In chapter 16 of Ezekiel, the prophet presents a provocative metaphor for the relationship between the Jewish people and G-d in an effort to highlight the treacherous behavior of the nation. The metaphor begins with G-d finding a newborn girl who has been abandoned, and is covered with the blood of her birth. G-d tells the baby, “Live in your blood; live in your blood. (בדמיך חיי, בדמיך חיי)” He causes her to physically mature, she remains naked, and she becomes beautiful. He then “clothes” (marries) her and enters into a covenant with her, finally washing away her blood. After He showers her with gifts, she betrays Him by committing adultery. The Israelites have betrayed G-d in a similar fashion.

In the context of the metaphor, the blood left on the baby symbolizes the pain of the birthing process and is understood by many medieval commentators as symbolizing the hardship of the slavery in Egypt. The Midrash, however, in Shemot Rabba (17:3), and a parallel Midrash cited by Rashi (Ex. 12:6), explain the symbolism of the blood, as well as the doubling of the phrase, “Live in your blood” as follows: G-d saw that the Jews were “naked” of mitzvot and gives them two blood-related mitzvot, brit milah and the korban Pesach, as a way for them to accrue merit. What in the text prompts the authors of the Midrash to make this claim?

Looking at the metaphor story itself, what motivates G-d to invest in and marry this woman? There are two possibilities. G-d may have been moved to take care of this helpless baby out of mercy. The infant has no hope to live if not taken care of. In fact, the Talmud (Shabbat 129b) learns from these verses which activities are permissible on Shabbat in order to ensure a newborn’s survival. The second possible reason is that the woman is beautiful. While G-d helps the baby grow before it has become beautiful, investing effort into the baby for other reasons, what ultimately causes the commitment of marriage may be the woman’s beauty.

What exactly does G-d mean when he tells the baby to “live in her blood”? Radak explains that G-d is encouraging the baby, by telling her that despite her challenges, (namely the slavery of Egypt), she should persevere. However, as Rabbi Alex Israel[1] points out, it is possible that the prefix “ב” does not mean in, but through. The phrase then means, “Live through your blood,” i.e. live on account of, or because of, your blood.

This is why the Midrash believes that the Jewish people were redeemed because of two bloods. According to the Midrash, G-d redeemed the Jewish people at first only because of His promise to our forefathers, specifically Abraham, that He would take us out of the foreign land in which we were enslaved and bring us to Israel. Initially, this promise was the only motivation; the Jews themselves were in no way deserving of redemption. The Midrash believes that the Jews had completely assimilated into the surrounding pagan culture, and many Midrashim posit that the Jews were at the lowest levels of impurity. This initial motivation is symbolized in the Midrash by “dam milah,” the blood of the covenant with Abraham. In its merit, the Jews were redeemed.

Though the Jews were lacking any of their own merit at first, they were commanded to bring a Passover offering while in Egypt. There is seemingly little reason for this commandment—G-d can easily pass over the Jews’ homes without any markers and there is no other obvious reason for why this ritual must be done now, on the eve of their departure. The Midrash therefore posits that the commandment to eat the Paschal lamb, eat matza, and observe Passover is a way of enabling the Jews to have merits of their own to make them worthy of redemption. G-d essentially commands the Israelites to celebrate the Exodus before it happens, and tells them to eat unleavened bread, whose significance as a symbol of the hurried departure from Egypt is still pending. By performing these mitzvot, the Jews show G-d that they trust Him and are committed to following Him, further motivating G-d to commit Himself to the Jews as well and redeem them.

It is now clear why the text from Ezekiel prompts the comments of the Midrash. The two reasons for the Exodus—originally G-d’s promise to Abraham, followed by the display of commitment to G-d shown by the Israelites—align with the two reasons G-d saves and marries the abandoned child in Ezekiel. G-d was first compelled for a reason external to the baby (i.e. His mercy, paralleling G-d being bound by His promise) and was subsequently motivated because of something intrinsic to the woman (i.e. her beauty, paralleling the merit of the Jews).

This explanation resolves another issue in the text of Ezekiel. Why does G-d not wash off the blood of the childbirth until after the marriage? If washing off the blood symbolizes that the purpose of the blood has been fulfilled, the blood of circumcision cannot be “washed away” until G-d’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled, which occurs only after the Jews enter the Land of Israel. The blood of the Passover offering, which represented the one set of merits the Jews had to reflect their commitment to G-d, can be “washed away” once a full covenant is in motion, and Passover takes its place as only one of many mitzvot.

This Pesach let us remember the commitment that G-d has kept to the Jewish people and let us recommit ourselves to G-d in return.

[1] http://www.alexisrael.org/#!pesach---blood-on-the-doorposts/c13a