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Why does the Torah (תורה) praise the midwives for refusing Pharaoh's command to kill male newborns when every human being is obligated not to murder? The shiur argues that since the targets were fetuses (not yet fully born), the law of yeihareig v'al ya'avor may not apply. The midwives' exceptional yiras Shamayim was choosing to risk death by relying on a slim possibility they could deceive Pharaoh rather than commit even a permitted killing.
This shiur on Parshas Shemos addresses a perplexing question about the Torah (תורה)'s praise of the Hebrew midwives who defied Pharaoh's command to kill the male children. The Torah states: "But the midwives had a fear of the Almighty, and they did not do as Pharaoh instructed them." Rabbi Zweig asks why this merits such recognition when refusing to murder is a basic obligation for all human beings, not a special act of piety. The discussion begins with the Minchas Chinuch's ruling on the law of yeihareig v'al ya'avor (be killed rather than transgress). For the three cardinal sins—idolatry, adultery, and murder—a Jew must allow himself to be killed rather than transgress. The Minchas Chinuch explains that while the prohibition against idolatry and adultery for Gentiles is derived from pesukim and applies only to Jews, the prohibition against murder is based on universal logic: "Who says your blood is redder than his blood?" Therefore, this law applies to all human beings, Jew and Gentile alike. If someone threatens to kill person A unless A kills person B, A must allow himself to be killed rather than kill B.
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Shemos 1:17
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