Transcript
Okay, good morning. Happy day off from work. We have the privilege this week of not only reading פרשת שמות Parshas Shmos, but of beginning the second book of the Torah, of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, a transition I spoke about last שבת Shabbos from the birth of a family to the birth of a nation. And it's not coincidental that the book is named or is called the Book of Names, which is an unusual title for a book. Names. And the פרשה parsha, names. And of course, the פרשיות parshiyos were designated because of the first word or significant word in the פרשה parsha. But it can't be coincidental that that's the first significant word, thereby earning the designation for the פרשה parsha and for the entire book, שמות Shmos. We'll see today that names are very, very significant. Names are influential. Names have a great impact. We have a very important tradition of names, and so it's not just a coincidence that the פרשה parsha begins with the with the theme of names. So we'll do what we always do, which is an overview of the whole פרשה parsha, and then delve into to some a few פסוקים pesukim specifically, together with their מפרשים meforshim. So the פרשה parsha begins, of course, אלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzraymah, the names of all those who had come to Egypt. We're picking up where we last left off, reminding ourselves of the birth of emergence of a very special family, 70 members. They came, they descended to Egypt, and there Yosef died, and his whole generation, and ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים vayakam melech chadash al Mitzrayim, there was a new king who arose on Egypt. And this ויקם מלך חדש vayakam melech chadash, this new king who arose on Egypt, of course, we know the famous debate, was it the same king with a new perspective? Was it a new king who had forgotten all that Yosef and the Jewish people had done? But in any case, with that new king came a sense of insecurity, a paranoia, a sense of being threatened by the presence of this growing nation. And so they sought to, they sought to, to minimize or diminish the the growth of this nation through burdening them with tremendous amount of work, and with the with the burden of building Pithom and Ramesses and so on. So as the Jewish people suffered, כאשר יענו אותו כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ ויקצו מפני בני ישראל ka'asher ya'anu oso, ken yirbeh v'chen yifrotz, vayakutzu mipnei Bnei Yisrael. ויעבידו מצרים את בני ישראל בפרך Vayavidu Mitzrayim es Bnei Yisrael b'farech, they they worked the Jewish people so incredibly hard. And וימררו את חייהם בעבודה קשה vayemareru es chayeihem b'avodah kashah, the result was what they had hoped. The people became bitter. They became tired, they were spiritually exhausted. They were incapable, we'll see in a few weeks פרשה parsha, they were incapable of even receiving a message of hope and of optimism, of salvation because of just how bitter they had come, crumbling under the burden of the overwhelming workload that the Mitzrim had imposed upon them. But in that context, and in that background, in that environment, were two special women. One was named שפרה Shifrah and one was named פועה Puah. And though the edict came down that the they were supposed to murder all Jewish boys who were born, nevertheless, of course, they violated the edict and helped Jewish women continue to give birth. Pharaoh summons them, asks them, what are you doing? They say, what could we do about it? Jewish women know what they're doing. If you've ever been to Shaare Zedek hospital, you know Jewish women, my my oldest daughter was born at Shaare Zedek hospital. We were first married, we were living in Israel, and it was our first child, but Yocheved was in a room and on a floor with women who were having numbers nine, ten, twelve, fourteen. They were popping a baby out and getting up and walking around taking care of the other kids five minutes later. So that's the description the פרשה parsha has of the Jewish women in Mitzrayim too. Shifrah and Puah tell Pharaoh, what can we do? We're not there in time. We can't throw the babies in the nile and destroy them because we're not there in time. I think remarkably, Pharaoh buys it. For Pharaoh, I wouldn't have accepted it so readily, but if you look in the פסוקים pesukim, Pharaoh accepts it. Um, where is it? כי לא כנשים המצריות העבריות כי חיות הנה בטרם תבוא אליהן המילדת וילדו ki lo kanashim haMitzriyos ha'Ivriyos ki chayos heinah b'terem tavo aleihen ha'meyaledes v'yaladu. וייטב אלקים Vayeitev Elokim and and I shouldn't say Pharaoh buys it, but the Torah doesn't report whether Pharaoh bought it or not. There were no consequences for שפרה Shifrah and פועה Puah, for Miriam and יוכבד Yocheved. וייטב אלקים למילדות Vayeitev Elokim lamyaldos, וירב העם ויעצמו מאד vayarv ha'am vayatzmu me'od. The pasuk tells us God benefited these, these midwives. They were rewarded for their optimism, for their belief that there was yet a brighter future, and he made בתים batim. Of course, we have a tradition, the בתים batim, the homes he gave made were בתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות batei kehunah, u'lviyah, u'malchus, homes of priesthood and of of kingship. And Pharaoh commands all of the people, and so on. And then we have the portion that we're going to study today. A man goes blessing from בית לוי beis Levi, a man goes from בית לוי beis Levi, and he takes a woman who is בת לוי bas Levi, and they give birth, and they hide the child, and they have to put him in the in the river. We're all familiar with this story, and בת פרעה bas Paro, whose name, by the way, is not provided, is, is discovers this baby floating and takes the baby in and the baby is raised in the palace. And then the baby is old enough, this Moshe, and by the way, we'll discuss today, we call him Moshe. In fact, I would venture to guess most in this room are not even familiar with Moshe's other names. And yet Moshe was bestowed other names by his mother, by his father, by the Almighty himself. We neglect all of those names and instead we employ a name given by a non-Jewish princess who happened to have saved his life, but somebody that is his legacy. He's known as משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu because of the name chosen by this woman whose own name is not revealed by the פסוקים pesukim of of בת פרעה bas Paro. Moshe grows, he matures, he graduates the palace, and he sees, of course, the pain, the suffering of his of his brothers, of his own nation. ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלתם Vayeitzei el echav vayar b'sivlosam, he goes out, he sees their suffering. וירא איש מצרי מכה איש עברי מאחיו Vayar ish Mitzri makeh ish Ivri mei'echav, and he sees an Egyptian man smiting, hitting a fellow Jew. ויפן כה וכה וירא כי אין איש Vayifen ko vacho vayar ki ein ish, he looks both ways and he sees there's no man, and he strikes the Mitzri. It's a moment of truth for Moshe. Right? Um, homiletically, many interpret, ויפן כה וכה vayifen ko vacho, he looks here and there, וירא כי אין איש vayar ki ein ish. Moshe was experiencing an existential identity crisis. Who is he? What's his identity? Is he the Mitzri who's raised in the palace? Is he the Egyptian, who's raised by the daughter of Pharaoh? Does he identify with the Egyptian people, the Egyptian culture and the Egyptian destiny? Or is he the Jew, born to a Jewish mother and father, the descendant of אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov, sharing in the suffering and the destiny of the Jewish people? Who is he? That was a moment of truth. ויפן כה וכה Vayifen ko vacho, he looked here and there, וירא כי אין איש vayar ki ein ish. And he realized that if he tries to walk the balance between the two, אין איש ein ish, he's not a man. If he's a Mitzri, if he's pulled between being the Mitzri and being the Jew, so what does he do? ויך את המצרי Vayach es haMitzri, he slaughters the Mitzri in him, homiletically some interpret. It means that he no longer lives with this tension, this