of righteous behavior. This applies, of course, to all students of the Bible, Jews and non-Jews alike. Thus, in 1941, a Dutch minister known as Fritz "de Zwerver," an anti-Nazi organizer, arrived in the city of Eibergen, Holland, and walked to the podium of the Protestant church. At that time the Germans had taken over Holland, and were deporting Jews to concentration camps. The Reverend opened his Bible to Exodus 1:15 – 22 and read aloud the story of the Egyptian midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh's order to murder the newborn male Israelite babies, and saved them instead. Afterward, he said to the congregation, "Who is the Pharaoh today? The Nazis! Who are the babies who have to be hidden? The Jews! Who are the midwives today? We are! It is our job to outsmart the Pharaoh's, to have the courage of the midwives, and to protect the Jews and all those who need to be hidden." He then left the church, got on his bicycle, and went to the next village. During the war, seven families from this little church hid Jews and other anti-Nazi resistors. Cited in Zion and Dishon, A Different Night: The Leader's Guide 49, and their Different Night haggadah, 89.

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EXOD15 [This verse] relates: "But the midwives feared God… and saved the male children alive." See what chesed was performed here! The midwives could have discharged their moral duty both to God and to Pharaoh by resigning from their positions. They were concerned, however, that the replacement might, out of fear, carry out Pharoah's designs. Hence they acted charitably towards the daughters of Israel and endangered their own lives for the sake of those women. Furthermore they would provide food and water for the poor women in confinement (See Rashi). Moses (Ibid. 2:11) "Went out to his brothers and looked on their burdens." He took their distress to heart, shared in it, and was anxious for them (Rashi ibid.). This is in accordance with the virtue of chesed which obliges one to take account of the sufferings of others, to see whether it is not possible to help them to some extent. "He (Moses) smote the Egyptian" to save the life of the victim (v. 12). Subsequently (v. 17) "Moses stood up and helped the daughters of Jethro," and they related (v. 19): "Moreover he drew water for us and watered the flock." Later, "the officers of the children of Israel were beaten" (Ibid. 5:14). What chesed lies here! The officers did not want to drive their workers unmercifully and so took the beatings themselves (See Rashi). Moses took the remains of Joseph with him ( ibid.13:19), and thus God repaid Joseph for the kindness he had extended in burying his father Jacob (Sotah 9b). Commenting on the verse (Ibid 15:2): "This is my God and I will glorify Him," Abba Shaul has declared (Sabbath 133b), "Imitate Hashem. As He is gracious and merciful, so be you gracious and merciful." (Veanvehu is here expounded as ani vehu, "I and He." Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, Jethro (ibid.18:7). Here, and in the following verses, the duty of welcoming guests, which is chesed, is exemplified.

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EXOD17 The midwives risked their lives by defying Pharaoh's order to kill the male babies. They saved thousands of Jewish children from death, not merely by passively allowing them to live, but by actively supplying them with food (See Rashi on this verse). How great it was their heroism! "Whoever saves one life it is if he has saved an entire world" Sanhedrin 37a. All the more so the midwives to save so many lives. But when the Torah praises them, what words does it use? "But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them." The Torah emphasizes that their main virtue was their awareness of God. All virtues depend on this attribute, for it is the main achievement in life. Moreover, the only means by which two women could acquire such bravery to defy the orders of the king of Egypt is by their having fear of a greater King--Almighty God. Ohr Yohail, vol. 2. Shmos.

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EXOD16 See [[EXOD12]] Exodus 1:16 kill SACKS 79-80

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EXOD19 The Omnipotence of God created in the heart of the Jew a sense of reverence for the life around him and a holy awe for its mysteries. The pages of Holy Writ reflect such longings and sensations. [Gen XX.II; this verse; Ex iii.6; Ps. ii. II; viii; cxi. 5; Prov. i.7; ix. 10; xv. 33; xvi.6.] When this attribute was combined with divine omniscience, the folly of sin was and made all the more glaring. Since His knowledge is limitless, penetrating the innermost recesses of the heart, how can erring man hope to escape detection? The Midrash provides the answer. [Gen. R. xxiv. I.] "It can be compared with an architect who is appointed a collector of taxes. Is it not the height of futility for the evader taxes to conceal his wealth in some hidden crypt and underground cave? Did not the architect himself construct the secret hiding places? Similarly foolish are the devices of the sinners who do evil in secret places. From whom do they seek to conceal their actions? "Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say: 'Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?'" [Is. xxix. 15].

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EXOD18 That this is the only explanation the Bible offers for their behavior suggests that it was this fear that prompted them to act as they did. Pharaoh then commanded the Egyptian people, who presumably did not fear God but did fear him, to participate in his campaign: "Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, 'Every son born that is born you shall throw into the Nile'" Exodus 1:22. That fear of God can liberate people from fear of others explains why a disproportionate percentage of political dissenters in totalitarian societies such as Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union were God-fearers. Such people presumably feared their country's rulers (they did not want to die), but they believed that obedience to God's will was more important than anything, including life. On the other hand, people who do not believe in or fear God are far less likely to risk their lives, the most valuable possession may have, to defy a country's ruler, no matter how immoral his edicts.

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EXOD20 Although the cause is noble, the proper action to take--often the consequences of the action of civil disobedience, both in modern times and certainly in earlier times--is incarceration, if not a worse punishment. That is the price one pays for this form of protest. And what makes civil disobedience so noble is that people are attempting to act within the law to protest a government policy or law. The acceptance of punishment without resisting adds to the moral legitimacy of the act. The attitude to the consequence can be seen in the commentaries to the first instance of disobedience in the Torah. The midwives did not kill the babies, and when asked by Pharaoh why they disobeyed him, they offered the excuse that Jewish mothers are different and that they did not need midwives In order to give birth. It is not clear from the text whether Pharaoh believed this poor excuse. What happened as a result of this protest? Pharaoh ordered all Jewish male infants to be killed by being thrown into the Nile. Therefore, their protest had no tangible results since ultimately Jewish babies were being killed anyway. We can learn from this two lessons. First, that civil disobedience does not necessarily achieve the desired results. Yet, that does not signify that people should not attempt to protest anyway, as the Torah obviously lauds the midwives' actions has something noble and correct, not wasted. Second, we also can learn that even when one is sure that nothing will be accomplished, it is important to ensure that the immorality does not take place through your hand, if you know it to be wrong (do you listen to the teacher to student?).

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EXOD21 Long before Jewish law was even formally established, we can see many examples in the Jewish Bible that emphasize that lying is permitted in order to save one’s life. … Two of the Bible’s heroines, Shifra and Puah, risked their lives by defying Pharaoh after he told them to kill all the male Jewish babies, which they refused to do. When Pharaoh questioned them, they could not possibly tell him the truth about having saved the babies (and continue to live), so they lied to him saying that the Jewish others gave birth to their babies before they arrived at the scene.

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