Parshas Mishpatim: A Premature Birth, Not a Miscarriage

This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18, includes verse 21:22-23 usually translated this way: "When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage occurs, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if she suffers a fatal injury, the penalty shall be life for life..." 

Translation Corruption Causes Confusion and Death

This translation has no basis in the Hebrew because the word for miscarriage ,הַפָּלָה, does not appear anywhere in the Torah text. Instead, the words used mean the child comes out but there is no fatality, ie, a premature birth.

The one Jewish source that conserves the correct translation is available in the Orthodox Jewish Bible. 

וְכִי-יִנָּצוּ אֲנָשִׁים, וְנָגְפוּ אִשָּׁה הָרָה וְיָצְאוּ יְלָדֶיהָ, וְלֹא יִהְיֶה, אָסוֹן--עָנוֹשׁ יֵעָנֵשׁ, כַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה, וְנָתַן, בִּפְלִלִים. וְאִם-אָסוֹן, יִהְיֶה--וְנָתַתָּה נֶפֶשׁ, תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ

If men fight, and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she gives birth prematurely but not with any injury; he shall be surely punished, according as her husband will assess a fine upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any ason (harm, fatality) follow, then thou shalt take nefesh for nefesh... https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 21&version=OJB

Jewish pro-abortion advocates capitalize on the conventional translation as a tool to justify and defend unlimited abortion in Judaism. This particular interpretation of Torah reduces the unborn baby to mere property, its demise requiring monetary reimbursement only. This interpretation assuages parental conscience and ethical concern, leading to many Jewish generations lost.

The conventional translation calls into question the foundations of Judaism as a moral and just system. It causes many righteous born Jews to convert out of our faith in order to resolve a seemingly impossible moral dilemma. It puts loyal Jews in the untenable position of defending an indefensible idea. Most stay silent rather than challenge tradition and rabbinic authority. 

Repro Shabbat - A Celebration of Evil and a Desecration of God's Name 

Consequently, pro-abortion Jewish advocates use the inaccurate translation with impunity to decimate Jewish culture and to portray Judaism as a baby killing cult. If you doubt this, visit the NCJW's Repro Shabbat that celebrates Exodus 21:22-23 as the conclusive biblical evidence that babies in the womb have no legal protections in Jewish law.

They argue this position in courts and legislatures around the country in support of universal abortion rights for everyone. This 'celebration' allows thousands of babies to die by painful abortion every year, their destinies denied, their mothers exploited, manipulated, and damaged; their fathers deprived of responsibility and the joy of fatherhood.

A Defiant King and a Doomed Nation

In our Haftarah portion, Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 34:8-22 and 33:25-26, Zedekiah, the last King of Judah, ignores the law regarding emancipation of slaves after six years of service. Jeremiah tells the King that ignoring the law breaks the holy covenant with Almighty God. The prophet warns Zedekiah that his policy spells doom.

The King, his officers and the people of the land will be seen as a pariah by the rest of the world. They will be delivered into the hands of their enemies. Their corpses will be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth. The nation will disappear. Zedekiah imprisons Jeremiah for his prophecy.

National erasure seems an extreme consequence for ignoring rules of emancipation, but this is not the first time a king of Judah ignores Jeremiah's prophecy of doom. The slavery issue is the last in a long line of egregious offenses against God that dehumanize and exploit people for personal gain.

Earlier in Jeremiah 7:30-34, the prophet warns the King to stop child sacrifice or the kingdom of Judah will end in catastrophic death and destruction. The King ignores the warnings at this earlier time. 

For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.…So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.  The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.  I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”…

A Righteous King and a Blessed Nation

Torah teaches us that we are all children of a loving Creator and each of us has inestimable value and a right to be born. When we honor the holy covenant from which this principle originates, our close proximity to God allows many blessings to flow.

We learn in Parshas Shekalim, II Melachim (Kings) 11:17-12:17, our special Haftarah portion at four weeks before Passover, that a good and righteous leader redeems his people. King Jehoash of Judah destroys the idolatrous alters where children are killed. He makes the Temple of Jerusalem and worship of the God of Abraham a national priority. The nation enjoys prosperity and peace under King Jehoash.

Israel and the Jews have daily opportunities to avoid disaster. We can redeem ourselves now. We can decide at any moment to restore Judaism to a life affirming faith.

We can correct translation errors and rabbinic opinions that reduce unborn babies to property, thereby avoiding prophesies of doom for dehumanizing God’s children. We can raise our voices in defense of unborn human life to silence the voices of death that monopolize the public airwaves and internet platforms. 

We can make holiness a priority. We can move close to the Source of security and peace. Instead of animal food, we can be a guiding light of mercy and goodness, an esteemed neighbor in the community of nations.

Please share this post on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you.

Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. Cecily envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.

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