B"H
Going a bit off piste this week. If you really want to, the full text of Midrash Tanchuma on Shemot is here, but for once I'm not referring to it in any way...
1) Shemot 1:15-21
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לַמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת אֲשֶׁר שֵׁם הָאַחַת שִׁפְרָה וְשֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִית פּוּעָה.
טז
וַיֹּאמֶר בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן אֶת-הָעִבְרִיּוֹת וּרְאִיתֶן עַל-הָאָבְנָיִם
אִם-בֵּן הוּא וַהֲמִתֶּן אֹתוֹ וְאִם-בַּת הִוא וָחָיָה.
יז
וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים וְלֹא עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר
דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶן מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת-הַיְלָדִים.
יח
וַיִּקְרָא מֶלֶךְ-מִצְרַיִם לַמְיַלְּדֹת וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶן מַדּוּעַ עֲשִׂיתֶן הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת-הַיְלָדִים.
יט
וַתֹּאמַרְןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶל-פַּרְעֹה כִּי לֹא כַנָּשִׁים
הַמִּצְרִיֹּת הָעִבְרִיֹּת כִּי-חָיוֹת הֵנָּה בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא אֲלֵהֶן
הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וְיָלָדוּ.
כ
וַיֵּיטֶב אֱלֹהִים לַמְיַלְּדֹת וַיִּרֶב הָעָם וַיַּעַצְמוּ מְאֹד.
כא
וַיְהִי כִּי-יָרְאוּ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים.
Va'yomer melech mitzrayim la-m'yaldot ha'ivriyot asher shem ha'achat Shifra v'shem ha'shenit Puah...
So opens a brief but significant episode of our ancestors in Mitzrayim - the deliberate refusal of two midwives, Shifra and Puah, to obey Pharoah's orders of infanticide against newborn Jewish boys because they 'feared G-d'. The Torah is vague on who exactly they are, as the phrase 'm'yaldot ha'ivriyot' can be translated as either 'the Hebrew midwives' or the 'midwives of the Hebrews' (i.e. possibly Hebrews but equally possibly Egyptians). Perhaps the Torah is even being deliberately vague here in order to emphasise not the identities of the midwives involved but their universal quality as quiet heroines against Pharoah's unjust orders. (The Chief Rabbi has an excellent dvar on this here, which is well worth reading).
It is therefore unsurprising that we find both readings of this text supported in tradition. Rashi, apparently following a midrashic tradition in Sotah 11b, identifies Shifra and Puah as pseudonyms for Yocheved and Miriam (or, in an alternate reading provided by the midrash, Yocheved and her eventual daughter-in-law Elisheva). However, other commentators including Abrabanel and ShaDal* read 'm'yaldot ha'ivriyot' as meaning 'the midwives of/to the Hebrews' and conclude that Shifra and Puah were Egyptians.
What difference does this make? After all, according to the Chief Rabbi and similar commentators the important part of this episode is not so much who Shifra and Puah were as what they did in rebelling against Pharoah. However what interests me is not so much who they actually were, but who we have been taught they were and whether or not this affects our outlook both on Torah and on the world around us.
Let me explain. As some of you may know**, I had a rather unconventional Jewish education as my mother and I were mostly self-taught until I reached university. Our first Haggadah was the slightly 'unorthodox' A Different Night (which is an amazing resource, even if we have since found it rather hard to use when following Seders in other people's homes/communally...). The commentary to this Haggadah emphasises the reading that Shifra and Puah were Egyptians and holds them up as an early example of civil disobedience (which makes sense if you remember that this Haggadah was written partially with American readers in mind, for which the image of Egyptian midwives rebelling against their monarch to protect newborn slaves probably holds greater significance post-60s and the civil rights movement). It was only many years later that I first heard Shifra and Puah identified as Yocheved and Miriam, with the result that even now I instinctively think of Shifra and Puah as 'the Egyptian midwives'.
