To the editor:
This year Passover falls on the night of April 22. The man customarily sits at the head of the table and conducts the festive ceremonial ritual meal called the Seder to celebrate the biblical Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egypt and out of Egyptian slavery.
Although it is usually the husband who conducts the Seder, it is usually, as a matter of fact, the wife who does most of the work preparing for the whole Passover celebration. She does most of the Passover house-cleaning, shopping, putting out of the way the non-Passover pots, pans, dishes, bowls, cups, flatware, etc. and replacing them with the Passover dining utensils. She of course cooks, prepares the Passover food for the Seder meal and sets the Seder table, and cleans up after the Seder is finished.
Women, behind the scenes, were major players even in the First Passover. Moses was G-d’s instrument to deliver the Hebrews out of their bondage in Egypt, but who delivered Moses? I can answer that question unequivocally with one word – women.
“It was for the merit of the righteous women of that generation, that our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt,“ – Babylonian Talmud, Volume Sotah, Page 11, Side 2
That Talmudic saying about “the righteous women of that generation” sounds like a fitting tribute when you consider the women in the biblical narration of Passover. See the following examples.
Pharaoh told the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies. Rabbinic commentators explain that Pharaoh concentrated on the males because his astrologers told him that a male will be born to the Hebrews and deliver them out of Egypt. The Bible text tells us that the midwives feared G-d and did not obey the command of Pharaoh. The midwives not only let the babies live, but helped to sustain them. When Pharaoh saw his plan wasn’t being followed, he decreed that every male baby born to the Israelites be tossed into the Nile River. Yocheved, Moses’ mother, hid her child in a basket in the river. She had her daughter Miriam watch over her baby brother afloat in the basket to see what happened. Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the river and she saw the basket floating by. She looked inside and had compassion for the baby. Miriam, who saw everything, told the daughter of Pharaoh that she knew of an Israelite woman who could nurse the infant. And so it came that Moses’ own mother was called upon to nurse her own child for the daughter of Pharaoh. The beginning of the Passover celebration celebrates the beginning of the departure out of Egypt and the end of Passover celebrates the closure and relief the Children of Israel felt when they saw the Red Sea miraculously split for them to escape the pursuing Egyptian army that they saw drown as the sea came down on them. Moses sang a song of praise at this time for the miraculous deliverance and the rest of the men joined in the singing. The Bible continues to say that Miriam “the Prophetess” (Good for you, Miriam. I’d say “prophet” is a title that outranks “rabbi”) sang and danced and played the timbrel. Then all the women joined in and sang and danced and played their musical instruments. The commentary, Rashi, cites the Talmud to explains that all the women had musical instruments because they had faith in G-d that He was going to continue to perform miracles for them to celebrate, and so they made sure to take tumbrels with them when they left Egypt so that they would be able to really rejoice.
Three thousand years later, the annual Jewish rejoicing over the miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea still continues in an unbroken chain along with continued faith in G-d’s salvation. Happy Passover.
Hersh Goldman
Swampscott
