SHABBOS TABLE-TALK - Parshas Shemos 5770

I hope the ideas contained below, will provide you with some topics for discussion, at your Shabbos table.

In the Broughton Park area, not far from Stenecourt Shul, there is a young married man whose mother has the following story to tell. She was born in Holland just before the Second World War she was given the name Yocheved. Two weeks before the Nazi invasion, she was given by her parents to a non-Jewish family to safeguard her. In fact her parents and two elder sisters were taken to concentration camps and perished there.
After the war an aunt and uncle were told of her survival. The non-Jewish family agreed to give over the young child to them, and they brought her up in their home. When she was in her teens she attended a wedding in Israel. At the wedding she was introduced to an elderly lady called Mrs. Pinkhof who came originally from Holland. Mrs Pinkhof took one look at her and immediately said I know who you are, you look exactly like your mother did at that age. After talking to her for some time, she said to the girl do you know why you are called Yocheved? Yocheved said she did not know.
Mrs Pinkhof said, in the late 1930`s she used to write a column for a Dutch Jewish Newspaper. At that time people were frightened of the Nazi threat, and therefore did not want to bring children into the world. Mrs. Pinkhof wrote an article reminding people that when the decree, described in Sedra Shemos, was made to drown all Jewish sons, Amram divorced Yocheved. Miriam who had already been born, rebuked them and said your decree is worse than Pharoh`s, because you are preventing girls living as well. (The Talmud also says, that even the boys who were drowned, gained a place in the word to come, because they had spent some time in this world). Amrom and Yocheved remarried and Moshe the saviour of the jewish people was born.
Mrs Pinkoff said that Yocheved `s mother had written to her thanking her for the article. She said she was pregnant, and some her of her friends had told her off for having a child, in such times. The article had reassured her. She had also decided, if the baby was a boy she would call it Amram, if a girl Yocheved. That is why she was called Yocheved. The rest of the family perished, but this Yocheved survived to continue the family line.
This story is written in the book ”Echoes of the Maggid” page 205. People living in Manchester who know descendants of Yocheved can appreciate it even more.

What do we learn from this story, apart from the obvious lesson of the infinite value of every life? I think we learn, that when there is a Mitsvah to be done, for example keeping Shabbos, or eating kosher, or any other Mitzvah, you cannot always work out what the long term effects will be. Even if it appears the Mitzvah will cause us difficulties, we have to get on with doing the Mitzvah, and leave Hashem to look after the consequences.

Question on the Parshah.

In this week`s sedra we meet Doson and Avirom for the first time, who are both described as wicked people-see Chap.2 Verse 13, and Rashi there. But Rashi on Chap.10 Verse 22 says that the Jewish people who were wicked, died during the plague of darknesss. Why were Doson and Avirom spared?

Answer
Although they were wicked in so many respects, they were among the Jewish officials who allowed themselves to be whipped, rather than whip the Jews under their charge.-see Chapter 5, Verse 14.

SOURCES; Sefer Derech Sichah.