Page 18 - Harlem Pesach Companion 2021

The Heroines of Exodus

By Leah Gottfried

׃םי ִּֽ תָב םֶֹ֖הָל שַׂעַיַו םי ִ֑ הלֱֹאָה־ת ֶא ת ֹ֖דְלַי ְמִַּֽה וּ ֥א ְרִָָּֽֽי־י ִּֽ כ י ִ֕הְיַו
֥

And because the midwives feared God, He established them as
an edifice.
-Exodus 1:21

I’ve always been drawn to stories with strong female
characters. Even as a kid, they would excite and empower me,
I’d carry those heroines with me into my life, channeling them
whenever I needed strength. I do the same thing with stories
from the Jewish tradition, seeking out the powerful women
dotted along in the narratives.

In the Exodus narrative, Moshe was always lauded as the hero, but recently I’ve been
paying attention to some of the supporting characters - the women who used their skills,
strength, and intelligence in the fight for freedom.

Shifra and Puah, the midwives, used their womanly skill to save the baby boys, all those
lives saved are in their hands. They defied Pharoah, perhaps knowing that he wouldn’t
suspect them, that power and manipulation wouldn’t be associated with them. They used
that assumption in their favor and saved the babies, allowing for the Jewish people to,
quite literally, go on.

Similarly, Yocheved and Miriam sent Moshe into the water, hiding him and saving him
from death. Batya saves him again, defying her father. The hero of the story is saved by
these three heroines, without them where would he be? Where would we be?

All of these brave women used their strengths to save lives, partnering with God to get us
to that place of freedom we now celebrate. So this year I’ll be talking about them as I
conduct my Seder, grateful for the women who stood up and defied the king in order to
ensure a Jewish future. Remember them at your Seder this year, because they still exist
all around you, the strong female heroines of today. The narratives we choose to focus on
shape how we see the world.

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