dual identity, this dual citizenship, who am I? Which one beats out which? The theme that we spoke about through Elul, Jewish exceptionalism. You remember the Rebbe's vort, אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, גר ותושב אנכי עמכם ger v'toshav anochi imachem. I'm a resident and a stranger among you. Well, which one are we ultimately? When push comes to shove, are we the resident or are we the stranger? Which really identifies our identity first and foremost. So Moshe in a moment of truth, ויך את המצרי vayach es haMitzri, he strikes the Mitzri. That's homiletically. Literally, of course, it means that by striking the physical Mitzri and seeking to protect his brother, he's chosen sides. He's he's elected to share in the destiny of the Jewish people. Because the story continues and he strikes again and he has to run and he flees and we all know the story. Again, just repeating very quickly. And what happens, he goes to מדין Midyan where he discovers, we spoke about this also, if you remember, we spoke at length about this in ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, why so many of our seminal figures meet their spouses at the well. Why does the well play such an important role? אליעזר Eliezer finds רבקה Rifka at the well, and יעקב Yaakov finds רחל Rachel at the well. And here we have Moshe. Where does Moshe find his wife? ויברח משה Vayivrach Moshe, he runs, וישב על הבאר Vayeishev al ha'be'er. And where does he settle down? He sits by the well. ולכהן מדין שבע בנות ul'kohen Midyan sheva banos, the priest of מדין Midyan, Yisro has seven daughters. ותבאנה ותדלנה ותמלאנה את הרהטים Vatovonah vatedlenah vatmalenah es harahatim, and they come in order to fill their pitchers and feed their animals, and that's where Moshe meets his wife as well. What is the significance of the well? We spoke about that at length, you could listen on why you told her. So, Moshe, of course, is hiding at מדין Midyan. All the while, things are going from bad to worse in Egypt. The people are suffering absolutely terribly. But God decides the time of salvation has come, he hears their cries. ויאנחו Vaye'anchu, they cry out. ויזעקו ותעל שועתם Vayizaku vata'al shavasam, and their cries reach Hashem. וישמע אלקים את נאקתם Vayishma Elokim es na'akasam, he hears. ויזכר אלקים את בריתו את אברהם את יצחק ואת יעקב Vayizkor Elokim es briso es Avraham, es Yitzchak, v'es Yaakov, and he remembers the bris that he had given. He remembers. ויזכר Vayizkor, it's very instructive. We say יזכור Yizkor a number of times a year. There's a book I want to write. In my mind it's almost written. On paper it hasn't started. But about יזכור Yizkor. It's fascinating, the whole history of יזכור Yizkor, the laws of יזכור Yizkor, and the application of יזכור Yizkor to each of the ימים טובים Yomim Tovim. A יזכור Yizkor companion, a handbook. So anyway, so ויזכר אלקים vayizkor Elokim, God remembers. Does God ever forget that he needs to remember? So I once gave a יזכור Yizkor drasha employing this pasuk because you have to ask when we say יזכור Yizkor, so at first blush, who is יזכור Yizkor for? It's for us. We gather on on יום כיפור Yom Kippur and on סוכות Sukkos, פסח Pesach, and שבועות Shavuos, and we remember those who are no longer with us physically. Problem is, how does יזכור Yizkor begin with what words? יזכור אלקים Yizkor Elokim. We're not gathering for us to remember. On יזכור Yizkor, we're trying to tap God's memory, invoke God's memory. יזכור אלקים Yizkor Elokim. Does God forget that we need to remind him? So what is the real reason that we say יזכור Yizkor? And what does it mean in this pasuk? ויזכר אלקים Vayizkor Elokim. What is the root of יזכור Yizkor? What does it mean to even imply or suggest that God needs to remember as if he forgets? As if he forgets. An extension of this question, by the way, is ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. The three main sections of the Amidah of מוסף Musaf for ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah are מלכיות Malchiyos, זכרונות Zichronos, and שופרות Shofros. So what do you mean, זכרונות Zichronos? God, what all year long God forgets and ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah he remembers? So what is this concept? For another time. So Moshe is this shepherd, liberator, he comes upon this burning bush. My favorite, my favorite interpretation of the bush which is on fire but never burns. I don't even remember where I heard it. But it is symbolic of what leadership, particularly Jewish communal leadership means. You have to always be on fire, you have to never lose your passion, but you can never burn out. You can never get consumed. Maintain your passion without ever getting burnt out. That was the message for Moshe. The bush is on fire. You need to be on fire and be passionate, a passionate leader. But איננו אכל eineinu ukal, it never became consumed because you can never ever burn out. Moshe doubts, God reassures him. There's a funny conversation. Moshe says, well, I'm going to go down there, they're going to ask me who sent. So what's your name, God? God says, this is my name. And so on and so forth. A funny conversation that all needs interpretation. He he comes down, he comes to the people. They doubt. God responds. Moshe embarks. צפורה Tziporah circumcises her sons. Moshe seems to be delinquent in performing this duty of a father. Moshe and Aharon come to Pharaoh, and the story begins. They say, let my people go. Pharaoh says, no. They complain to Moshe and Aharon. Moshe complains to God. What's the story? I thought you were going to free them. And that is a brief and superficial overview of the parsha. Okay, now to the pesukim that we're going to study together. Beginning of פרק ב Perek Beis. According to my records, that's approximately where we left off last year. Beginning of chapter two, verse number one. וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי Vayeilech ish m'beis Levi vayikach es bas Levi. A man went forth from the house of Levi, and he took a woman from the daughter of Levi. Now, somewhat troubling this description. Why? Why not reveal who they are? Who are they? Look at the רשב\"ם Rashbam, Rashi's grandson, Reb Shmuel ben Meir says the רשב\"ם Rashbam וילך איש מבית לוי vayeilech ish m'beis Levi. Who, עמרם Amram? This is Moshe's father, עמרם Amram. And what's Moshe's mother's name? יוכבד Yocheved. So, why, I remember once when when I was doing the outreach, long before there was a Rabbi Brody, when I came for the כולל Kollel, to the community who was doing the outreach, I had copied a advertisement, I think that אש התורה Aish Hatorah had used, which is a great outreach advertisement to Jews. You pose the question, who is Jesus's mother? Who's Moshe's mother? If you only know the answer to one, you know, come to our classes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because the average non-observant or non-knowledgeable Jew knows unfortunately the answer to Jesus's mother, but not to Moshe's mother. So, here the Torah doesn't give us Moshe's mother's name. In fact, it's concealed from us until next week's פרשה parsha, until פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira. Why aren't we told the name even earlier? Why aren't we told in this week's פרשה parsha when Moshe's born, this would be the appropriate place. Why is it only later in וארא Va'eira? So, look at Rashi. ויקח את בת לוי Vayikach es bas Levi. פירוש peirush, שהלך אחר עצת בתו שאמרה לו גזרתך קשה משל פרעה she'halach achar atzas bito she'amrah lo gzeirascha kashah mishel Paro. The the, they were, they were separated because of the edict of Pharaoh. והחזירה ועשה בה ליקוחין שניים v'hechzirah v'osah bah likuchin shniyim. ואף היא נהפכה להיות נערה v'af hi nehefcha l'hiyos na'arah. What happened was, עמרם ויוכבד Amram v'Yocheved were married, they had מרים ואהרן Miriam v'Aharon. Then Pharaoh ordained that all babies, all Jewish men boys who were born would need to be slaughtered. The two looked at one another and said, we can't have more children. Our whole family is destroyed, the Jewish future, our