Women in the Exodus Story: Shifra, Puah & Miriam

In the 5,500 words of the classic Haggadah, women are almost entirely absent. Miriam appears just once, in a quotation from the book of Micah during the Maggid section:

“I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”

That is the only mention of Moses as well, the central hero of the story, yet countless other men are named throughout.

This series seeks to explore the women who shaped the Exodus story, whose courage, wisdom, and leadership often went unrecorded in the texts we read. From the midwives who defied Pharaoh to protect life, to mothers and daughters who took extraordinary risks, these women offer lessons of bravery, resilience, and care that continue to resonate today.

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Meet Shifra & Puah

Shifra and Puah are “midwives to the Jews” and there’s some ambiguity whether they are Jewish themselves. These midwives are instructed by Pharoah to kill the Israelite baby boys on birth, but let the girls live. But they, fearing God, ignore Pharaoh’s orders. When Pharaoh confronts them, they elude him by claiming that Hebrew women are “vigorous”, literally “animals,” חָיוֹת, and give birth before the midwives even show up. 

In a book and parasha called Shemot (names), yet remarkable for its lack of named characters, the midwives are named. And as the Tanakh teacher Judy Klitsner points out, rearrange the letters of Shifra and Puah and what do you get? פַּרְעֹה Pharoah - ironically himself a title rather than an individual name, for all of his status. 

Rashi says their names are nicknames based on word play - Shifra comes from her taking care (meshaperet) of the infants. And Puah coos (puah) to calm a crying baby. 

The Gemara identifies them with Hebrews we will soon meet:

"Shifra is Yocheved; Puah is Miriam" (Sotah 11a)

Whether Hebrews or righteous Egyptians, Shifra and Puah showed immense bravery and non-violent resistance in the face of a violent dictatorship. Pharoah wanted the midwives to be the agents of an undercover genocide but they refused. Ultimately Pharoah changed tack, but their resistance forced Pharoah to be public and no longer hide his scheme - from then all the entire Egyptian people was charged with killing the baby boys, no longer in the privacy of the birth chamber, but in Egypt’s most public and iconic landmark - the Nile. 

The midwives epitomise something that unites almost all women in Tanakh - they fight for life - for birth and flourishing - in adversity. 

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Meet Miriam

Eldest child of Yocheved and Amram, Miriam is described as a Prophetess. Midrash tells us that she was responsible for her parents’ reunion after they had separated in response to Pharoah’s decree to kill baby Israelite boys:

“You’re worse than Pharoah”, she said.

“He wants to kill the boys but your separation would also prevent girls from being born!”

The result was a new baby brother, Moshe.

Miriam tracked her brother’s basket down the Nile. She took a risk in following it all the way into the royal bathing area. And she took another big risk in offering to get a Hebrew nurse for the child, then with chutzpah, fetching the baby’s own mother. 

By the time the Israelites left Egypt, Miriam was a fully fledged leader. She sang her own Song of the Sea after Moshe’s, leading the women in song and dance. 

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How can we remember Shifra, Puah and Miriam’s stories, as well as that of all the women in this series?

Introducing a new ritual - Miriam’s Cup

Developed a few decades ago, a Miriam’s Cup is a new ritual object - a cup of water which sits alongside Elijah’s cup of wine. It recalls Miriam’s relationship with water - following Moshe’s basket along the River Nile, leading the women in song and dance after the Reed Sea split, and according to tradition having a magical well of fresh water which sustained her people through their 40 years in the desert. Putting a Miriam’s Cup on your table is a way of making your seder more inclusive and opening up an opportunity to share stories of the women of the Pesach story.

As a Miriam’s Cup is still a new addition to the seder, its use is not fixed. Some fill Miriam’s Cup at the very beginning of the seder. Miriam, after all, appears at the very beginning of the Exodus story (watching over her brother Moses in the Nile). Starting with Miriam’s Cup is also a way of letting people know right from the beginning that your seder is going to be a fully inclusive one. Also, since Elijah’s Cup comes at the end of the seder, it is nice to use the two cups as a frame for your seder and begin with Miriam.