10 Jan PARSHAS SHEMOS: THE TRUE REWARD FOR THE MIDWIVES

In the first chapter
of Shemos, we
learn about Pharaoh
commanding the
Jewish midwives,
Shifra and Puah, to
kill all newborn Hebrew boys — and
that they disobeyed the King’s orders.
Chazal [Our Sages] teach that not
only did they disobey the orders and
not kill the babies but “they caused the
boys to live.” Even if they found a
sickly child, they provided him with
water and sustenance and helped
nurse him back to health.
Pharaoh chastised the midwives.
They offered excuses for their
disobedience. Then the Torah says:
“G-d benefited the midwives — and
the people increased and became very
strong — and it was because the
midwives feared G-d that He made
them houses.” [Shemos 1:20-21] (Our

Sages say this means they were the
matriarchs of houses of monarchy and
priesthood.)
There is an obvious difficulty in the
narration of G-d’s reward to the
midwives. The phrase “and the people
increased and became very strong”
seems totally out of place in these
verses [pa ukim]. It appears to
interrupt the description of the reward
with which “G-d benefited the
midwives.”
Rav Mordechai Kamenetsky cites an
interesting observation in the name of
Rav Elya Svei that explains the
sequence of the verses. Reb Elya
bases his observation on a personal
anecdote. A relative of Reb Elya’s had
a premature child. The baby was in the
hospital for a couple of months and
came home after several weeks of
intensive care in the hospital. The

parents were very grateful to the
doctors and especially to the nurses in
the neo-natal unit. The father of the
baby called Reb Elya and asked him
how he could show his appreciation to
the staff in the hospital.
Reb Elya advised the following:
Every year on the child’s birthday, he

should take the child back to the neo-
natal unit and show the nurses and the

doctors how much he has grown. “See
the actions of your hands. Look who
you allowed to live and to grow up.”
The greatest reward for the people
worki ng in that unit is seeing that
their efforts paid off, that their labors
resulted in a very significant
accomplishment.
Reb Elya said that the same
interpretation should be read in these
pasukim: “G-d rewarded the

midwives.” What did He do? “The
people became many and very
mighty.” The greatest reward for the
midwives was that Klal Yisrael grew.
Pharaoh wanted to kill off all the Jews
and destroy the possibility of a future
Jewish nation. The “houses” that G-d
made for Shifra and Puah were only
the peripheral reward. Their main
reward was seeing the fruits of their
labor: Pharaoh’s decree failed. Their
work to save the Jewish people
succeeded. The people became many
and very mighty!