people's future is destroyed. They gave up all hope. In fact, this is what we discussed last year in the פרשה parsha class, that the implicitly the willingness to have children is a statement, it's an affirmation of belief in a brighter and better future. And when a person is suffering, when a person is hopeless, they stop having children. They don't want to bring children into a world of such pain and of such suffering and such anguish. And when a people are willing to have children once again, it's an affirmation that they believe there's a brighter future. I shared with you that the greatest Jewish population growth in our history took place in the DP camps following the Holocaust. There was an amazing burst of fertility of Jewish children who were conceived and were born. What an amazing statement, what an affirmation that there would yet be a brighter future. But and particularly it's women who have that capacity and that capability, right? Again, without getting into it, we know that in Mitzrayim, when men had given up hope, the women used the mirrors to beautify themselves and to seduce and attract their husbands to continue to conceive, to have children, to be intimate together, and as a reward for essentially preserving Jewish continuity, without which we would cease to have been a people. Those very mirrors were used as the basis, as the bottom of the כיור kior of the of the basins in the Mishkan and ultimately in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. So here you have עמרם Amram who says to his wife, forget it, it's over. I'm separating from you. I'm divorcing you. Our whole family unit's over. I'm depressed, I'm despondent, we're suffering, I'm going out, back-breaking labor. I'm physically exhausted, I'm emotionally exhausted. I cannot see a brighter future. Our family structure, our entire family, as in the Jewish people, it's over. And what happens? Comes along little Miriam, who's how old at the time? Six years old. And convinces her parents to reunite. It's not true, it's worth it. It's going to be better. Things are going to improve. The sun is yet going to rise. The Jewish people are symbolized by the moon, because the moon waxes and wanes. It's tiny and then it grows large again. Who celebrates the holiday of ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh? It was given to women, because women are רואה את הנולד ro'eh es hanolad. They have the ability to see that which is not yet right in front of them, but which is destined to come. The insight to anticipate that which will arrive. So, she reunites her parents, עמרם ויוכבד Amram v'Yocheved reunite and they give birth to, they give birth to Moshe. So the first suggestion I saw of why they're not identified here is because they don't deserve to be identified. If it were up to them, there would be no משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. If it were up to עמרם ויוכבד Amram v'Yocheved, we wouldn't have had this incredible, unique loan figure and influence in the Jewish people's history. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, one of the Rambam's 13 principles of faith is to believe that the prophecy of Moshe, that Moshe, while a mere mortal man, but stands different than all other men. And this unique individual never would have come to this earth if it would have been left to them alone. So therefore, as a sort of פאטש patch, at first in this week's פרשה parsha, with his birth, their names are not given. It was Miriam who deserves, who deserves the credit. That's one interpretation. רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein has an alternative interpretation. Says רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein, says רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein, sometimes parents back off and they just allow the child to develop on their own. They don't nurture the child. They don't nourish the child. They don't see the skills. They don't see the beauty within the child and seek to to chisel away until they reveal him. Remember we quoted Michelangelo a few weeks ago, Michelangelo's incredible quote, when he would see a block, they asked Michelangelo how he sculpts so beautifully, so magnificently. And he said, I don't start chipping away and, low and behold, the result is this beautiful sculpture. He said, I look at a block of marble and I see the sculpture. And my job, my mission is to reveal it so everyone else can see what I see. And that's the definition of parenting, is to not see, not just chip away here and there and whatever will come out, will come out. But to see the potential, to see the greatness, to see what could be achieved and to help reveal so the rest of the world sees what we already see within that block of marble. So, um, so רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein says, many times parents just chip here and chip there and whatever happens will happen. But the job of a parent is of course to see the potential within the child and to nourish and nurture it until it's ultimately revealed. So it's only in next week's פרשה parsha he says, when Moshe emerges the great leader of the people that he is, that's when their names are given so we understand that it's not just a a product of chance that, yeah, they happen to give birth to this guy who would emerge to be our our our leader. But no, the leader who he became was the result of the nurture of his parents. So, in order for us to understand, had their names been given now when he was born, would say, yeah, it was a it was a chance of of history that they gave birth to this person who would become the leader. But because the names are protected and hidden until he emerges as that leader, then we understand that he only became the leader he became because of the influence and because of the parenting of his parents. He grew in the palace. Grew in the palace, but he still had access to his parents. We'll see right now who was the one who nursed him. Who did he maintain a relationship with despite being in the palace? How long can the mother nurse him? She was a hundred thirty years old. I understand, but she she maintained that relationship even while he was yet in the palace. He was the product of his parents. He was the product of his parents. And all the more so, maybe his name is revealed later to tell us that when he emerges as the person he is, he was the product of his parents, not the product of the palace. So why was he between when he saw the Egyptian hating the Jew? Because he's still, למעשה lema'aseh he lived in the palace. למעשה lema'aseh he still was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. So he had this dual citizenship. He was raised by two matrons, and so he would felt conflicted about who was the real, who was his real mother? Who was really his parent, both literally and figuratively, who were his parent figures. A third interpretation maybe is, appropriate for this time of year and for today, what the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch calls נייער יאר Naya Yor, יום ח' אחר ניטל Yom Ches Achar Nittel. The eighth day, the bris of someone else whom we will not mention. So, so perhaps the pasuk is telling us, וילך איש מבית לוי vayeilech ish m'beis Levi, וילך ויקח את בת לוי vayikach es bas Levi. Know that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, who would be the mechanism, the catalyst of redemption, he was the product of man. A man had a union with a woman, and that's where Moshe came from. Somewhat prophetically. Lest you think that Moshe, this redeemer was the product of some other immaculate event, understand, וילך איש מבית לוי vayeilech ish m'beis Levi. There was a mere mortal human who went to בת לוי bas Levi, a mere mortal human, and the product of the two was this Moshe and nothing else. So, three potential interpretations. But let's see a few more of the מפרשים meforshim. What do you mean, וילך Vayeilech? So the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim tells us, we have another place where the Torah uses the same, Tanach uses the