The Secret We Learn From the Meyaldos

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

At the beginning of Parshas Shemos, the Torah describes the extraordinary heroism of the meyaldos, the Jewish midwives.  Pharaoh issued a cruel decree that every Jewish male baby was to be killed at birth. He personally appointed the midwives and commanded them to carry this out. This was not a theoretical danger. If they disobeyed, they were risking their lives. Yet the Torah tells us clearly that they did not listen to Pharaoh.

The pasuk says, “V’lo asu ka’asher diber aleihen Melech Mitzrayim” — they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them. The Torah then adds an important phrase: “vatechayena es hayeladim”— they kept the children alive. Rashi explains that not only did they refrain from killing the babies, but they actively sustained them. They provided food and drink so that the children would survive and grow stronger.

The Midrash Rabbah (Shemos Rabbah 1:17) adds another remarkable detail. If a family was too poor to provide for the baby, the midwives themselves would go door to door, collecting food and money from wealthy families in order to ensure that these children were properly nourished. All of this was done under constant danger. If they were discovered, they would have been executed. Yet they were not afraid.

The Torah then tells us that they received an extraordinary reward. “Vayehi ki yare’u hameyaldos es HaElokim, vaya’as lahem batim” (Shemos 1:21) — because the midwives feared Hashem, Hashem made houses for them. Rashi explains that these “houses” refer to dynasties: the houses of Kehunah, Leviyah, and Malchus. From these women came generations of kohanim, levi’im, and kings. The reward was immense.

There is a powerful question here. Throughout this entire episode, the Torah repeatedly emphasizes one point: yiras Shamayim. The pasuk says they feared Hashem, and because they feared Hashem they saved the children, and because they feared Hashem they were rewarded. Why does the Torah focus so strongly on yiras Shamayim? Would it not be more appropriate to speak about their mesirus nefesh, their willingness to endanger their lives? That seems to be the central greatness of their actions.

Rav Yerucham Levovitz explains that the Torah is teaching us something very deep. Yiras Shamayim is not just another positive quality that the midwives happened to possess. It was the very source of their strength. It was how they withstood the nisayon.

This was an overwhelming nisayon. Two women, standing alone against the most powerful ruler in the world, constantly at risk of execution. How could they endure such pressure? Where did they find the inner strength to continue, day after day, knowing what would happen if they were caught? The answer is that they worked on strengthening their yiras Shamayim. Rav Yerucham explains that it is not merely that they “had” yiras Shamayim. They actively deepened it. They understood that without strengthening their fear of Hashem, they would not survive the test. They made yiras Shamayim the dominant force in their hearts.

What does yiras Shamayim mean? It means that a person’s heart is filled with one primary concern: what does Hashem want from me? When that fills the heart, other fears shrink. Fear of people, fear of consequences, even fear of death, become secondary. When a person is full of yiras Shamayim, that fear displaces all others.

This is the secret of the meyaldos. Their hearts were filled with fear of Hashem, and therefore the fear of Pharaoh did not dominate them. That is why the Torah highlights yiras Shamayim again and again. It was the engine behind their courage.

This lesson applies to all of us. Every person faces nisyonos. Every person has a yetzer hara. We often think the battle is fought at the moment of temptation itself. Rav Yerucham teaches that the real battle happens beforehand. Before the test arrives, strengthen your yiras Shamayim. That preparation gives you the inner power to stand firm when the test comes.

The Gemara in Shabbos (31a) teaches this idea very sharply. When a person comes to olam haba, he is asked many questions: Did you conduct your business honestly? Did you set aside time for Torah? Did you engage in wisdom? Even if a person answers all of these positively, there is still one final question: Did you have yiras Shamayim?

Without yiras Shamayim, all the other accomplishments do not hold. The Gemara compares this to someone who has wheat but lacks the preservative that prevents it from rotting. Yiras Shamayim is what guards a person from the yetzer hara. Without it, everything else eventually spoils.

So how do we strengthen yiras Shamayim in our hearts?

One of the most basic and powerful tools is tefillah. Tefillah with kavanah builds yiras Shamayim. The psukei d’zimra are especially important. When a person says them slowly and thinks about the words, he is speaking about the wonders of creation and Hashem’s control over every detail of the world. This awakens a sense of awe.

The Chazon Ish said that Shemoneh Esrei is a shir of yiras Shamayim. Every brachah reinforces that everything comes from Hashem. Health, wisdom, parnassah, forgiveness — all are in His hands. Saying Shemoneh Esrei slowly, with thought, fills the heart with awareness of Hashem’s presence.

The Chazon Ish would even say that you can tell a person’s level of yiras Shamayim by how he davens. Especially a bachur in shidduchim — watch how he says Shemoneh Esrei. That reveals his inner world.

Another daily tool is brachos. The Gemara in Brachos (33a) teaches that a person should say one hundred brachos each day. Chazal explain the pasuk, “Mah Hashem doreish mimcha ki im l’yirah,” as meah — one hundred. Saying brachos slowly, with awareness, constantly reminds a person that Hashem is the Creator and Sustainer of everything. This builds yiras Shamayim steadily throughout the day.

Also, learning mussar has a big effect. The Mishna Brura (1:12) paskins that you are required to learn mussar every day. Gradually it will make a tremendous change. 

There are additional eitzos as well. Rav Gershon Edelstein would say: go and look at people who are yerei Shamayim. Seeing a person who truly lives with fear of Hashem leaves a deep impression. It shapes you, often without words.

The Gemara says, “kol adam sheyesh bo yiras Shamayim, devarav nishma’im” (Brachos 6b) — the words of a person with yiras Shamayim are listened to. There is a quiet authority that comes from inner fear of Hashem.

Rav Gershon once related that someone told him how he withstood enormous pressure in business to act improperly. He said the strength came from what he had seen in his youth — the yiras Shamayim of his rabbeim, including the Ponevezher Rav and Rav Yechezkel Levenstein. That image stayed with him and protected him years later.

Rav Yerucham adds another eitza that we can see from the meyaldos. The Torah gave them special names: Shifra and Puah. Shifra refers to cleaning and beautifying the baby. Puah refers to speaking softly and calming the infant. These seem like small details compared to saving lives. Why does the Torah emphasize them?

Rav Yerucham explains that when a person is building his yiras Shamayim every action is important. When someone lives with fear of Hashem, there are no small actions. Every detail matters. Every act done for Hashem is big.

This leads to a powerful lesson. Big, dramatic acts of mesiras nefesh are rare. Small, consistent acts done with sincerity are available every day. Doing the “small things” carefully and faithfully strengthens your yiras Shamayim daily.

My brother-in-law, Rav Nissan Boruchstein zt”l, built a cheder in Sanhedria Murchevet with tremendous dedication and mesirus nefesh. Beyond the major responsibilities, he was extraordinarily careful with small things. Every morning he stood outside and greeted each child with a smile. Years later, talmidim still remembered that warmth.

Once, when a rebbe was absent and a child’s birthday would have gone unnoticed, Rav Nissan personally made a birthday celebration so the child would not feel disappointed. In another case, there was a boy who struggled to arrive on time. Rav Nissan went every morning for an entire year, knocked on his door, waited until he was ready, and walked him to cheder.

These were not dramatic acts. They were small, daily efforts. But they revealed enormous yiras Shamayim. They showed that nothing done for Hashem and for His children is insignificant.

May we be zocheh to strengthen our yiras Shamayim every day.