Shemot and Ometz Lev Based on Mussar Torah Commentary

Today we are discussing the soul trait Ometz Lev, which literally means "heart strength." It is a kind of moral courage, giving us the strength to preservere even in difficult times.

What is the relationship between strength and courage? Between courage and heart?

Is heart strength always positive?

What is the difference between having a courageous heart and having a hardened heart?

CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANCES

SHIFRAH AND PUAH'S COURAGEOUS HEARTS

Susan Niditch, The Torah: A Woman's Commentary, p.324

To the ruler worried about a people that sarms and fills the land (1:7), Shiphrah and Puah claim that the Hebrew women are chayot ("vigorous"; or, like beasts)-- creatures capable of giving birth by themselves, without the civilized intervention of professionals. When he buys their excuse, the incongruous encounter between the king-of-all-Egypt and the midwives-to-the-slaves exposes Pharaoh as a fool."

As Rabbi Amy Eilberg points out in her commentary on Shemot, the words "Hebrew midwives," m'yaldot havriot, is ambiguous. Are the women Hebrews, and midwives, or are they women serving as midwives for Hebrews? Sages disagree on this point.

THEY WERE HEBREWS

Sota 11b

§ The verse states: “And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah” (Exodus 1:15). Rav and Shmuel disagree as to the proper interpretation of this verse. One says that these midwives were a woman and her daughter, and one says that they were a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law. According to the one who says that they were a woman and her daughter, the women were Jochebed, the mother of Moses and Aaron, and her daughter, Miriam. And according to the one who says that they were a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, the verse is referring to Jochebed and her daughter-in-law Elisheba, the wife of Aaron.

If they were Hebrews, what about their act was especially corrageous?

THEY WERE EGYPTIANS

Josephus, Antiquities II, IX, 2, as quoted in Nehama Leibowitz's New Studies in Shemot, p.33-34

Alarmed threat, the king, on this sage's advice, ordered that every male child born to the Israelites should be destroyed by being cast into the river and that the labours of Hebrew women with child should be observed and watch kept for their delivery by the Egyptian midwives: for this office was, by his orders, to be performed by women who, as patriots of the king, were not likely to transgress his will.

Imrei No'am, as quoted in Nehama Leibowitz's New Studies in Shemot, p.34

Shifrah and Puah were originally Egyptians who embraced Judaism. Otherwise how could Pharaoh have ordered them to kill Jews? How could they in the first place have agreed? Surely every Jew is obliged to sacrifice his life rather than commit idolatry, incest or murder! That is why the text observes: "The midwives feared God" --implying that perviously when they were still heathens they had not feared Him. Had they not been Egyptians wohat would have been the point of telling us that they feared God. Surely as Jewesses that was taken for granted. But though Pharaoh offered them brbes they refused to accept them. The text would accordingly have to be read not "the Hebrew midwives"... but "midwives of the Hebrews."

Rabbi Amy Eilberg, "Ometz Lev—Moral Courage: Women of Moral Courage," as quoted in Block, Rabbi Barry H.. The Mussar Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life (p. 84). CCAR Press

"...these were Egyptian midwives who helped Israelite women give birth. They were Pharaoh’s own subjects, whom he expected to obey his command without question. According to this explanation, these Egyptian women reached across national and religious divides, feeling human and moral solidarity with their sisters, the Israelite women, in a bond stronger than their allegiance to their own king."

How would the women being Egyptian change their nature of their courageous act?

How are ego and courage related?

Rabbi Amy Eilberg, "Ometz Lev—Moral Courage: Women of Moral Courage,"

"...strength of will is a complex and sometimes dangerous quality, which can easily drift into conceit and obstinacy, the very opposite of the much-praised quality of humility. In our own lives, when we sense power and urgency arising in our hearts, how are we to know whether we are acting “for God’s will,” like the biblical Shifrah and Pu’ah, or whether we are motivated by desire for fame, admiration, or personal gratification?"

Rabbi Amy Eilberg, "Ometz Lev—Moral Courage: Women of Moral Courage,"

For ometz lev, the key to such balance lies in the term itself. Ometz lev is a quality of “strength,” power, and willingness to speak truth to power and to defy community expectations. But ometz lev is also a quality of the “heart”: strength tempered by love, gentleness, and desire for the well-being of all. We can easily err by leaning toward one extreme or the other. On the one hand, timidity in the face of moral challenge means that we miss opportunities to partner with God in the work of perfecting the world. Allowing the disapproval of others or fear of “getting it wrong” prevents us from doing the work of justice and enables the hand of those who pursue injustice. Becoming lost in fearfulness, uncertainty, or confusion makes us complicit in the evils perpetrated all around us. Lacking trust in ourselves, we fail to imagine how important our intervention can be as a response to the divine call for justice. On the other hand, the call for justice can be an adrenaline surge, a rush of angry energy born of psychological components, disconnected from the people on whose behalf we wish to act. When we are driven by impulsive boldness that is unsoftened by the energies of the heart, we run the risk of crusading for our own glory rather than for the greater good. Such boldness is propelled by our own needs, rather than devotion to God’s desires for the world. Discerning the path of ometz lev, courage born of love and devotion, is a delicate dance for us, especially in times when moral challenges surround us. But the tradition gives us models and directives to guide our determination to boldly do our part in creating a more just and loving world.

Rabbi Mark Margolis, Institute of Jewish Spirituality

As we grow in awareness of our inner strength, we also realize this strength can be directed towards both positive and harmful ends. Jewish tradition teaches us to connect ometz lev with the quality of chesed or lovingkindness, concern for others. According to a Midrash, there is no real courage in using one’s strength to push someone into a pit or off a roof. True courage consists of seizing the hand of one about to fall or lifting someone who has already fallen.

Cultivating ometz lev means applying our energy to protect and stand up for those who are at risk, including ourselves. We practice ometz lev whenever we leave our comfort zone, take an unpopular stand, expose our vulnerabilities, speak the truth, confront others, risk embarrassment or personal loss, or intervene on behalf of those unable to do so for themselves.

How can we develop ometz lev in the coming year?