The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts on the parsha that R' Frand spoke about in his shiur tonight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand began the parsha vort by mentioning that his fifth grade rebbi had passed away this week and that he wanted to say a vort from him because he felt a great deal of gratitude to his rebbi. The rebbi's name was R' Chaim Tzvi Hollander who taught him in the Hebrew Academy in Seattle.
R' Frand quoted the pasuk in Shemos 1:17 - וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים . He then asked a question which had been posed by R' Elya Meyer Blech who was a Rebbi to R' Hollander at the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland - why is it so remarkable that Shifra & Puah did not kill the children who they helped birth? Most people and especially women have a motherly instinct - it should not be that significant that they did not kill the babies. He answered that the significance can be found in the pasuk - its not that they allowed the babies to live, its that they did so because they feared Hashem.
R' Frand then quoted R' Hollander expansion of the vort. He explained that if a person acts out of his own sense or morality then there could be situations where they might bend, but if a person does something because of Yiras Shamayim, there can be no equivocating. He gave the following scenario - what if the midwives had seen that some of the babies were sickly and CvS were not going to make it? They could have rationalized killing those infants, because after all, they were going to die soon anyway. And this way they could have kept their jobs, because they would show Pharaoh that they had followed his directive, because if they did not do so, Pharaoh could have replaced them with other midwives who would follow his dictates. But they did not rationalize, nor was their refusal grounded in morality. It was based purely on Yiras Shamayim.
R' Frand closed the vort by quoting R' Hollander who compared this to the experiments that the Nazi doctors performed on Jewish children in the Holocaust. They justified and rationalized their cruelty because they were developing medicines which could save lives...just not Jewish lives as they were not important to them.
R' Frand said a second vort on the pasuk in Shemos 4:20 - וַיִּקַּ֨ח משֶׁ֜ה אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֣וֹ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֗יו וַיַּרְכִּבֵם֙ עַל־הַֽחֲמֹ֔ר וַיָּ֖שָׁב אַ֣רְצָה מִצְרָ֑יִם וַיִּקַּ֥ח משֶׁ֛ה אֶת־מַטֵּ֥ה הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיָדֽוֹ . Rashi notes that this donkey which Moshe used is the same donkey that Avraham rode to the Akeidah and which the Mashiach will ride on. But what is the connection?
R' Frand answered by quoting the sefer Darkei Chachma which notes that all three events are connected by emuna - faith. Avraham rode his donkey to the Akeidah with complete faith that Hashem was in control and he would do what Hashem commanded. Moshe took his family with him down to Egypt, because if he did not do so, the people would have said to him - what faith do you have that we can get out of Egypt - you did not even bring your family down from Midyan. Similarly, the geulah will come when we have emuna that Hashem will bring Moshiach.
R' Frand closed the vort by saying that the events which took place yesterday, with the storming of the Capitol - the country which we hold near and dear and as Jews owe a great debt of gratitude to, shows that there is no control by people or government. If COVID was not enough of a lesson, this was just another showing that we are not in control and that there is no power besides Hashem.
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