However the more involved I became with the wider Jewish community, the more I became aware that my perception was an exception to the general rule. While I have not conducted a proper survey***, I have found that those who with some kind of formal Jewish education (even if just through cheder) will instinctively identify Shifra and Puah as Yocheved and Miriam and may not even be aware of Abrabanel/Luzzatto's alternative identification of them as Egyptians.
However the more involved I became with the wider Jewish community, the more I became aware that my perception was an exception to the general rule. While I have not conducted a proper survey***, I have found that those who with some kind of formal Jewish education (even if just through cheder) will instinctively identify Shifra and Puah as Yocheved and Miriam and may not even be aware of Abrabanel/Luzzatto's alternative identification of them as Egyptians.
While some might see this difference as being insignificant, for me the choice of who Shifra and Puah are has important implications for how we view the relationship between Jews and Egyptians in Shemot. If Shifra and Puah are Yocheved and Miriam then their refusal to harm their own people - although still heroic - is a very natural response which easily fits into a narrative where the Jews are the 'good guys' and the Egyptians the villains of the tale, and where most of Jewish history can be summarised as 'the rest of the world against us'.
On the other hand, if Shifra and Puah were in fact Egyptians rebelling against their own Pharoah (who would have been regarded as a mini-deity by Egyptians) to protect a despised slave population from harm, then the black-and-white morality of 'good' Jews v 'bad' Egyptians suddenly becomes much more complex. Just as the Shoah was not simply a case of non-Jews seeking to destroy the entire Jewish nation but included 'Righteous Gentiles' who went out of their way to save Jews, so too the slavery in Shemot was not a clear-cut case of Egyptians oppressing Jews but included Egyptians who were willing to make a stand for what was right (just as there were Jews at the time who were willing to fight amongst themselves....)
Given that most Jewish children seem to be brought up with the 'black-and-white' view that Yocheved and Miriam were the midwives, I would love to know whether this and other midrashic interpretations forming a child's Jewish education today impact on their worldview. Does a Jew who is used to Shifra and Puah as being Yocheved and Miriam view non-Jews and our relationship with them more pessimistically than a Jew who thinks of Shifra and Puah as courageous Egyptians? And if we look further afield, are there any patterns underlying the choice of midrashim taught in our schools/cheder, and if so how do these affect those people who are educated in this way?
On the other hand, if Shifra and Puah were in fact Egyptians rebelling against their own Pharoah (who would have been regarded as a mini-deity by Egyptians) to protect a despised slave population from harm, then the black-and-white morality of 'good' Jews v 'bad' Egyptians suddenly becomes much more complex. Just as the Shoah was not simply a case of non-Jews seeking to destroy the entire Jewish nation but included 'Righteous Gentiles' who went out of their way to save Jews, so too the slavery in Shemot was not a clear-cut case of Egyptians oppressing Jews but included Egyptians who were willing to make a stand for what was right (just as there were Jews at the time who were willing to fight amongst themselves....)
Given that most Jewish children seem to be brought up with the 'black-and-white' view that Yocheved and Miriam were the midwives, I would love to know whether this and other midrashic interpretations forming a child's Jewish education today impact on their worldview. Does a Jew who is used to Shifra and Puah as being Yocheved and Miriam view non-Jews and our relationship with them more pessimistically than a Jew who thinks of Shifra and Puah as courageous Egyptians? And if we look further afield, are there any patterns underlying the choice of midrashim taught in our schools/cheder, and if so how do these affect those people who are educated in this way?
This will hopefully turn out to be a long-term project of mine, but for now I'd rather get to grips with the midrashim themselves first. All I can say is 'watch this space'...
Shabbat shalom!
RPT
*Rabbi Samuel David Luzzatto
**If you don't know me personally, I would suggest reading my introductory post here on my background
***Although if you're reading this, it'd be great to do a quick straw poll right now - if someone asked you 'who were Shifra and Puah', what would your first reaction be? Answers in the comments below ;-)
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