With a Mighty Hand? The Unsung Heroines of the Exodus

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”

So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.

But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites.

The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, “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.”

The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” 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.” And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months.

When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him.

The 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. 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.”

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it.

When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who made him her son. She named him Moses, explaining, “I drew him out of the water.”

When [Pharaoh] say that [the Israelites] were growing and multiplying, he decreed against the male children - this is why the verse says, "And the king of Egypt said to the midwives..."

Who are the midwives? ...Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman says: a woman and her daughter -- Yocheved and Miriam. And Miriam was only five years old, as Aaron was three years older than Moses. And she would go with her mother and attend to her needs; and she was industrious, so that the babies survived infancy...

"One of whom was named Shifra" - since she beautified (meshaperet) the baby when it would come out full of blood. "Puah" - since she squirted wine into the baby's mouth, after giving its mother to drink.

...Another explanation of "Puah" - she lifted up her face against Pharaoh and turned up her nose against him, saying: 'Woe unto this man when God comes to exact His retribution.' Whereupon Pharaoh became so angry that he sought to slay her. Shiphrah - because she smoothed over (meshaperet) her daughter's words and pacified [the king] for her. For she said to him: "Do you take notice of her? She is only a child and knows nothing."

...Another explanation of "Puah" - because she dared to reprove her father. Amram was the head of the Sanhedrin (council) at that time. When Pharaoh ordered the Israelite boys to be cast into the Nile, Amram said: “Shall Israel have children for nothing?” He immediately separated from Yocheved and divorced her. The Israelite men followed suit and divorced their wives.

His daughter said to him: “Father, your decree is harsher than Pharaoh's! He only decreed against the males, but you have decreed against both the males and the females. Pharaoh is wicked - so there is doubt as to whether his decree will come to pass; but you are righteous, and so your decree will certainly come to pass.” Amram immediately took back his wife, and the Israelite men followed and took back their wives. Miriam was accordingly given the name of Puah, since she dared (hofi’ah panim) to reprove her father.

"If it is a boy, kill him" - He was particular only about the male children because his astrologers had told him that there was to be born to a Hebrew woman a son who would become their deliverer. (Exodus Rabbah 1:18).

"If it is a boy, kill him" - When they saw that the oppression was not working - as it is written, "But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out" - then they determined to kill the boys, who are generally those who fight; since [the Egyptians] were afraid of war. As it is written, "and they will join our enemies in fighting against us."

§ Rav Avira taught: In the merit of the righteous women that were in that generation, the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. When these women would go to the river to draw water, the Holy One, Blessed be He, would materialize for them small fish that would enter into their pitchers, and they would therefore draw pitchers that were half filled with water and half filled with fish. And they would then come and place two pots on the fire, one pot of hot water for washing their husbands and one pot of fish with which to feed them. And they would then take what they prepared to their husbands, to the field, and would bathe their husbands and anoint them with oil and feed them the fish and give them to drink and bond with them between the sheepfolds, as it is stated: “When you lie among the sheepfolds" (Psalms 68:14); as a reward for “when you lie among the sheepfolds,” the Jewish people merited to receive the plunder of Egypt, as it is stated: “The wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her pinions with the shimmer of gold” (Psalms 68:14).

And when these women would become pregnant, they would come back to their homes, and when the time for them to give birth would arrive they would go and give birth in the field under the apple tree, as it is stated: “Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in travail with you; there was she in travail and brought you forth” (Song of Songs 8:5).

And the Holy One, Blessed be He, would send from the heavens above an angel who would clean and prepare the newborns, just as a midwife prepares the newborn, as it is stated: “And as for your birth, on the day you were born, your navel was not cut nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all” (Ezekiel 16:4). And then, the angel would gather for them two round stones. One of the stones flowed with oil and one of the stones flowed with honey, as it is stated: “And He would suckle them with honey from a crag and oil from a flinty rock” (Deuteronomy 32:13).

And once the Egyptians would notice them, they would come to kill them. But a miracle would occur for them and they would be absorbed by the earth. And the Egyptians would then bring oxen and would plow upon them, as it is stated: “The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows” (Psalms 129:3). After the Egyptians would leave, the babies would emerge like grass of the field, as it is stated: “I caused you to increase even as the growth of the field” (Ezekiel 16:7).

And once the babies would grow, they would come like many flocks of sheep to their homes, as it is stated in the continuation of the verse: “And you did increase and grow up and you came with excellent beauty [ba’adi adayim]” (Ezekiel 16:7). Do not read the verse as: “Ba’adi adayim,” “with excellent beauty.” Rather, read it as: Be’edrei adarim, meaning: As many flocks. And when the Holy One, Blessed be He, revealed Himself at the Red Sea, these children recognized Him first, as it is stated: “This is my God, and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2).

“And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (Exodus 2:4). Rabbi Yitzḥak says: This entire verse is stated in reference to the Divine Presence.

And she stood”; as it is written: “And the Lord came, and stood” (I Samuel 3:10).

“His sister”; as it is written: “Say to wisdom: You are my sister” (Proverbs 7:4).

“Afar off”; as it is written: “From afar the Lord appeared to me” (Jeremiah 31:2).

“To know”; as it is written: “For the Lord is a God of knowledge” (I Samuel 2:3).

“What”; as it is written: “What does the Lord God require of you..." (Deut. 10:12).

“Would be done”; as it is written: “For the Lord God will do nothing” (Amos 3:7).

“To him”; as it is written: “And the Lord said to him: Peace be with you” (Judges 6:23).