same language. וילך איש Vayeilech ish, says the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, רבי יעקב בן אשר Reb Yaakov ben Asher, ב' במסורה Beis b'mesorah. Twice it says וילך איש vayeilech ish. Here, הכא, וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי hacha, vayeilech ish m'beis Levi vayikach es bas Levi. ואידך, וילך איש מבית לחם יהודה v'idach, vayeilech ish m'beis lechem Yehudah. See the opening pasuk of the מגילת רות Megillas Rus, Ruth. A man from the house of בית לחם יהודה beis lechem Yehudah went. לומר, על ידי הליכה זו בא הגואל הראשון, ועל ידי אותה הליכה יבוא הגואל האחרון, שהוא משיח בן דוד שיבוא במהרה בימינו Lomar, al yedei halicha zu ba hagoel harishon, v'al yedei oso halicha yavo hagoel ha'acharon she'Moshiach ben David she'yavo bimheira v'yameinu. וילך Vayeilech, in both places, this וילך vayeilech, this union led to the birth of a redeemer. Here the וילך vayeilech, here this initiation, this act of intimacy led to the birth of Moshe, and וילך איש מבית לחם יהודה vayeilech ish m'beis lechem Yehudah led, the whole book of Rus is results in the story of דוד המלך David Hamelech. דוד David is the progenitor of משיח Moshiach במהרה bimheira, comes שיבוא במהרה בימינו she'yavo bimheira v'yameinu. אמן Amen. We should say we should דאווענען מוסף daven Musaf, call it a day. No. Yeah. No it's the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim. Okay. The רמב\"ן Ramban also has something to say here. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, רבותינו אמרו שהלך אחר עצת בתו Rabbeinu amru sh'halach achar atzas bito. That's the גמרא בסוטה Gemara b'Sotah that I referenced to you. What's the וילך Vayeilech? What do you mean, וילך Vayeilech? Where did he come from? Where was he going? They're living in Egypt. They're not going on a vacation, they're not traveling so far. What's this וילך Vayeilech? So the first interpretation we shared was, וילך Vayeilech, he went after, he followed the advice of his daughter. רבי אברהם Reb Avraham, it's talking about the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. The רמב\"ן Ramban is quoting the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, כי בערים רבות היו ישראל יושבים, וזו אשר היא, זו אשר אשה היתה בעיר אחרת ki b'arim rabos hayu Yisrael yoshvim, v'zo asher hi, zo asher ishah hayta b'ir acheres. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra is a literalist. If you're taking people of the book, have they done אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra yet? Yes? So the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra often is a is a grammarian and he's a literalist. So here the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says, וילך Vayeilech, don't tell me he followed the advice of his daughter, וילך vayeilech, he went after. The וילך vayeilech means literally there were many cities in Egypt. So he went from the one city he was living to the other city because they had been separated. מה צורך שיאמר הכתוב זה ma tzorech she'yomar hakasuv zeh? Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, why do I need to know this? וילדתי בעבור שלא חשש לגזירת פרעה, ולא יקחו לו אשה להוליד ממנו בנים, אמר הכתוב כן v'yaldati ba'avur she'lo chashash l'gzeiras Paro, v'lo yikchu lo ishah l'holed mimenu banim, amar hakasuv kein. בעבור כי בכל מזרז לעשות ענין חדש יאמר כן ba'avur ki b'chol mizdarez la'asos inyan chadash yomar kein. וילך ראובן וישכב את בלהה Vayeilech Reuven v'yishkav es Bilhah. וילך ויקח את גמר בת דבליים Vayeilech v'yikach es gmar bas Divalim. No, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, the Torah is just telling us וילך vayeilech. When the Torah wants to tell us that there's something new, it's a new beginning, it's a new chapter, a new dawn on human history, it tells us וילך vayeilech, something new in the story is about to unfold. And that's the use of וילך vayeilech. וכן זה נזדרז ויקח את בת לוי v'chein zeh nizdarez v'yikach es bas Levi. This is a new chapter. He, he acted with alacrity. He became enthusiastic. He aroused himself to be able to go and to start a new beginning. ולא הזכיר הכתוב שם האיש ולא שם אשתו אשר לקח v'lo hiskir hakasuv shem ha'ish v'lo shem ishto asher lakach. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, our question, why not tell us the names? וזה בעבור כי יצטרך כשיזכירם לייחסם ולספר שם אביהם ואבי אביהם עד אל לוי, ועכשיו ירצה לקצר עד לדת המושיע, ולאחר כן ייחס גם שאר השבטים בעבור וסדרא שני v'zeh ba'avur ki yitztarech k'sheyazkirem l'yachsem v'lasaper shem avihem v'avi avihem ad el Levi, v'achshav yirtzeh l'katzer ad l'das ha'moshia, u'leacharei kein yacheis gam sha'ar ha'shvatim ba'avur v'sidra sheini. The רמב\"ן Ramban gives an answer. Not my favorite answer. But the רמב\"ן Ramban says because if you're going to start saying who Moshe's parents are, then you'll have to talk about who their parents are and who their parents are, all the way back to Levi. And this is not the place to give the whole יחוס yichus chart. We're going to give soon, we'll give it soon when we talk about the rest of the shvatim as well. That's his answer. So how do we summarize the יחוס yichus chart? איש מבית לוי ish m'beis Levi, וילך ויקח את בת לוי vayikach bas Levi. We know it was all in the family of Levi, and that's all you need to know for now, says the רמב\"ן Ramban. So we have four answers why their names are concealed. The רמב\"ן Ramban says we don't have room, it's not the time to get into the יחוס yichus. We saw the other reason is they don't deserve for their names to be revealed. If we're up to them, Moshe would have never been born. It was the initiation, it was the insight of Miriam. Number three, we saw רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein, it would only be with the association later to tell us that who nurtured Moshe, Moshe emerged this leader, not because of the influence of בת פרעה bas Paro, although her also, but ultimately he was the product of עמרם ויוכבד Amram v'Yocheved. And number four, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says, no, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra is וילך vayeilech, they went from another city. What was number four? Did we have... Oh, number four might be to remind us that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, this great redeemer, was the product of mere mortal man and nothing more than that. Pasuk beis. ותהר האשה ותלד בן Vatahar ha'isha vateiled ben. The woman gave conceived and she gave birth to a boy. ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים Vatereh oso ki tov hu vatitzpeneihu shlosha yerachim. She saw that he was good and she hid him for three months. She hid him for three months. What's going on here? So first of all, ותהר vatahar. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra's bothered, why did we neglect the birth of the siblings? לא הזכיר הכתוב לידת מרים ואהרן lo hiskir hakasuv leidas Miriam v'Aharon. What are they, chopped liver? We don't mention the birth of Miriam and Aharon? We act as if this is their first child? כי לא יתחדש דבר בלידתם ki lo yischadesh davar b'leidasam. You know why? There was nothing new with their birth. They were born at a time in which it was permissible to have children, and they, there was nothing unique, remarkable about their birth. Now what is the word טוב tov? The pasuk says she conceived, she gave birth and she saw he was טוב tov. What does that mean he was טוב tov? And all of them aforhim way in here. Again, the reason we study our parsha this way, what we've been doing for a number of years is to develop a sensitivity to the text. We listen to the parsha Shabbos morning, or if we're good boys and girls, we're studying it throughout the week, שניים מקרא shnayim mikra, and we just read and we gloss over and we don't stop and ask ourselves, what in the world does it mean? So what is טוב tov? She saw her little בויטשיק boychik was good. What does it mean כי טוב ki tov? So אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says, ומילת טוב כאשר תמצא באיש מלא דעת umilas tov ka'asher timtza b'ish malei da'as. She saw that he was filled with wisdom. She looked in his eyes, by the way, I noticed this in my son the other day too, so it's possible. She saw, she saw he was מלא דעת malei da'as. יתכן היותו בן הנשמה, כמו טוב עם ה' וטוב עם אנשים yitachein heyoso ben haneshamah, k'mo tov im Hashem v'tov im anashim. או טוב עין o tov ayin, או בגוף, או בצורה, טוב תואר, או מראה o b'guf, o b'tzurah, tov to'ar, o mareh. