"A Thought for this Shabbat and the New Year"
Pop Quiz:
This Shabbat, we begin the 2nd book of the Torah, Exodus.
Who is the first person in the Exodus story mentioned by name?
Moses?
Nope.
His parents?
Sorry.
Joshua?
Sorry...times up.
Shifra.
Oh, and Puah.
Who?
Shifra and Puah were two Hebrew midwives who delivered the children of the Israelites during the Egyptian servitude. The Torah tells us in that important first chapter that these two brave women risked their lives and disobeyed Pharaoh's command when he ordered them to kill all Israelite male newborns.
In fact, they are the only new people named and introduced in that first chapter. They are never mentioned again in the Exodus narrative, nor in the entire Bible for that matter. Yet, they are the first people introduced in Exodus.
There is some dispute as to whether they were Hebrew midwives or Egyptians midwives who delivered Hebrew children (the Hebrew is not clear: the text could be read as "Hebrew midwives" or "the midwives of the Hebrew women.")
I happen to like imagining them to be Egyptians, the forerunners of the many Righteous Gentiles who risked their lives and rescued Jews during the Holocaust.
But one thing is certain. Their act of civil disobedience inspired a certain Hebrew family to bravely save their own son, a child introduced in the next chapter who eventually delivers the people of Israel out of the House of Bondage: Moses.
If the story of Exodus has several ideas and motifs, maybe one of them can be found in Shifra and Puah, two women who early on risked their lives and remained steadfast to their values regardless of the consequences. They never abandoned who they were and what they believed in.
The world could sure use a few more of them today.
As we start a new year, along with the weight loss goals, improving our lifestyle choices and family commitments, may a few of us decide to say that this year we will try to make a difference in the world. And Shifra and Puah teach us that nothing is more noble than to do precisely that regardless of what may happen. As 2016 begins, may we think of the core values and ideas we cherish, not the least of which is the kindness we can show to others in need, and strive to courageously live by those ideals no matter how difficult.
I can think of no better resolution for the New Year and no better way to make a lasting name for ourselves in the most important book: The Book of Life.
Shabbat shalom and a happy and healthy new year!
