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Parshah Sh’mot: I Won’t Do What You Tell Me

January 9, 2015 by Amanda Martin

loud-voice

Grrrl-power badassery shines from the pages of our Torah this week! Although Parshah Sh’mot is usually defined by baby Moshe in a basket, a burning bush, and a debate with God, it also features possibly the first recorded act of civil disobedience in history. An act perpetrated by two women of courage, who with one small decision widened their influence from midwives to reproductive rights activists with mad birthing skills.

A new Pharaoh has ascended the throne, one unfamiliar with the history of the Israelites. By this point, their numbers have increased substantially and although their labor clearly benefits both the royal court and the Egyptian state, the Pharaoh finds their presence odious. In a severe, short-sighted and ultimately nonsensical attempt to rid them from the land, he calls upon Shifra and Puah. “The King of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shifrah and the other Puah, saying, ‘When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live” (Exodus 1:15-17).

Deeply connected to the lives of Israelite women, Shifra and Puah have witnessed every aspect of reproductive life. They have bonded with women preparing for pregnancy, labor and delivery. They have ushered into the world beautiful, healthy babies. Shifra and Puah have deftly facilitated the grieving process for those who delivered children stillborn or lost their babies in miscarriage. They are frequently sought after for advice regarding infertility, child spacing, and any complications that might arise during and after pregnancy. When a girl reaches first menstruation, it is Shifra and Puah who counsel her on the magic of her body. Shifra and Puah, trained from their earliest years to guide their sisters through the unique and powerful journeys of their bodies, flatly reject Pharaoh’s order.

I’d love to know the conversation between Shifra and Puah immediately following their meeting with the Pharaoh. Did they plan their subversion in detail, evaluating different ruses to determine the most effective? Or did they simply laugh at the absurdity of the suggestion that any woman trained as they were would slaughter a child? Did they mutter riotously about the Egyptian control of every aspect of the Israelites’ lives? I personally enjoy envisioning a dialogue comparable to Rage Against the Machines’ “Killing in the Name,” but one of the wonderful things about Torah is that you can imagine this scenario however feels empowering to you.

Shifra and Puah play brilliantly on the Pharaoh’s racism towards their people when called to account for continuing male births. They tell the Pharaoh that, much like animals in the field, Israelite women give birth too quickly – a baby simply arrives before the midwives have a chance to do Pharaoh’s dirty work. Remarkably, he accepts their explanation. For their righteous actions, God rewards both midwives with families that manifest into dynasties and Pharaoh is left to find other solutions to his perceived problem.

Much discussion continues on the patriarchal tenor of our Torah. What makes our book a living document, however, is everything you and I bring to its reading. Show up to Torah study armed with whatever philosophy you like, and see what you find. Look for yourself in the Torah’s pages – both who you are and who you’d like to be. Ultimately, our sacred text is  about people very much like you and me. What you get from it is largely determined by what you give to it.

Akiva Yael is a positive and enthusiastic participant in all that is holy, including Torah study, powerlifting and the beauty of our world.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), LGBTQ & Women Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Sh'mot, Torah

Parshat Sh’mot Slideshow Extravaganza!

December 22, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

A little something different this week. Enjoy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3P9Bu-tkyk

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos, Your Questions Answered Tagged With: bible, christianity, exodus, gay, gay judaism, islam, Jewish, Judaism, lesbian, Moses, Parsha, parshah, parshat, prophet, punktorah, queer, Religion, Sh'mot, shemot, shul, synagogue, tattoo, Torah, transgender

PunkTorah: Parshat Vayak’hel-Pekudei

March 9, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

Michael מִיכָאֵל

In this weeks portion, we finish the book of Sh’mot, Exodus, and read the twin parshayot Vayakhel and Pekudei.
At the beginning, Moses reiterates the commandment to observe Shabbat, and then goes on to explain, in excruciating detail, the construction of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, that is to be Hashem’s dwelling place with the Israelites as they travel. The question in this portion is what, in all of these details regarding the kind of blue, purple and red dyed wool, goat hair, animal skins, gold, silver, and copper, what can we learn from this, this mishegas? This craziness?

This is the questions I asked myself:
What does this have to do with me?

At the beginning of the portion, Moses asks the Israelites to donate these rich and precious materials to build G_d’s house, His Tabernacle, and to work to build the Sanctuary.
And what do the Jews do?
They give.
And give.
And give some more.
The Torah says:
“Every man and woman whose heart motivated them to bring for any of the work that Hashem had commanded to make, through Moses – the Children of Israel brought a free-willed offering to Hashem.”
They came and gave freely. Not only did they give, they worked, they sewed and built and labored.
In fact, they gave so much of their possessions and of themselves that Moses had to say, “Man and woman shall not do more work toward the gift for the Sanctuary”!
Moses told them to stop!
So what did I learn from this?
We are called to give, not as charity and not just money. Jews are called to give tzedakah, which means “righteousness” or “justice”. We are called to do right with ourselves and our resources.
So give.
Keep giving.
Not just of money, not just of gold and silver and goat skins.
We need to give and give until Moshe Rabbenu himself tells us “Enough!”

And then, being Jews, we should give some more!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8RgOHqa94w]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bible, Counterculture, exodus, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, Moses, Moshe Rabbenu, Parsha, patrick aleph, pekudei, Punk, punktorah, Religion, service, Sh'mot, shabbat, shabbos, Torah, vayakhel

PARSHAT SH’MOT

January 6, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

By M.

So, this is a very heavy parshah. There’s a lot happening in the beginning of Sh’mot, or Exodus. We follow the story of Moses through his birth and being raised by Pharaoh and the murder of the Egyptian, all the way to the burning bush and Moses demanding that Pharaoh free the Israelites. What really caught my attention though, was at the end of the parshah.
Moses comes to G_d, after having Pharaoh refuse to let the Israelites go. He asks G_d, “Why did you send me?”
Like, “Why did you make me do this even though you knew he wouldn’t let us go and would in fact make things harder?”
G_d’s answer to Moses is, wait. Your redemption is at hand.
Chill.
I take G_d’s answer to Moses to be the following:
“Look, sometimes you just have to do things. It sucks when they don’t turn out the way you want them to, but you have NO control over it, so let it go. Do what you are supposed to do, and the leave rest.”

It’s a lesson that I know I need to re-learn all the time. I can’t control how other people react or how some things work out. I just have to do them. Do the good, leave the rest. Otherwise you end up carrying around stuff that is way too heavy for a simple human being to lift.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: bible, convert to judaism, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, exodus, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, Parsha, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Sh'mot, Torah

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