Lfum Tzara Agra - Success Comes with a Price
This week we begin the book of Shemot (Exodus). The story of the servitude in Egypt and our subsequent Exodus to the promised land is the subject of the Passover Seder and Haggadah. Our portion of Shemot begins with the story of the Jews being subjugated and enslaved. The Torah also describes how Pharaoh proposed Infanticide (killing of Jewish babies) after his initial plan of stemming the Jewish growth failed. Pharaoh called in the Jewish midwives and commanded them to kill the baby boys, while allowing the baby girls to live. The Jewish midwives refused to obey this command, and the nation prospered.
The verse states (Shemot 1:17), But the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the boys to live". G-d rewarded these brave women as the Torah states (1:20), "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" (of royalty and priesthood).
According to our commentaries, these midwives were none other than Yocheved and Miriam, the mother and sister of Moshe and Aharon.
The Or Ha'Chaim Ha'Kadosh (1696-1740) explains that when G-d sees that a person desires to serve Him at a great personal sacrifice, He enables him to succeed. So it was with the midwives, these heroines who had risked their lives for the Jewish people, and their risk paid off. G-d rewarded them that they merited to see the Jewish people grow and prosper.
So it is in life. We are often required to make deep personal sacrifices and commitment to do the things that are meaningful and worthwhile. Anything that comes easy is usually not worth much. Without the hard work and investment, there is no reward.
We learn from this portion, that when we invest and give of ourselves to a noble cause, G-d blesses us to see the work of our hands fulfilled.
Shabbat Shalom
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