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says טוב tov could mean anything here. She saw he was handsome. She saw he was healthy. She saw his body was טוב tov. He had 10 fingers and 10 toes, right? The first thing you do when your baby comes out, you start counting the fingers and the toes, you start looking is that two ears, the nose, the eyes look like they're working, everything. She saw טוב tov, he was born and she saw טוב tov. So טוב tov could mean he was handsome, טוב tov could mean he was whole, טוב tov could mean טוב עם ה' וטוב עם אנשים tov im Hashem v'tov im anashim. It's a little early to see that, but you know, he looked up and he smiled and he, he, uh, he brought out the positive in others. טוב tov could mean all these things. טוב מהנולדים tov m'hanoladim, could also mean that he was to, he was, he was exceptional. He was an exceptional child. Like I look at my son, I say he's athletic and he's smart and he's social and he's all these, all these things. בלי עין הרע Bli ayin hara. So that's the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. Yes. Didn't say, the decree that Pharaoh gave to kill the boys, didn't change, that the fact that after they were born he wouldn't kill them? Um, no, that's why they had to be, he had to be hidden. That's why he was hidden. So it was done. It could, it remained in place. Absolutely. That's why he had to be hidden and that's why they put him in the Nile. When they gave birth, they couldn't come on time. Right. So once the baby was born, didn't say to kill them. Right. So right, so why didn't Pharaoh send them to these homes and check? Because I guess at that point, when a woman is pregnant, I guess you could, right. Why didn't פרעה Paro identify where the homes that had given birth and find them and kill them? It's a good question. I don't know. So what does טוב tov? So the Ibn Ezra says טוב tov could mean any of these things. Says רש״י Rashi, כי כשנולד נתמלא הבית כולו אורה ki shenolad nismaleh habayis kulo orah. What does טוב tov mean? All of a sudden he was born, the house was filled with light. The house was filled with light. So she could see there was something special about this boy. By the way, what does light mean? So you could literally say light, meaning that there was a new light, there was a brightness that illuminated. Or figuratively you could say, this was a depressed home. Remember what the conversations had been. Hopeless, no future, don't have a child. And here this boy is born, and they say, you know what? It's going to be okay. There's going to be a brighter future. It was worth it, Miriam was right. נתמלא הבית כולו אורה Nismaleh habayis kulo orah. The house was filled with the light of the joy of a new child. That's what רש״י Rashi says. Says the, who should we do next? Everybody has something to say here. Says the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim. כי טוב הוא, ה׳ תגין Ki tov hu, hei tagin. The each of the letters has crowns on top, right? Yesterday's דף יומי Daf Yomi, if you learn the דף יומי Daf Yomi, God tied the crowns on top of the letters. Each of the letters in the Torah scroll itself are not written the way we have them, but they have crowns on top of the letter. So there are five crowns in these three words כי טוב הוא ki tovu. ב בטס beis b'tes, א בוו aleph b'vav, וב בבס u'beis b'beis. לומר, שהיא עתידה לקבל חמשה חומשי תורה Lomar, she'oso l'kama chamisha chumshei Torah. כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם Ki lekach tov nasati lachem. So כי טוב הוא kitovu, says the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim, means she looked at him and she saw כי טוב הוא kitovu, he's going to be the one who receives the לקח טוב lekach tov, which is the תורה Torah, חמשה חומשי תורה Chamisha Chumshei Torah. Okay, cute homiletic suggestion. Says the ספורנו Sforno, רב עובדיה ספורנו Rav Ovadia Sforno, כי טוב הוא kitovu, יפה כמו כי טובה סאהנה yafeh k'mo ki tovo seina. רצה לומר יפה יותר ממה שהיה מורגל Rotzo lomar yafeh yoser mima shehaya murgal. He was more handsome than normal. All the other kids came out with baby acne and oily and no hair and this kid was handsome. He was perfect. וחשבה שזה היה לתכלית מכוון מאת יוצרו, כי אמנם יופי התבנית יורה על טוב מזג החומר ושלמות כח המצייר V'chashva shezeh hayah l'tachlis mechaven mei'eis yotzro, ki omnam yofi hatavnis yoreh al tov mezeg hachomer u'shleimus koach hametzayer. A handsome exterior reveals a handsome interior. She understood and she saw he looked different. He looked more developed, he looked more handsome. And he had a bright countenance. He would be the messenger. He could be the ambassador for greatness. She saw that, and she saw כי טוב הוא kitovu that he was good.Says the רשב״ם Rashbam, רש״י Rashi's grandson. המפרשים לפי פשוטו שטוב הוא התמינהו. שקר הוא. שכל הולדות האם רחמנות עליהם Ha'mefarshim l'fi pshuto she'tovu hitminaseihu. Sheker hu. Shekol havlados ha'em rachmanus aleihem. He says, some interpret, go back to the פסוק pasuk. You could read it, כי טוב הוא ותצפנהו kitovu vatitzpeneihu. What was good that she hid him? He says but that's שקר sheker, that's wrong. Because all mothers love their children and want to hide them. It's not like a mother would give birth and half the mother said, \"Eh, not worth saving. פרעה Paro come and take 'em.\" And this mother said, \"Oh, this one, this one's a keeper. Let's hide him.\" No, says the רשב״ם Rashbam, every mother loves the child, has רחמים rachamim. אם כן צריך לפרש ותרא Im kein tzarich l'faresh vatereh. What did she see about him? כמו וירא אלקים את האור כי טוב, שאין טוב מאוד K'mo vayar Elokim es ha'or ki tov, she'ein tov m'od. Right, this פסוק pasuk, says the רשב״ם Rashbam, parallels creation. When God creates the world, it says וירא vayar he saw כי טוב ki tov that it was good. So here, ותרא vatereh she saw כי טוב ki tov that it was good. What's the parallel? נסתכל והביט בכל מעשיו וכל חוק לעשותו אם יש לתקן שום דבר בהם Nistakel v'hibit b'chol ma'asav v'chol chok l'asoso im yesh l'saken shum davar bahem. והנה כולם יפים ומתוקנים V'hinei kulam yafim u'mesukanim. She looked to see whether there was anything she had done that needed to be corrected or repaired, anything that need to be improved, and she saw it was all good. אף כאן, לפי שנסתכל Afkan, l'fi she'nistakel, right that was השם Hashem. So אף כאן לפי שמשה נולד לסוף שישה חודשים afkan l'fi shem Mosheh nolad l'sof shisha chodashim. משה Moshe, we have a tradition, was born at the end of the sixth month. He was a preemie. That's why she hid him for three months, because פרעה Paro wasn't expecting him. So she was able to keep him hidden for three months. כמו שמצינו בשמואל שנולד לתקופת הימים, שתי תקופות, שתי ימים. ולפיכך יכלה להצפינו שלושה חודשים K'mo shematzinu b'Shmuel she'nolad l'tkufas hayamim, shnei tkufos shnei yamim. Ul'fi kach yachla l'hatzpino shlosha chodashim, she was able to hide him, שהמצרים היו מבקרים למעוברות לסוף תשעה חודשים she'haMitzrim hayu mevakrim l'meubaros l'sof tisha chodashim. They kept a ledger. They knew which women were pregnant, and they knew it was time to come see them at the end of nine months. That's when they were going to come collect the Jewish children and kill them. So משה Moshe was born prematurely at the end of six months. She was able to hide him for three months. לכן נסתכלה בו בשעת לידה אם הוא נפל Lachein nistakla bo b'shaas leida im hu nefel. So what was ותרא vatereh? Because if you have a baby born at the end of six months, you're going to look closely to see if everything's okay. How is his breathing? Are his lungs developed? Is he alive? Is he a stillbirth? ולא תטרח בהטמנתו V'lo titrach b'hatmanaso. If he was a נפל nefel, if he's a stillbirth, she doesn't need to hide him. וראתהו כי טוב יפה הוא V'ra'aseihu ki tov, yafeh hu. She saw that he's healthy. כי גמרו סימניו, שערו וציפורניו Ki gamru simanav, s'aro v'tziparnav, because he had hair, his nails were grown. These are the signs, the יבמות Yevamos, that שידעה שהוא בר קיימא yadah she'hu bar kayama. These are the signs that this is a developed child. ותצפנהו ג׳ ירחים Vatitzpeneihu gimmel yorachim. She hid him for three months, עד סוף תשעה ירחים, שהוא זמן לידת רוב הנשים ad sof tisha y'rachim, she'hu zman leidas rov hanashim. So at the end of nine months, which is the average gestational period, וכשבאו לבודקה אמרה להם נפל היה u'keshe'ba'u l'vodka, amra lahem nefel hayah. Now they came to see her at the end of nine months. By then she's already thin. It's been three months since she gave birth. They say where's your baby? What happened? She says I had a miscarriage. I had a stillbirth. I lost him in the sixth month. או ששליכוהו המצרים ליאור o shelichu haMitzrim l'yaor, or she could say he was born prematurely three months ago you already, they came, they already threw him in the river. So that's the רשב״ם Rashbam. It's a great insight, right? ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא Vatereh oso kitovu. Said the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, ah, she saw he was handsome, he was smart, he was athletic, he was creative, he was artistic, right, the way a lot of fathers, a lot of mothers look at their children. Says the רשב״ם Rashbam, no. She gave birth after six months. What was she looking at? Is he alive? Is he vibrant? Is he healthy? Is he complete? He was. And so she was able to hide him for three months, and she was given the pretext to be able to tell the מצרים Mitzrim at the end of nine months, they knock on the door, they say, \"You look thin, what's going on? Where's the baby? And you're thin.\" She says, \"I gave birth three months ago and it was a stillbirth.\" Or \"I gave birth three months ago and your people already did their cruel work.\" But in either case, that's how she was able to get rid of them. That's what the רשב״ם Rashbam says.Says the רמב״ן Ramban. ידוע כי כל הנשים אוהבות את בניהן, יפים ושאינם יפים Yadu'a ki kol hanashim ohavos es bneihen, yafim v'she'einam yafim. All mothers love their children, good looking and ugly babies. וכולן מצפינין אותן בכל יכולתן V'kulan matzpinin osan b'chol y'cholasan. And all mothers will do everything they can to hide and protect their children. ואין צורך ראיית עיניים כי טוב הוא V'ein tzorach r'iyas einayim ki tovu. Right, עיניים einayim, you don't need כי טוב הוא kitovu to be motivated to hide your child. אבל פירוש הטוב הזה שראתה בו טוב מחודש, לחשבה כי יהיה בו נס וינצל Aval peirush hatov hazeh she'ra'asa bo tov mechudash, l'chashva ki yihyeh bo neis v'yinatzel. לכן נתנה את לבה וחשבה מחשבות בענינו, כאשר ראתה שלא יכלה עוד להצפינו, חשבה שינצל בתחבולה אחרת, ועשתה לו תיבת גומא Lachein nasna es liba v'chashva machshavos b'inyano, ka'asher ra'asa shelo yachla od l'hatzpino, chashva she'yinatzel b'tachbula acheres, v'asisa lo teivas gomeh. She thought in him something new, she thought, you know what, she's going to be able to continue to protect him, she's not going to have to give him up. כי טוב הוא Kitovu meant he is a catalyst of good, something's going to change, she won't have to give him up. Lo and behold, she did have to give him up. So she built this little ark, this little boat for him to float in. So and the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim also has a פשט pshat here. אור החיים Ohr HaChaim quotes the מדרש Medrash in שמות רבה Shmos Rabba. What does it mean כי טוב הוא kitovu? That he was נולד מהול nolad mahul. He was born circumcised. There was something special. This happens once in a while. We had a baby born here a number of years ago, born circumcised. You still have to do a הטפת דם ברית hatafas dam bris. You have to take out a drop of blood. But משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was born מהול mahul. He was born געמאַלט gemalt. He was born with a ברית bris. So we saw four or five interpretations, what is כי טוב הוא kitovu? The point is don't gloss over the words. You see משה Moshe's born, his mother looks, she sees he's good. What was bothering all these מפרשים meforshim? Right, we always say that they they don't offer a comment spontaneously, they're bothered by a question. What bothered them? What do you mean ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא ותצפנהו vatereh oso kitovu vatitzpeneihu? She saw he was good, she hid him. What, and if he was ugly, she wouldn't have hid him? If he was no good, he's not a keeper. All mother, this is what the premise that they're all asking. All mothers love their children. They'll do anything to protect them. What do you mean כי טוב הוא kitovu, she had to see that he was good? So what does it mean good? What was the good that she saw he was that was worthy of protection? Okay, continuing. פסוק ג׳ Pasuk gimmel. So far we've done a whopping two פסוקים psukim.ולא יכלה עוד הצפינו ותקח לו תיבת גומא V'lo yachla od hatzpino, vatikach lo teivas gomeh. She could no longer hide him. She took a little תיבה teiva, ותחמרה בחמר ובזפת vatachmera b'cheimar u'v'zafes. She coated it with a waterproof substance. ותשם בה את הילד vatasem ba es hayeled. She placed the child in it. ותשם בסוף על שפת היאור vatasem basuf al sfas hayeor. And she placed this basket, she placed this little river in the reeds at the bank of the river, בסוף basuf, in the reeds on the edge of the river. What happens? ותתצב אחותו מרחוק לדעה מה יעשה לו Vateisatzav achoso mei'rachok l'deiah ma yei'aseh lo. The sister, whose name is also not revealed, by the way she deserved for it to be revealed, given our interpretation earlier. The sister positions herself from a distance to know, to see what's going to happen with this בויטשיק boychik. What's going to be with her brother? Right, what incredible love from a sister, an older sister. A model. ותרד בת פרעה לרחוץ על היאור Vateired bas Paro lirchotz al hayeor. The daughter of פרעה Paro goes down to wash על al, not ביאור b'yeor. Right, again, sensitivity to the text. It should have said she went down to wash in the river. Doesn't say that. ונערותיה הולכות על יד היאור V'na'aroseha holchos al yad hayeor. And her maidens go also adjacent to the river. ותרא את התיבה בתוך הסוף vatereh es hateiva b'soch hasuf. She sees the the basket floating in the reeds. ותשלח את אמתה ותקחה v'tishlach es amasa vatikacheha. She sends her maidservant to take the basket. And she opens it, ותפתח ותראהו את הילד vatiftach vatir'eihu es hayeled. She opens and she sees the boy. והנה נער בוכה v'hinei na'ar bocheh. And behold there's a child crying. ותחמול עליו vatachmol alav. She has pity on him. ותאמר מילדי העברים זה vatomer mi'yaldei ha'Ivrim zeh. She identifies him as being a Jewish child. Okay? So let's try to go through these פסוקים psukim. Running out of time. Story of our life. So ותרד vateired, let's start with פסוק ה׳ pasuk hei. Let's go to פסוק ה׳ pasuk hei. Or look פסוק ד׳ pasuk dalet. Why did Miriam position herself to see? She couldn't give up. She couldn't give up hope. She didn't want to believe this would be the last contact with her brother. Says the the ספורנו Sforno, says the ספורנו Sforno, שחששה שיקחהו איש מצרי כשאר סופי she'chashsha sheyikacheihu ish Mitzri k'shar Sufi. כי רבים הסופים היו במצרים בלי ספק, כי מלאה הארץ זימה כמו שהעיד הנביא Ki rabim haSufim hayu b'Mitzrim b'li safek, ki mala ha'aretz zimah k'mo sheheid haNavi. מצרים Mitzraim was the ultimate place of lasciviousness and licentiousness and decadence and moral depravity. Egypt was a place of no morals. People were sleeping with one another. Children had no idea who their parents were. They had no idea what their יחוס yichus was. So Miriam was worried that someone would come and claim this baby and he'd be raised as a child and no one else knew whose children were whose. And that's what she was waiting to see. Who would accept him, who would take him, who would adopt him in. Because she wanted to be able to track his progress and his growth. She continued to love him, which