“The son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man went
out among the Children of Israel. And this son of the Israelite woman quarreled
in the camp with an Israelite man. And the son of the Israelite woman
pronounced the [Divine] name and cursed. So they brought him to Moshe (Moses).
His mother’s name was Shlomit, daughter of Divri, of the tribe of Dan.” (Vayikra/Leviticus
24:10-11)
The end of this week’s Torah portion tells of a man, son of
an Israelite woman and an Egyptian, who blasphemed G-d. The Midrash Rabbah
gives the “back story”. The man’s
mother, Shlomit bat Divri, was exceptionally beautiful. One day, an Egyptian
taskmaster noticed Shlomit when she smiled at him as he went to her home
seeking her husband, an Israelite overseer or “kapo” in charge of a large group
of Israelite slaves. The Egyptian called the husband out to work and returned
to Shlomit’s house pretending to be her husband.
Shlomit’s husband saw the Egyptian leave the house and was
concerned. Shlomit told him that she mistook the Egyptian for her husband.
When the taskmaster realized that Shlomit’s husband knew what happened, he
whipped the husband with the intention of killing him. Midrash Tanchuma
(Shemot 9) identifies the taskmaster as the Egyptian man that Moshe killed.
Further, the Midrash identifies Shlomit’s husband as the troublemaker Datan.
Moshe later broke up a fight between Datan and Aviram and Datan said he knew that Moshe had killed the Egyptian. (Shemot/Exodus 2:12-14)
Why does Torah provide the name of Shlomit bat Divri, but
not her son’s name?
Rashi explains that Torah singles out Shlomit in order to
commend the Israelites. During the enslavement, all of the Israelites were true
to their spouses. Shlomit was the only woman who had relations with an Egyptian.
Rabbi Ari Kahn on aish.com provides the Zohar's insight: the Israelites’ chastity is proven in Torah with the Sotah
ritual done with the bitter waters of Marah in Shemot 23-25. (Shlomit was not tested at Marah because she
was no longer married.)
Rashi seems to blame Shlomit for the incident with the
Egyptian. He comments that her name gives insight into her character. He
writes: “[The name Shlomit denotes that] she was a chatterbox, [always going
about saying to men] “Shalom aleich (peace unto you or how are you?)
[She would] greet everyone and ask about their welfare. Divri [from the verb
mDaBeRet, denotes that] she was very loquacious, talking with every person.
This is why she sinned.”
Rabbi A.L. Scheinbaum in Peninim on the Torah writes
that Harav M.D. Soloveitchik feels that "her [Shlomit’s] lack of tzniut,
modesty and discretion, her constant chattering with whomever came her way, was
the basis of her son’s miscreancy. When the mother is not a tzanua
(modest woman), the child may [emphasis mine] gravitate towards evil
behavior.” Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum strongly cautions against blaming
the mother for the child’s actions; many factors besides the mother’s character
influence the child’s outcome.
Citing Talmud (Yoma 47b), Harav Soloveitchik relates
the example of Kimchis’ wife, who merited to have seven sons who served as
Kohanim Gedolim (high priests). She attributed this to the fact that she was
extremely diligent in her tzniut: whether inside the home or outside,
she never uncovered her hair. The Maharsha claims that Kimchis’ husband was not
a person worthy of such children. Writes Rabbi Scheinbaum: “We may derive from
here that the mother…the akeret habayit, foundation of the home, can
shift the balance in favor of her family through her righteous deeds.”
Writes the Rebbetzin in Women at the Crossroads:
“Scripture refers to the uncontrolled speech of the mother of the blasphemer to
teach us that a mother has a special responsibility to teach her children
proper behavior by example. The way we use our Divine capability of speech has
repercussions in our children…As mothers, we must realize our great
responsibility in building the character of our children. They are influenced
by who we are rather than what we preach.”
Shlomit’s son entered the camp of the tribe of Dan, which
was his mother’s tribe, but not his father’s. He was denied entrance (camps are
by the father’s tribe), quarreled with an Israelite man and then appealed to
Moshe. He lost the appeal and cursed G-d. Rabbi Kahn gives the
Zohar’s explanation for the son’s extreme anger. The Zohar identifies the Israelite
man involved in the quarrel as Shlomit’s son’s half-brother. (Shlomit’s husband,
Datan, divorced her after the incident with the Egyptian. He then remarried and
had a son with his second wife.) The half-brother provoked Shlomit’s son by revealing
that his biological father was the Egyptian taskmaster whom Moshe killed. The half-brother
reviled Shlomit calling her a harlot, and the son came to Shlomit’s defense. The
Midrash Rabbah says that the son cursed with the same ineffable name YHVH that Moshe used to kill the son’s
Egyptian father. The son knew the name because he had heard it at Sinai when
the Jewish people received the Ten Commandments.
