Page 5 - HaMizrachi #8 Pesach

Rabbi Reuven Taragin Rabbanit Shani Taragin

THE ת ַבּ AND THE ת ִי ַבּ

he Book of Shemot begins people are exposed to ת ֹות ֹוא and םי ִ ת ְ פ ֹומ ת ֹומ ֹוח ַ ה – between the walls, on the
with re-counting Ya’akov Avinu – signs and wonders – witnessing the Canaan-Egyptian border; she is the
T and his children – 70 nefesh rise and fall of Egyptian technology and bridge between past and future, between
(souls) of Bnei Yisrael who journeyed agricultural industry. They gradually the 70 descendants of Ya’akov and the
to Mitzrayim – ֹותי ֵ בּו ׁשי ִ א – each man migrate back to their lands in Goshen 600,000 soldiers of a nation who will
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and his תִי ַּ ב (home). A few verses later, with each plague, and they learn how leave Egypt to return home. Through
we find Pharaoh calling Bnei Yisrael a to follow a different calendrical system identifying as the daughter of Levi, she
threatening nation – Am Bnei Yisrael. – expressive of our unique lunar traits, perpetuates the values and covenants of
Every ם ָ ע, nation, begins as a תִי ַּ ב, a providing for waxing, waning and the past as she raises the leaders of the
home. perpetual renewal, as opposed to the next generation.
static solar powers of ancient Egypt.
Therefore, before G-d fulfills His Even at age 130, when she gives birth
promises of ם ָ ע ְ ל י ִ ל ם ֶ כ ְ ת ֶ א י ִּ ת ְ ח ַ ק ָ ל ְ ו, “and Nevertheless, the narrative begins to Moshe, Yocheved is still called a
I will take you to me as a people,” they with stories of individuals who plant daughter! Rabbi Yehuda bar Zveida
must first re-identify as a תִי ַּ ב. For the seeds of redemption. Not Moshe (in Bava Batra 120a) teaches that
even if the locale will not change for Rabbeinu alone, but rather numerous she was reborn as a daughter – her
hundreds of years, the people will – they women of unclear identity – midwives wrinkles disappeared and her youth was
will multiply, assimilate, and as Moshe who risk their lives to save Hebrew restored. As long as we see ourselves as
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Rabbeinu highlights to G-d, they will be children; a mother, a sister and the daughters to our mothers and fathers,
susceptible to forgetting their past. daughter of Pharaoh who are determined as a continuum of the families we come
to provide salvation for a newborn child, from, we are inspired to build the homes
Bnei Yisrael cannot leave Mitzrayim as a and daughters of a Midianite priest who and leaders of the future – with youthful
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nation until they demonstrate their faith reciprocate with sustenance to their vigor and optimism, even in the face of
within the family unit. To this end, they “savior.” oppression! Through the “bookends” of
are commanded to sacrifice the ן ַּ ב ְ רֹק the story of redemption (תִי ַּ ב ת ַּ ב), the
ח ַ ס ֶּ פ in the context of their houses and All the women in Chapter 2 of Shemot Torah teaches us the secret of Jewish
homes – תִי ָּ ב ַ ל ה ֶ ׂש תֹב ָ א תי ֵ ב ְ ל ה ֶ ׂש, “and to are noted as ת ֹונ ָּ ב – daughters. The survival!
put blood on their doorposts.” 2 leading word ת ַּ ב appears eight times:
ֹור ְ תִי ת ֹונ ְ בּו, ת ַּ ב, הֹע ְ ר ַּ פ ת ַּ ב, י ִ ו ֵ ל ת ַּ ב. They
Because only when we identify our are ultimately responsible for the
homes with the blood reminiscent of metamorphosis from eight occurrences 1 Ibn Ezra – his children, Chizkuni – his wife.
Brit bein HaBetarim and with the Divine of ת ַּ ב to eight occurrences of תִי ַּ ב by 2 Exodus 12:3.
promises of our past may we proceed to Chapter 12 – the perfect inclusio! 3 According to Rav and Shmuel, the midwives are a
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religious nationhood. Perhaps that’s why mother-daughter/daughter-in-law team.
the word תִי ַּ ב appears eight times as the The Torah is teaching us that it is the ת ַּ ב 4 Inclusio is a literary device based on a concentric
ה ָ ח ְנ ַ מ ה ָ לי ִ מ (leading word) in Chapter 12, (daughter) who builds the תִי ַּ ב (home). principle, creating a frame by placing similar
as a pre-condition for national-religious Our story of national redemption begins material at the beginning and end of a section.
formation. with individuals who appreciate that 5 Even after the Exodus, in Numbers 26:59, she is
they are continuing the dreams, destiny still referred to as “Yocheved the daughter of Levi
How are we meant to undergo this and moral values of their parents, born to Levi in Egypt”!
transformation from individuals to connoted through their consistent 6 Bava Batra 120a.
families? identity as daughters. 7 Midrash Shochar Tov, Proverbs 14.
We find 10 chapters charting the Bnei Yocheved, albeit the mother of Moshe, Rabbanit Shani Taragin is Educational
Yisrael’s development from oppression is never noted in matriarchal terms, Director of World Mizrachi and Religious
through redemption. We learn of but rather as י ִ ו ֵ ל ת ַּ ב – the quintessential Zionists of America-Mizrachi. She directs
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challenges of leadership, tenacity of daughter born to Levi in Mitzrayim. the Mizrachi Lapidot Educators’ Program
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faith, patience in the process. The Chazal teach us that she was born ןי ֵּ ב in Matan shani@mizrachi.org
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