Shifra and Yocheved: Heroines of Courage and Faith
According to tradition, Yocheved is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias, alongside Zipporah, wife of Moses; Elisheva, daughter of Amminadav; Bilhah and Zilpah, wives of Jacob; and Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva.
- צוריאל גביזון
- פורסם כ' חשון התשע"ד
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1. Shifra and Puah were the two midwives who saved the children of Israel, defying Pharaoh's orders to kill the male infants.
2. Their names hint at the actions they took to save the infants: Shifra is said to mean 'to improve the baby', and Puah 'to coo or speak softly to the child' (according to Rashi).
3. The sages reveal that Shifra and Puah are none other than Yocheved, the mother of Moses, and his sister Miriam.
4. Scripture mentions that Yocheved was born in Egypt, but since she is included in the list of those who came with Jacob to Egypt, it's understood that while she was born in Egypt, she was conceived in the land of Israel.
5. According to Midrash, Yocheved gave birth to Moses at the age of 130.
6. R' Abraham ibn Ezra cites a poem for Simchat Torah that says, "Yocheved my mother after I have been consoled and she is 250", meaning she was 250 years old at Moses' birth or at her passing.
7. The Talmud explains that her husband Amram divorced her after Pharaoh decreed death on the male infants of the Israelites. However, Miriam convinced him to marry her again, arguing, "Pharaoh decreed only against the males, but you are decreeing against both males and females." He remarried Yocheved, and they had Moses.
8. Moses was born in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Thanks to Yocheved's decision to hide him in a basket and place him in the Nile, Moses was saved from Pharaoh's decree to destroy all the male children of Israel. Thus, he came to Pharaoh's daughter and was rescued.
9. After Pharaoh's daughter found the basket, Miriam, Moses' sister, offered to call a Hebrew nurse for him, and essentially brought Yocheved.
10. According to tradition, Yocheved is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias, alongside Zipporah, wife of Moses; Elisheva, daughter of Amminadav; Bilhah and Zilpah, wives of Jacob; and Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva.
