Parshat Shemot

Dear STOCS Friend:

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for the families of the hostages.

Rabbi Sacks introduced a poignant phrase: the light at the heart of darkness. In Egypt, the oppression of the Hebrew people is at its peak. Newborn Hebrew boys are being cast into the Nile to perish. Yet, amidst this tragic infanticide, a remarkable figure emerges from the heart of Egyptian royalty.

While bathing in the Nile River, Batya the daughter of the evil Pharaoh sees a basket floating on the water. She instructs her handmaidens to bring the basket to her and she sees an infant in the basket and says:  מִיַּלְדֵי הָעִבְרִים זֶה “This is one of the Hebrew children!”

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks comments:  “Pharaoh’s daughter did not simply have a moment’s compassion. She has not forgotten the child. Nor has the passage of time diminished her sense of responsibility. Not only does she remain committed to his welfare; she adopts the riskiest of strategies. She will adopt him and bring him up as her son. This is courage of a high order.”

Rabbi Sacks highlights a unique aspect of the Bible: until this point, it is uncommon for a parent to name a child. In the case of Moses, it is his adoptive mother who gives him the name Moshe—a name that is how Hashem and the Torah refer to him.

The Midrash teaches:

מִכָּאן אַתָּה לָמֵד שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל גּוֹמְלֵי חֲסָדִים, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַרְבֵּה שֵׁמוֹת הָיוּ לוֹ לְמשֶׁה, לֹא נִִקְבַּע לוֹ שֵׁם בְּכָל הַתּוֹרָה אֶלָּא כְּמוֹ שֶׁקְּרָאַתּוּ בִּתְיָה בַּת פַּרְעֹה, וְאַף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לֹא קְרָאָהוּ בְּשֵׁם אַחֵר:

From here we learn that there is great reward for acts of kindness. Even though Moshe had other names as well,the name that is uniquely used in the Torah is Moshe. Even Hashem Himself called him by the name Moshe.

Today, we are in great need of people like Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, who can bring a great deal of light into a gloomy world!

Shabbat Shalom!