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"And He saw our persecution," [Deut 26:7] as it is said, "You shall look upon the birthstool" [Ex 1:16]
Midrash
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The curtain rises on the second book of the Torah: Sefer Shmot, or Exodus in English. Judaism revolves around two themes: Creation and Exodus. Many of the stories of Genesis revolve around individuals and family dynamics and are easy to relate to, even if one is not Jewish or religious. The focus of Exodus is significantly different from the mythic human-centered stories of Genesis. In Exodus, the central figure is Moses (and God) and the nation of Israel and the central theme: slavery and redemption. Fair treatment of the poor and disadvantaged in society is linked to the memory of being slaves in Egypt (repeated over two dozen times times) "You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger..." and the exodus from Egypt becomes the prototype of Israel's future redemption. Our first parasha describes the enslavement of the Jewish people and then introduces Moses, and his subsequent call at the burning bush.
There seems to be a lot of babies in the Kolel community lately. Friends of Kolel and Kolel students have either recently had a baby, or are soon expecting to have a baby. Contrasting with the final image of death and coffins from last week at the close of the book of Breishit, this week's Torah portion, Shmot describes the Jewish population's explosion. The Israelites rapidly increase from a small tribe of 70 individuals to a nation that Egypt now fears: 'The children of Israel, were fruitful, they swarmed, they became many, they grew mighty (in number) exceedingly, and the land filled up with them. The language of the Israelite's extraordinary fertility is reminiscent of Creation, and the Hebrew verbs suggest the Israelites proliferated with an animal-like fecundity. The verse's six-fold repetition inspires the rabbis to suggest that each Israelite gave birth to sextuplets.
Plan A is to subjugate the Israelites with harsh labour to stem the alarming demographic trend. But, the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they increased. So, plan B. Pharaoh commands two midwives (the Hebrew is ambiguous: meyaldot ivriot can be read as midwives to the Israelites (but who themselves are Egyptian), or Israelite midwives. Either way, they refuse (see Rabbi Loevinger's previous 5760 commentary on this theme of civil disobedience), and the most drastic measure, plan C is instituted, to kill all Hebrew boys by throwing them in the Nile. Pharaoh is only threatened by the males, as it was men who would form a fighting force. Yet, his plan seems illogical. After all, one man can still produce dozens of children with many wives. It really would have been more effective to limit the number of Israelite women. The beginning of the Exodus narrative stresses the presence of women: Yocheved, Miriam, even Pharaoh's daughter conspires against her father. While the mighty Pharaoh himself is unnamed, the names of the two midwives are supplied: Shifra and Puah. The Talmud recognizes: Because of righteous women were the Israelites redeemed from Egypt (Sotah 11b). Obviously Pharaoh underestimated the power of women's spiritual resistance.
When Pharaoh commands the midwives to kill the boys, he instructs them to look at the ovnayim (usually translated as birthstool), probably two stones or bricks. This unusual Hebrew word does not quite qualify as one of those rare singleton-words (remember the fancy term: hapax legomenon), as Rashi correctly points out, the word does appear one other time in the Bible, but where it refers to the potter's wheel: "So I went down to the house of the potter, and found him working at the wheel [ovnayim]" (Jer. 18:3). The root of the word 'evven' means stone, and in Hebrew, words that end in -ayim usually are paired: like many body parts: eynayim, eyes, oznayim, ears, yadayim, hands and other things that have two parts: like bicycles, scissors and socks. So, it would be probable that this was a symmetrical stool made of stone used by women during childbirth.
It's not exactly clear why Pharaoh commands the midwives to look at the birthstool. Shouldn't they be looking at the baby to determine its gender?! Consequently, some scholars suggest this unusual Hebrew word may be a euphemism for the baby's genitals. The Hebrew can be vocalized to read 'stones' -- the modern Hebrew, avanim is slang for men's testicles (not unlike the English slang 'balls' or 'rocks'). A more radical solution ignores the 'aleph' (a silent letter) to form the word: banim- sons. The verse would then also make sense: "Look upon the children, if it is a son..." Regardless of its exact meaning, the Midrash connects the idea of "looking" at the birthstool with God "looking" at our persecution. God 'saw' our persecution, which began by how the Egyptians began to look at us. And it began with the midwives being asked to care about gender. To look at someone's gender, ie. define them solely on the basis of their gender is discriminatory. Isn't there something better that we should look at?
The Torah uses this particular phrase 'And you shall look upon ...' several times. This week has: "and you shall look upon the birthstool." In Numbers (13:18), it says, You shall look upon the Land (of Israel) [during the episode of the spies] and lastly, in the portion that mentions the tzitzit [the ritual fringes on the corners of the Tallit] it says: You shall look upon them and remember to do all of My mitzvot (Num. 15:39). Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg connects these three passages and a Mishnah from Pirkei Avot (III: 1). Akavya ben Mahalalel, a contemporary of Hillel (and not to be confused with the more famous R. Akiva) says: Look upon three things and you will not sin: Where you come from, where you are going, and to whom in the future you will give an accounting. Where you come from (look upon the birthstool), where you are going (look upon the land), and to whom in the future you will give an accounting (look upon the tzitzit and remember the mitzvot). If we know these three things we will have direction in our lives.
Lessons for Today
Babies today are still often colour-coded. And if you dress your baby in gender-neutral colours of green or purple that don't identify your baby's gender, usually the first question strangers will ask is whether it is a boy or a girl. Like Pharaoh's command, many people tend to only look upon someone's gender. I've never understood why. When a baby is a month old, does it make such a difference? [Studies show, by the way, that men and women do actually talk to babies differently when they're told that a baby is a boy or a girl ("Aren't you cute?" vs. "Who's going to be big and strong?"). I'm not saying that there is no difference between boys and girls but that gender does not have to be the most important defining quality that we 'look at.'
Based on Reb Shmelke's drash, I would suggest that there are three categories of questions that are more important. Where is the baby coming from? That means what kind of family does the baby have. What kind of home and environment is going to be provided for it? Where is the baby going? What opportunities and activities are going to keep the baby stimulated and growing? What is the child going to do in their life that will make a difference? And who is the baby going to give an accounting to? Is the baby going to be instilled with a sense of the Divine? So many people do not have values because they are not grounded to any sacred tradition. These questions are important for new parents as they welcome babies into their lives, but I hasten to remind all of us that the questions have relevance to our own lives: where are we coming from, where are we going, and to whom are we responsible to give an accounting.
Shabbat Shalom.
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