By: Mindeleah Pollak, Upper School Judaic Studies Teacher
In the Merit of the Righteous Jewish Women, We Were Redeemed from Egypt, and in Their Righteous Merit, We Shall Be Redeemed in the Future.
Parshat B'Shalach begins with the action-packed thriller of Bnei Yisrael being surrounded on all sides: the mountains and the desert on their right and left, the Red Sea in front of them, and Pharaoh and his army in pursuit, right behind them. The amazing miracle of Kriyat Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea, and the Jewish people walking across the dry seabed to safety on the other side. The Jewish men, led by Moshe Rabbeinu, are moved to sing a song to Hashem, the famous "Az Yashir," sung each morning in our Shacharit Tefillot. The Torah also records what the women did, led by Moshe's older sister, Miriam: "Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took her drum in her hand, and all the women went forth after her with drums and with dances," etc. Drums? Where on earth did they get them, and of all things to take, leaving Egypt, finally? Rashi quotes the Midrash that the Jewish women were so confident that Hashem would perform miracles and save them that they actually made and brought drums/tambourines with them as they packed to leave. What faith Miriam and the rest of the women showed during a time of crisis when no one could have known what the outcome would have been. The women had the faith that Hashem would come through for them.
The truth is, this is but one example of the Jewish women's incredible moral strength and the faith they had when all hope seemed lost and the men were in despair. The strength and determination necessary to get the Jewish people through hard times is the ingredient for Jewish survival and is a constant theme throughout the Torah and commentaries. When the Jewish men looked to replace Moshe with a golden calf, the women refused to worship with their husbands. When the Jewish men heard the evil report of the spies, they began to cry, but the Jewish women held strong to their faith and did not believe the spies. Thus, the women were not included in the decree to wander and die in the desert during the next 39 years. Where do these redeeming qualities of the Jewish women come from?
In the beginning, there was Adam and Chava (Eve). It was not good for man to be alone, so Hashem fashioned Adam from the earth, put him to sleep, and took one of his "spare ribs" and fashioned a woman from it. This is how Eve was created. The Midrash shares that man was created from dust of the earth, while woman was created from bone. Bone is stronger than earth. An earthenware vessel that falls breaks into many pieces, but a vessel of bone remains firm and intact. Thus, the woman, concludes the Midrash, is blessed with greater emotional inner strength. To go further than that, when the Torah describes how Hashem took the rib from Adam and fashioned it into a woman, the Hebrew word used is "VaYiven," which is related to the word "Binah," the word for intuition and profound understanding. Based on this verse, the Talmud teaches us that women are endowed with greater insight and intuitive intelligence than men.
Maybe it was because Eve was created from the rib— which is internal—that she is able to see deeper than the surface and beyond the immediate dreary present to a brighter future. This is what Miriam and the Jewish women of that generation perceived. It takes the courage and faith of Jewish women to pack along a drum or tambourines as they begin their way out of Egypt and slavery. The husbands were concerned about the family's immediate survival, which is important as well. However, it takes the vision of the Jewish women to keep their families from despairing in the most difficult times of crisis and bring the redemption that is just over the horizon. In other words, it is in the merit of the Jewish women of each generation that we continue to survive as a nation, and it is through the righteous Jewish women that we will one day, G-d willing, merit the ultimate redemption with the coming of the Messiah.