This Shabbat we start to read the book of Exodus with the stories of self-sacrifice that preceded the Exodus. We read about the Hebrew midwives who were ordered by Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, to kill all male Jewish babies and that they did not carry out his commandment. And about Pharaoh’s daughter who risked her life to save Moses who grew up in the Egyptian palace and went out to see his enslaved brothers and help them. This was the basis on which the pride came – self-sacrifice for others.

The labor in Egypt was not only physical. It was mainly mental. The people no longer believed in the possibility of redemption. When Moses arrived and announced the coming redemption, the Israelites “did not listen to Moses because of weariness and hard labor.  If this mental slavery had truly dominated the people of Israel, they could not have been redeemed. Only acts of self-sacrifice proved that the people were ready for redemption despite the despair that appeared on the surface.

Self-sacrifice seems to be a quality associated with situations of difficulty. Soldiers who serve in the army and fight heroic battles give their lives for the people of Israel. But how does self-sacrifice relate to the normative person who lives a life of abundance and walks in comfort? Do we need to reach emergency situations to discover self-sacrifice, or can we discover this quality in our daily lives?

Looking further, self-sacrifice is not only expressed when a person gives up their life in a life-threatening situation. A person is able to give up their life every day, when we give up a desire, overcome an attraction, do what we do not feel like doing – we give up our life for the sake of values, for the sake of our humanity. When we overcome the natural tendency to ignore the plight of others and devote our time to helping – we make a sacrifice. When we give up a relationship in an event that does not fit the values in which we believe – we do self-sacrifice of our life for the sake of these values.

And as in this week’s parsha, this self-sacrifice is also an educational act. Where did Moses draw the strength to go out and see his brothers’ plight? From the behavior of his mother Yocheved, his sister Miriam, and Bathya, Pharaoh’s daughter who raised him in her home. When we give up our lives for others, we educate our children not to be egocentric; when we give up for values, we educate our children not to be hedonists; when we give up our lives for the values ​​of Judaism, we educate our children to be loyal and faithful to God to Judaism and for the continuity of our nation.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen