"The Anti-Murder Axis — Part II"

“וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ” — The Midwives Who Didn’t Just Refuse: They Gave Life

Introduction — Resistance That Does Not Shout

Parshas Shemos introduces the first crack in Pharaoh’s empire not through confrontation, revolt, or prophecy—but through two women who quietly choose life.

Before Moshe speaks.
Before miracles occur.
Before redemption is imaginable.

The Torah records:

“וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת־הָאֱלֹקִים… וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִים”
“The midwives feared G-d… and they gave life to the children.” (Shemos 1:17)

The Torah does not say they refrained from killing.
It says they gave life.

This is not passive morality. It is active defiance.

Rashi: Fear That Acts

Rashi pauses on a detail that reshapes the entire episode.

On the words “וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ”, Rashi explains that the midwives did more than refuse Pharaoh’s command. They actively sustained the newborns—providing food and water, ensuring survival beyond the moment of birth.

Yiras Shamayim, the Torah teaches here, is not an inner emotion.
It is a willingness to act when life is threatened, even under lethal authority.

The midwives do not argue with Pharaoh.
They do not denounce him.
They simply refuse to let death proceed unchecked.

Quiet Chessed Against Loud Power

Pharaoh’s violence is bureaucratic, impersonal, and loud.
The midwives’ resistance is intimate, local, and quiet.

This contrast is intentional.

Empires kill by abstraction.
Covenants preserve life by proximity.

By feeding, sheltering, and sustaining infants, the midwives restore individuality where the regime demands anonymity. Every child is treated as a soul worth effort, time, and risk.

The Torah frames this as the first moral act of redemption.

Why the Torah Names Them

The Torah names the midwives.

Names matter. They restore dignity. They assert that individuals—not systems—carry moral weight.

By naming the midwives, the Torah ensures that the first victory over Pharaoh’s policy belongs not to kings or warriors, but to caretakers whose courage expresses itself through chessed.

Life is defended not only by law, but by those willing to nurture it quietly.

The Reward: “Houses” Built on Life

The Torah records Hashem’s response:

“וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים”
“And He made for them houses.” (Shemos 1:21)

Rashi explains that these “houses” refer to enduring lineages—structures of continuity, priesthood, and leadership.

Measure for measure, those who preserved life are granted permanence.

The Torah teaches a profound principle:
Societies endure not by power, but by those who protect the vulnerable when power demands otherwise.

Life Before Law

It is crucial to notice the timing.

The mitzvah “Lo tirtzach” has not yet been commanded.
Sinai has not occurred.
Formal law does not yet exist.

And yet the midwives act as if murder is already forbidden.

The Torah insists that the sanctity of life is not created by legislation.
It is recognized by those who fear Hashem.

Law will come later.
But life must be defended now.

Application — Courage That Feeds

The midwives teach that moral courage does not always look heroic.

Sometimes it looks like:

• Showing up
• Providing resources
• Protecting quietly
• Acting without recognition

They did not topple Pharaoh.
They made his decree unworkable.

Redemption often begins not by overthrowing evil, but by refusing to cooperate with it at the human level.

Closing — The First Builders of Redemption

Parshas Shemos does not begin redemption with miracles.

It begins with women who fear Hashem enough to feed a child marked for death.

“וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ” is not a footnote.
It is the Torah’s first declaration that life will not be surrendered.

Before there is law, there is responsibility.
Before revelation, there is chessed.
Before freedom, there are those who choose life.

And because they did, redemption becomes possible.

📖 Sources

• Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Shemos page under insights and commentaries.