Shemoth: heroism

Next week, I am going to Poland for a ceremony recognizing the Polish people who helped my parents survive their years of hiding from the murderous NAZIs and their local sympathizers, as "Righteous Among the Nations" .  Hiding does not really capture what my parents were doing.  My parents were hunted like noxious, dangerous animals.  They could be killed without penalty. They did not have  housing, a reliable food supply, or water for bathing. It was a crime to aid or shelter them.
These righteous Polish people were, according to the NAZIs, committing a capital offense. 

After the holocaust, how does a Jew relate to the traditions of the Torah? How does the  cruel bondage of Egypt relate to the  European degradation and massacre? 

This week's parsha deals with the relationships between peoples of different nations.  Within the first 20 verses, the immigrant Hebrews are enslaved; and the cruel Pharaoh has ordered that all  Hebrew male infants be drowned. But the Gd fearing midwives refuse the order to murder the babies.    They are answering to a higher authority.  Belief in Gd , when mixed with courage, can contain tyranny. 

Although the Talmud  ( Sotah 11b) identifies the midwives as the mother and sister of Moses, some commentators  (e.g.the  Kli Yakar) posit that these righteous midwives were Egyprtian, not Hebrew.  As I go to Poland the latter is an appealing interpretation. Perhaps these midwives were the forerunners of the Polish people that helped my parents, and others, during the holocaust

The edict against Hebrew male babies becomes  more oppressive.  Despite  the hateful edicts of  infanticide, a Levite couple dared to conceive a son and hide him. When he was cast into the Nile, the source of wealth, and hence,societal stratification, in Egypt, the princess daughter of the most evil Pharaoh recognized the contraband (1)Hebrew  child. She rescued the child from the water, and gave him back to mother to nurse him.  

Here we are certain that an Egyptian, a member of the Royal family, a daughter of the Pharaoh, rescued a persecuted child.  Barbarity is not inherited; it is not an inevitable  national character,   nor a necessary consequence of social class. There were good Egyptians. One saved Moshe -  and he liberated the nation. 

Moshe , after killing the cruel Egyptian taskmaster, comes to Midian and, true to form, helps the maltreated daughters of Jethro to water their sheep.  We know that these women were subject to ongoing abuse because on that day, Jethro remarks about how quickly they have completed their task.   Jethro is the model of hospitality, insisting that Moshe find a home with them.  Once again, we see the kindness of strangers. 

Shemoth contains ideas of subjugation: the enslavement of the descendants of Jacob, an attempt at genocide, the oppression of women ( the daughters of Jethro).  It shows that organized societies can go down the path of evil.  It shows that individuals- Shifra, Pua, Bath Pharoah, Jethro- may show courage , help the downtrodden, and become heroes in the light of history.  Recognition of the sovereignty of the Almighty helps them  make the right decisions and take the right actions. 

We should continue to celebrate those that answered to the highest authority and bravely supported the oppressed, like the Stys family who helped my parents and allowed my birth. 

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(1)Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces