Welcome to KOE's project, dt@koe. We thank Rachel Landsberg for contributing this week's dvar torah. If you are interested in participating in this program, through writing or receiving divrei torah, please contact Jason Herman at dt@koe.org. Shabbat shalom.

This week’s parsha begins: "And these are the names of the children of Israel who came down to Egypt with Yaakov, each person with his household came." The Torah tells us "Each person with his household came." The household here, presumably, means members of the family. I would like to look a little deeper into the word "bayit" and what it comes to mean in sefer Shmot. In sefer Breishit, the word "bayit" appears in numerous places. The first mention is found in parshat Lech Lecha, where G-d commands Avram to leave the house of his father, and, in a sense, begin his own house, his own family. The remainder of Breishit tells the story of this household, which begins with Avram and Sarai, and the trials and tribulations as each generation tries to ensure the survival of this family. Whereas in Breishit, we see the birth and emergence of one household, in sefer Shmot we see the birth of an entire nation. What role does the "bayit" play in the birth of this nation?

Let’s begin by exploring the next instance in sefer Shmot where the word "bayit" appears. This is found within the midwives narrative. As we know, Shifra and Puah defy Paro’s decree to kill the Israelite baby boys as they are being born. After describing their acts of defiance, the Torah tells us: "And G-d did good to the midwives and the nation multiplied and they grew very mighty. And it was that the midwives feared G-d and G-d made for them houses." (1: 20-21) So why is it that G-d rewards them with houses? And how do we understand this reward?

On a very simple level, we can see this reward as commensurate with the deed. By commanding the killing of the Israelite boys, Paro’s aim is to break down the family unit, the household. The midwives work to counter this and to ensure the lives of the Israelite boys. The midwives see the value of the family and risk their own lives to preserve the household. G-d, in turn, rewards them with their own houses.

But what exactly is this reward? Do we understand "v'ya'as lahem batim" ("and G-d make for them houses") as G-d literally making physical buildings, "batim," for them? Different m’farshim offer different answers. Chizkuni and Ibn Ezra have similar approaches: Chizkuni suggests: "Houses. These are children. Since the children of a person are called bayit." And Ibn Ezra says that G-d increased the seed of the midwives as a reward for them preserving the seed of Israel. Both approaches understand "bayit" to mean the family; G-d increased the number of their children.

Midrash Hagadol offers a fascinating answer: When Paro sends to kill the midwives, G-d makes the midwives into beams of a house, which then protects them from the wrath of Paro, who sets out to kill them. On one level, the house serves as a physical protection for the midwives; Paro does not find them and cannot kill them. On another level, the midwives themselves are actually the house itself. They are the beams that hold up and give support to the whole structure and, perhaps, offer protection from Paro not only to themselves but to the Israelites as well.

Rashi offers a completely different suggestion: These houses are "the houses of the priests and the Levites and the kingship, which are called "batim," as it is written in Kings, "And he built the house of G-d and the house of the king." (Kings I 9:1) The house of priests and Levites from Yocheved and the house of kingship from Miriam." Rashi sees this reward of houses as referring to something to come in the future, namely, the building of the Temple and the kingship. Rashi is suggesting that the deeds of the midwives are far-reaching. Due to the merit of the midwives, who Rashi understands to be Yocheved and Miriam, the Temple is erected and the kingship established in generations to come.

Each of these answers offers us a part of the whole picture; how we are to understand "bayit" in sefer Shmot. Midrash Hagadol suggests that "bayit" symbolizes protection by G-d. We cannot read this midrash of the midwives turning into beams of a house without thinking about the houses splattered with blood that save the Israelite households from the angel of death. The beams of the house remind us of the lintel and doorframe where the blood is splattered. And, as in the midrash, these houses also protect the Israelites from the danger of death.

Chizkuni and Ibn Ezra’s understanding of "bayit" is the individual, personal household. Quite fittingly, right after the midwives narrative, the Torah tells us: "A man from the house of Levi took as a wife the daughter of a Levite." Individual families continue to grow. By the birth of Moshe, where the text tells us, "and she saw that he (Moshe) was good," Rashi tells us that the whole house was filled up with light when Moshe was born. Each birth, each family, each household, still has the power to bring light into the world.

However, it is not only the individual household, but also the communal house that becomes central in sefer Shmot. Sefer Shmot ends with the building of the mishkan, a dwelling place for G-d and a meeting place for G-d and the Jewish people. Rashi suggests that the reward of "batim" refers to the permanent dwelling place of G-d, the Bait Hamikdash, the house to be built in the future that will unite all of Israel with G-d. We are reminded, then, WHY it is that the Jews leave Egypt: the Jews abandon their building of Paro’s treasure cities and flee from the house of bondage in order to serve G-d and build a House for G-d.

It is no coincidence, then, that G-d rewards Shifra and Puah with "batim." Shifra and Puah secure the survival of the individual babies who are born, ensure the survival of the nation in their own generation, and guarantee the future survival of the Jewish people. In turn, the Jews leave Egypt in order to continue the work of the midwives. Bayit becomes a symbol for that work, which becomes our work: creating our own personal homes, building our own communities and houses of worship and study, and working towards creating a united people and a communal House where G-d can dwell among us.

For more information, please contact us at dt@koe.org.