Pro-Life Torah Shemot

This week’s Torah portion, Shemot: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1, describes the Jewish enslavement in Egypt. Under Joseph’s governance, the Jews prosper, becoming a threat to the Egyptian power structure. The government tries to contain and diminish their numbers by instituting a series of attritional ordinances - working them to death, lowering Jewish birthrates by prohibiting Jewish men to sleep in their homes, ordering the Hebrew midwives to drown all newborn Jewish male babies, and assimilating all Jewish females into the pagan Egyptian culture.

The strategy failed. The men were strong, their wives visited them in the fields, the Hebrew midwives refused to drown the male babies, and Jewish mothers protected the females from assimilation. It is said that even angels appeared to protect the newborns from Egypt’s baby police.

Moses is born at this time and miraculously escapes execution. His mother, Jochebed, hides her infant son for three months, then casts his cradle into the river of reeds to be delivered into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses’ sister, Miriam, is able to advocate for Jochebed as a Jewish nursemaid for the baby, insuring that he is raised by his loving mother in the enemy’s house. He grows up to take an interest in the well-being of the Hebrew slaves, eventually killing an abusive Egyptian slave master. To save himself from death, Moses flees to Midian, where he meets and marries his wife, Zipporah. Moses becomes a shepherd. He is contacted by God at the Burning Bush, and given the task of liberating the Jews from Egyptian enslavement.

Though lacking the confidence and verbal skills to achieve this undertaking, Moses accepts his duty. He meets up with Aaron and returns to Egypt to enlist the cooperation of the Jewish elders. These righteous men who sacrificed much to protect the Israelites from Egyptian cruelty, accepted Moses’ mission, though fearing that Pharaoh’s wrath towards them would intensify and their brethren would suffer greater abuses and indignities. Despite over 200 years of pagan influences and acculturation, the leaders remained faithful to the God of Abraham. They agreed to support the liberation movement which would culminate with the exodus from Egypt.

In America and Israel, tremendous pressure from secular, social, educational, and political forces undermines the demographic and spiritual vitality of the Jewish nation. Relentless pro-abortion propaganda in much Jewish media and within many established Jewish organizations keeps our people enslaved to a death culture. Most Jews reman unaware of abortion risks, its inhumanity towards our unborn children, the eugenics motives driving abortion industry ideologues, and the perpetuation of the Holocaust through the use of RU-486 abortion pills, which are a derivative of Zykon B gas used to murder Jews in the death camps. Anti-life attitudes now normalized and redefined as Jewish values, inform Jewish lifestyle choices, resulting in lost lives, broken hearts, confusion and despair.

A growing number of courageous and faithful editors, publishers, rabbis, and those in leadership positions within our institutions are allowing our pro-life messages and truths to reach more Jewish women and men. Just as the elders in Egypt merited gifts from HaShem for the risks they took to save Jewish lives and honor, so will the ever growing number of current Jewish leaders merit HaShem’s blessings. With their cooperation and support, we will experience another exodus from enslavement and death to freedom and life.

Cecily Routman

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