is an incredible quality of a sister.What happens? ותרד בת פרעה Vateired bas Paro. The daughter of פרעה Paro goes down. To wash on the river. That's the simple understanding is that she's going down to wash on the river. Look at the רמב״ן Ramban. The רמב״ן Ramban quotes the רש״י Rashi. צריך המקרא ודרשהו, ותרד בת פרעה על היאור לרחוץ בו, לשון אבן שלם Tzarich hamikra v'darshihu, vateired bas Paro al hayeor lirchotz bo, lashon Ibn Shlam. ואם כן יהיה על היאור כמו אל היאור V'im kein yihyeh al hayeor k'mo el hayeor. If it's true that she went to go wash in the river, so you have to read על היאור al hayeor on the river as אל el to the river. Okay, and that's legitimate. וכן וילך אל כן המרמסת על ביתו, וכן כה אמרו איש לרעהו ואיש לאחיו V'chein vayelech el ken hamarmuset al beiso, v'chein kos amru ish l'reieihu v'ish l'achiv. We see these פסוקים psukim elsewhere where we see the word על al reading as אל el. On means to. So here בת פרעה bas Paro was going to the river, in the river, not just on the river. ויתכן שהיו ביאור מעלות V'yitachen shehayu b'yaor ma'alos. But the רמב״ן Ramban doesn't like it. The רמב״ן Ramban says here's what I think it means. The river had steps going down into it. והיא ירדה מארמון המלך לרחוץ במעלה ראשונה שביאור V'hi yarda mei'armon hamelech lirchotz b'ma'ala rishona she'ba'yeor. She went from the palace to the first step going down into the river. לא תכניס את כל שיבולי הנהר Lo tikaneis es kol shibolos hanahar. She didn't go into the river itself, she didn't go deep into the river, she's a princess. She belongs on the first step where the river meets the palace. וראתה התיבה בתוך הסוף V'ra'asa hateiva b'soch hasuf, and from that first step she sees the basket רחוק ממנה rachok mimena far from her. ותשלח את אמתה ותקחה v'tishlach es amasa v'tikacheha. And so she sends her maidservant to go get the basket. So says the רמב״ן Ramban, what does it mean על היאור al hayeor? Said רש״י Rashi, על היאור al hayeor means אל היאור el hayeor. She went in the river. Says the רמב״ן Ramban, no, על היאור al hayeor means on the river. She stood on a step in the river. She's a princess. She's not in the river like everybody else. She goes on the step in the river where the river meets the palace and is considered an extension, part of the palace itself.The ספורנו Sforno says a similar thing to the רמב״ן Ramban. Look at the ספורנו Sforno. בחדר שהמלך שיושב סמוך ליאור מביט בו, כי אמנם כבוד בת מלך פנימה בלי ספק לא יוצא ליאור B'cheder she'hamelech sheyoshev samuch l'yaor mabit bo, ki omnam kvod bas melech pnima b'li safek lo yotzei l'yaor. The princess, the daughter of a king, she doesn't just go out. You're not going to run into the princess at Starbucks. The princess doesn't just hang out on the street. She's not hanging out in the JCC pool. If she's in the יאור yaor, she's in a private segregated section of the יאור yaor. And says the ספורנו Sforno like the רמב״ן Ramban, that's what it means על היאור al hayeor, on the river, not in the river in the same place where everyone else bathes, but in a secluded in a secluded place of the river. But there's even more. Because the גמרא Gemara in סוטה, דף י״ב Sotah, daf yud beis, which gives us insights into all that's going on here in these פסוקים psukim. The גמרא Gemara in סוטה Sotah tells us that פרעה Paro's daughter went down to the river not simply to bathe or to swim. Why did פרעה Paro go to the river? To relieve himself. Because he didn't want to he didn't want to give the impression that he was human. He presented himself as a deity. So he'd go down to the river to relieve himself. Why did בת פרעה bas Paro go down? Not simply to bathe or to swim. She came to the banks of the Nile, says the גמרא Gemara in סוטה Sotah, to purify herself from the idol worship of her father. See, this young woman, we could do an hour class, we have nine minutes left, who was בת פרעה bas Paro? Who was she? She's not an ordinary person, and she's not just a chance character in the story. She's a very special person. She was very turned off to her father's idolatry and paganism. She went down to the Nile, the Nile served as her מקוה mikvah. She went down to the Nile daily. She slept in her father's disgusting pagan palace filled with idols, and she'd begin her day by purifying herself in the river. And that's why the תורה Torah uses the term by the river, not in the river, to tell us that her intentions were more than mundane. That's what the מהרש״א Maharsha there in the גמרא סוטה Gemara Sotah says. To tell us על היאור al hayeor, she went על היאור al hayeor to reveal that her intentions were not just mundane, but her intentions were noble. She wanted to purify herself. Now understand the significance of purifying herself in the Nile דווקא davka. Because what was the Nile? It was a deity worshipped by her father. The Nile was the god of Egypt. The fact that she used the Nile to purify herself from the gods was the ultimate demonstration of rejecting the pagans of her father and of Egyptian culture. So she's not סתם stam a person, she is a very special person. In fact, the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim alludes to this. It says ותרד בת פרעה vateired bas Paro, סוף תיבות sof teivos, the last letters of ותרד בת פרעה vateired bas Paro are ד׳, ת׳, ה׳ dalet, taf, hei. דתה Dasa, which means her religion. מלמד ששינתה דתה שהלכה להתגייר Melamed sheshinsa dasa she'halcha l'hisgayer. ותרד בת פרעה Vateired bas Paro, the last letter spelled דתה dasa, her religion. She went down to the river to convert. How do you convert? In the מקוה mikvah. Every day she would go to the river to convert, to affirm her conversion, to validate her conversion from the paganism with which she was raised. She wanted to distance herself and separate herself from the idolatry of her father and of the people of מצרים Mitzraim, of Egypt. ותרד בת פרעה, סוף תיבות דתה, שהלכה להתגייר Vateired bas Paro, sof teivos dasa, shehalcha l'hisgayer. She went down to convert. She's not סתם stam an ordinary person. In fact, what's her name? בתיה Batya. Her name is בתיה Batya. And by the way the תורה Torah doesn't give us her name, although the תורה Torah does later in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim. Later in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim, the תורה Torah delineates all of the children of בתיה Batya. The גמרא Gemara gives it the, sorry, דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim gives a list, a list of the daughters of בתיה Batya, and many understood that it's the same בתיה Batya here of the daughter of פרעה Paro. דברי הימים א׳, פרק ד׳ Divrei Hayamim aleph, perek dalet, the גמרא Gemara gives a list of the children of בתיה Batya, and the גמרא Gemara explains those are really all different names, when it says the children of בתיה Batya in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim, all those children are different names for none other than משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. So she's designated, the גמרא Gemara in מגילה י״ג Megillah yud gimmel, she's designated as the mother of משה Moshe. Then we talked about again this dual identity and the role of יוכבד Yocheved, but בתיה Batya is not סתם stam some pagan influence. She herself is a remarkable woman, a woman who had converted, who had abandoned and distanced herself from the paganism of her father. And in fact, that's what her name means. How do we know her name? Comes from the מדרש Medrash, and the מדרש Medrash in ויקרא רבה Vayikra Rabba tells us, what does her name, ב׳, ת׳, י׳, ה׳ beis, taf, yud, hei. בת, י-ה Bas, Ya. She's the daughter of השם Hashem. She's the daughter of השם Hashem. She's the daughter of God. She's a remarkable woman. Again, we could speak on and on and on about her. The courage, when your father is the king who worships pagans and leads a nation of pagans to reject it and to go to the Nile every day and to be this special woman and to have the compassion that we're going to see in a moment, she is a special, she's a special woman.Okay, so what happens? She, in fact, is the one, we'll see in a moment, who gives the name to משה Moshe that we accept as we said. So she goes down and she stretches, ותשלח את אמתה ותקחה v'tishlach es amasa vatikacheha. Now what does it mean אמתה amasa? Says רש״י Rashi, שפחתה shifchasa. Simple understanding is like an אמה amah, אמה עבריה amah Ivriyah. She sent one of her servants. She's on the first step, she sees this basket, she says to one of her servants, she says, \"Hey Barbara, go get the basket. There's a baby, quick, get the basket.