The Mothers of Redemption The most terrible part of the oppression in Egypt, Pharaoh commanding his people to throw every male Hebrew into the Nile, is described in one verse: "And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born you shall cast into the Nile, and every daughter you shall allow to live.'" But prior to that, Pharaoh tried a different strategy. Pharaoh demanded that the Hebrew Midwives, Shifrah and Puah, kill the male babies being born. The plan failed because Shifrah and Puah defied the Pharaoh and did not heed his command. Why does the Torah devote no less than seven verses to describing the back and forth between the midwives and Pharaoh? Seemingly, Pharaoh's idea that the midwives implement his decree failed, so why was it necessary to elaborate about it in such detail? Seemingly, it does not seem to move the plot forward. Freedom cannot be granted, freedom must be taken. Inner freedom cannot come from the oppressor allowing the oppressed to go free. If that were the case, the oppressed would be physically free but emotionally and spiritually still controlled by the oppressor, who, for the time being, allows them to be free. Inner freedom can only come from defiance. Developing the courage to defy the oppressor is what makes the person truly free, although physically they are still in bondage. The story of the Hebrew midwives, who the sages teach are Yocheved and Miriam, the mother and sister of Moses, is critical because it tells of women who possessed inner freedom, who defied Pharaoh, and birthed Moses the redeemer. Moses had the capacity to be a leader and redeemer because he was born to a mother who was spiritually free in the midst of the most terrible circumstances, a mother who stood up and defied the oppressor. In the very first chapter of the book of Exodus, in the very beginning of the darkest period in biblical history, we understand that the Jewish people would ultimately gain their freedom. Because the midwives exemplified that enslavement is an external condition, internally they remained free and in touch with their morality and soul. The Torah dwells upon the courage of the midwives in order to teach that redemption does not begin with the fall of an empire, but rather with the quiet defiance of individuals who refuse to surrender their moral freedom. Long before the Israelites left Egypt, they had already learned how to be free.
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