Women must drink four cups of wine on the Seder night because they [women] too were part of the miracle (Pesahim 108b). Rashbam and Tosafot debate the meaning of this principle which also obligates women in the mitzvot of Hanukah candles and Megilla on Purim. According to Tosafot, women were in the same danger as the men. Rashbam, in contrast, restricts the principle to episodes where women played a central role. Esther’s prominence makes the application of this idea obvious regarding Purim, but how does this apply to Pesah? Rashbam cites a Gemara (Sotah 11b) which attributes the Exodus from Egypt to the merit of righteous women. According to this account, it was the women who insisted on having children and perpetuating the Jewish people despite the cruel decrees of Pharaoh. 

What biblical clues motivate this aggada? The second chapter of Shemot begins with a man from the tribe of Levi marrying a woman from the same tribe. In the subsequent verse, this woman gives birth to Moshe, implying that Moshe was the oldest child. Yet we know that he had an older sister and brother. Therefore, the aggada asserts that this married couple had separated due to the decree that the Egyptians throw male Jewish children into the Nile. Since the husband, Amram, was an influential figure, other men followed suit. Miriam convinced her father Amram to return to his wife, and the others emulated this move. If so, we understand why Amram’s reunion with Yoheved leads directly to the birth of Moshe (for a peshat alternative, see Ramban Shemot 2:1). 

Our search for a textual basis for this aggada requires further effort. The literary clue above only suggests that the parents experienced a period of separation but does not provide a source for women’s heroic role. I think that Hazal were simply reading the first two chapters of Shemot carefully. The beginning of sefer Shemot highlights the moral fortitude of three groups of women. In the first chapter, two meyaldot defy Pharaoh’s murderous decree to kill Jewish babies. The biblical term “meyaldot haivriyot” lends itself to two different explanations: Either it refers to the Jewish midwives or to the midwives of the Jews. If we adopt the latter reading, scripture depicts two Egyptian women risking their lives to save Jews. Indeed, our long history includes both gentile persecutions of Jews and righteous gentiles who swam against the violent tide. 

The next heroes are Moshe’s mother and sister. His mother successfully hides her baby for a few months and then the sister watches the progress of the baby as his basket floats down the river. Though despair reigns, they clutch to a small strand of hope which pays dividends when Pharaoh’s daughter saves the baby and Moshe’s sister arranges for the mother to nurse her own child. Of course, the third group of women includes Pharaoh’s daughter. Even the royal family risks punishment when it violates a tyrant’s decree; yet she defies her father. Perhaps the attendants of this princess also help her hide the truth regarding her newfound baby. The joint efforts of Jewish and Egyptian women enable the survival and ultimate redemption of Am Yisrael. Moshe will soon develop into the greatest leader we ever had, but his ascent is set in motion by various women. 

Hazal read Tanakh quite sensitively when they attributed the Exodus to righteous women. In the first two chapters of Shemot, salvation emerges thanks to women with courage, moral commitment, and the ability to cling to hope in the darkest times.