D’var Torah: Shemot 2026/5786 שמת
Orli Korn, Grade 8
This week's parsha, Parshat Shemot, starts with all the names of the people who came to Egypt, and then Joseph's entire generation dying. Within the first 15 verses: a new pharaoh rises, who enslaves the Israelites and then orders the killing of all the baby boys. In the second perek, Moshe is born, rescued from the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, and grows up with the Egyptians in the palace. After growing up, he then kills an Egyptian taskmaster for beating an Israelite and runs away to Midian. In Midian, he marries Tzipporah, has children, and then sees the burning bush and goes back to Egypt. In Egypt, he says to pharaoh, let my people go, and then pharaoh says no and makes the Israelites’ work harder.
Reflecting on all of this action, one thing I noticed was that this parsha has a couple of overly violent moments, which all turn out badly. Pharaoh enslaves an entire nation because he was worried they would join his enemies in a war, but they just end up being even more numerous. At the end of the parsha, pharaoh makes the slaves work even harder, and ends up getting plagued in the next parsha. All of these bad situations had less violent solutions, but sometimes in the moment it's hard to know the right thing to do. This is an issue that everyone struggles with, in stories from the Tanakh and also in everyday life.
One thing that people in the Tanakh might have thought is that what they did wasn't their fault because they were ordered to do it. I think this is one of the worst excuses you can make. You always have a choice. The Egyptian taskmasters followed pharaohs orders and whipped the Jews, as it says:
וַיַּעֲבִ֧דוּ מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּפָֽרֶךְ
but they didn't have to. The midwives proved they had a choice by doing the right thing and refusing to kill the babies, even though they were ordered to and could have been killed for not obeying. The Egyptian taskmasters probably thought they were doing the right thing because they were obeying their king. An important thing to remember is that you need to not blindly follow.
Your actions could also have good outcomes. Because Shifra and Puah saved the babies, God rewarded them with houses. Moral choices determine whether people will trust you or not. When Moshe tried to stop two Hebrews from fighting each other, they wouldn't stop, and said:
מִ֣י שָֽׂמְךָ֞ לְאִ֨ישׁ שַׂ֤ר וְשֹׁפֵט֙ עָלֵ֔ינוּ הַלְהׇרְגֵ֙נִי֙ אַתָּ֣ה אֹמֵ֔ר כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר הָרַ֖גְתָּ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֑י
“Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” The Jews didn't trust him because of his previous actions. Moshe was also worried about the community elders trusting him after he talked to God in Midian. “לֹֽא־יַאֲמִ֣ינוּ לִ֔י” “they won't believe me” On the other hand, when God asked Aharon to help Moshe and get Bnei Yisrael to trust them, Aharon was able to. I think that was because of his good reputation within the kehila.
Another way to ensure better decisions is to never choose violence first, and to consider consequences before making important decisions . When Moshe killed the taskmaster, it says
וַיִּ֤פֶן כֹּה֙ וָכֹ֔ה וַיַּ֖רְא כִּ֣י אֵ֣ין אִ֑ישׁ וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֔י וַֽיִּטְמְנֵ֖הוּ בַּחֽוֹל
“He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”. I saw in Nehama Leibowitz’s New Studies in Shemot book that Naphtali Hertz Weisel says: “it looks very much like an unlawful act. Did [the Egyptian] merely striking a blow warrant killing?... What advantage would [Moshe] gain for his people by killing him in secret? It surely savoured of unlawful vengeance and anger.” She also wrote that Ramban does not even attempt to answer the moral problem involved. I agree there is a moral problem. Reading the original text, a simple interpretation could be that he didn't think about what he was doing too much. He just had an impulse and acted on it. Even though he had good intentions, that doesn't necessarily mean he did the right thing.
After attacking the taskmaster, Moshe has to run away to Midian to escape punishment. He could have possibly saved the Jews earlier if he had spoken instead of killing the taskmaster and therefore not had to run away. Even on his way to Midian, he finds some shepherds driving off Yitro’s daughters, but Moshe doesn't talk to the shepherds either, he “rose to the daughters' defense”. I understand that to mean that he didn't talk to the shepherds, he violently forced them away. At the burning bush, Moshe admits to this, saying “I am not a man of words”. Violence seemed to be good first impulse in situations of conflict. God helps Moshe learn, and makes sure he talks first and doesn't immediately try to force Pharaoh into letting the Israelites go. Even though God knew pharaoh wouldn't let Bnei Yisrael go, he still tried to show us that you should always try talking first and to let people have a chance to repent.
This lesson is something I can take to my own life as well. Sometimes I do things without really thinking everything through. Oftentimes, Zev does something annoying or just really bothers me, but I shouldn't insult him or hit him, even when he says something really mean. A better thing to do would be to tell him he's being rude or hurting my feelings. I also need to demonstrate to my parents that I am ready for more autonomy by consistently making good decisions. Thinking before acting and considering consequences, especially how other people would feel, is a good way to make sure that I do the right thing.
This lesson also applies to the world at large. As we witness conflicts and violence in the world, particularly in Israel, Parashat Shemot offers an important lesson. In the parsha, God helps Moshe attempt to resolve conflict through negotiation. While this doesn't work with Pharaoh, Moshe uses this method to intervene on Bnei Yisrael’s behalf later on as a leader. We should be reminded that violence is not the only solution. It might be necessary sometimes, but we should try other options first. That said, Aharon, known as “אוהב שלום ורודף שלום” isn't chosen as the leader of Bnei Yisrael. Action and conflict are needed sometimes. Nevertheless, this parsha urges us to reflect on the choices we make and to solve conflict in ways that prioritize people's physical safety and well-being.
