OU TORAH YU TORAH and NAALEH.COM Righteous Reward By Shira Smiles

Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein Sefer Shemot is filled with heroic actions. Perhaps the first of these are the actions of Shifrah and Puah, the Jewish midwives, traditionally identified as Yocheved and Miriam, mother and sister of Moshe Rabbenu. What did they do? They put their lives in danger on a regular basis as they defied Pharaoh’s orders to kill all Jewish boy babies born, assisting the women in their labor and ensuring the healthy survival of the babies. When Pharaoh ordered them to appear before him and explain their defiance, the Torah records their response, “…The [Jewish women] are experts; before the midwife comes to them, they have [already] given birth.” Hashem acknowledges their heroism, as the Torah continues: “God benefited the midwives – and the people increased and became very strong. And it was because the midwives yoru et haElokhim/ feared God that He made them houses.”