\" But רש״י Rashi quotes an additional interpretation. רבותינו דרשו לשון יד Rabboseinu darshu lashon yad. אמה Ama could also mean your hand. For example, how do we know אמה ama means a hand, an arm? The measurement of an אמה ama is the measurement of your hand. אבל לפי דקדוק לשון הקודש, אינו לנקט אמתה מ׳ דגושה, אמתה זה ידה Aval l'fi dikduk lashon hakodesh, eino li'naket amasa mem d'gusha, amasa is yadah. So asks, she she stretches her hand. She stretches her hand. שנתארכה אמה, אמות הרבה She'nisarva ama, amos harbei. And the גמרא Gemara tells us that this basket was well out of reach of בתיה Basya, of בת פרעה Bas Paro, but she stretched out her arm and a miracle occurred that her arm extended well beyond its natural length and she was able to bring in the basket. Asks the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe, nice story, beautiful miracle, her arm extended. But why in the world would she try to extend her arm? If her arm was only two feet and the basket was six feet away, what what what what was she doing? The קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe has a great insight. The קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe says, \"Sometimes in life we need to reach for the stars, and השם Hashem will allow us to stretch to get there. But if we never reach for the stars, then how can we even hope for a miracle to occur to achieve there? You need to reach for the stars.\" So that's who this remarkable woman was. Her first instinct was to reach. Had she stopped to think, \"Yeah, my arm is a foot and a half, he's six feet, there's no way in the world I can get it.\" You know if you're walking and you drop your keys into the sewer, you drop your keys in the bank of a river, even though it's impossible to get them, you're not going to not try. You're not going to say, \"Oh, it's impossible.\" You're going to reach as if you could. Because that's your instinct. That was her instinct. She saw this baby, her instinct was to reach, even though it was reaching for the stars, it was well beyond her grasp. Sometimes you have to reach beyond your grasp. What was the line Rabbi Friend had from the סיום הש״ס Siyum HaShas last summer? That which is beyond our reach is still within our grasp. Something like that? Right? When you learn דף יומי Daf Yomi, that which even that which is beyond our reach is still within our grasp. So that's בת פרעה Bas Paro. Even though she there was no reason physically that she should have been able to get it, she reaches in order and she's able to and she's able to get it. So what happens? ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בוכה, ותחמול עליו Vatiftach vatir'eihu es hayeled v'hinei na'ar bocheh, vatachmol alav. She opens and she sees a child crying, and she has pity on him. Asks רב ניסן אלפרט Rav Nissan Alpert. רב ניסן אלפרט Rav Nissan Alpert was a ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, and he was one of the prized תלמידים talmidim of רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein. רב ניסן אלפרט Rav Nissan Alpert. So רב ניסן אלפרט Rav Nissan Alpert, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha, at רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein's לויה levaya spoke, and in his הספד hesped he asked the following question. He said the פסוק pasuk seems to be very out of order. The sequence should have been, she opened the basket, she saw the baby, she saw it was a Jewish child, she heard it crying, and she had pity on him. Right, she should have been connected to the baby, recognized it was the Jewish child. But it doesn't say that. The פסוק pasuk says instead, after seeing the baby, she hears him crying, she has pity, then she recognizes he's a Jewish child. Why is it out of order? So we don't have any time, but I wanted to bring that question to your attention. So רב ניסן אלפרט Rav Nissan Alpert has that question. He has a ספר sefer on חומש Chumash called לימודי ניסן Limudei Nissan. He was a תלמיד talmid of רב משה Rav Moshe and he used his answer to that question to give דברי הספד divrei hesped about רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein, about the relationship of חסד ואמת chesed v'emes. But I want to leave you here. פסוק ו׳ Pasuk vav. ותפתח ותראה Vatiftach vatireh she sees it, ותחמול עליו ותאמר מילדי העברים vatachmol alav vatomer miyaldei haIvrim. She sees והנה נער בוכה v'hinei na'ar bocheh. She opens the basket and she observes a נער בוכה na'ar bocheh. Says רש״י Rashi, קולו כנער kolo k'na'ar. The voice that she heard of this baby crying was like a נער na'ar. It was not a baby, she heard the voice of a נער na'ar. What's a נער na'ar? A lad. Somebody who's a little bit older. Says רש״י Rashi, קולו כנער kolo k'na'ar. Okay, משה Moshe was unusual. His voice was deep. His voice was was deep like a נער na'ar. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says, what does it mean קולו כנער kolo k'na'ar? היו איבריו גדולים כאילו הוא נער, וראתה הוא מהול, ובעבור יופיו חמלה עליו Hayu eivarav g'dolim, k'ilu hu na'ar, v'ra'asa hu mahul, u'va'avur yofyo chamla alav. וזה טעם כי טוב הוא V'zeh ta'am ki tovu. Says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, his limbs were developed, and she saw that he was circumcised. So he didn't give the impression of a newborn baby. His eyes were focused, his limbs, he was moving his arms and legs. He had a circumcision. He gave the impression of being even older than his chronological age. And that's what the טוב הוא tovu, that was the good that his mother saw, and that's what בת פרעה Bas Paro now says, sees. That's what the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says. Says the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim something incredible. No, you know what והנה נער בוכה v'hinei na'ar bocheh is? By the way, the רמב״ן Ramban's not bothered at all. The רמב״ן Ramban says, no, even a baby can be called a נער na'ar. So we have a number of answers. Why is it a נער na'ar? רש״י Rashi says his voice was deep like a נער na'ar. אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says his body was developed by a נער na'ar. The רמב״ן Ramban says even a baby can be called a נער na'ar. Says the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim, no. You know who this נער na'ar is? Who's the נער בוכה na'ar bocheh? זה אהרן שנכנס אצל התיבה Zeh Aharon, she'nichnas eitzel hateiva. It wasn't just Miriam who positioned herself to watch to see what was going to happen. You know who the נער בוכה na'ar bocheh is? This little boy is crying. Now look at the פסוק pasuk. והנה נער בוכה, ותאמר מילדי העברים זה V'hinei na'ar bocheh, vatomer miyaldei haIvrim zeh. How'd she know it was a Jewish child? She knew it was a Jewish child because she saw his brother crying. The way a Jew cries for another Jew, feel sympathy and empathy, identifies and cries for another. How did she know מילדי העברים זה miyaldei haIvrim zeh? Because she saw והנה נער בוכה v'hinei na'ar bocheh, she saw not the baby crying, she saw אהרן Aharon crying. Here there's a baby floating. She discovers this baby and she hears whimpering, and she looks up and there's a brother, and there's a sister, and they're watching knowing that they have to put this child in the river in order for him to live. But they're crying over being separated from their brother. And she understands מילדי העברים זה miyaldei haIvrim zeh. This is a Jewish child. And ותחמול עליו vatachmol alav, she has this pity and she takes him in. Hold on.And she struggled, she can't feed him. You know, we'll have to pick up with this next year, that she can't nurse him. משה Moshe won't drink from any of the, רב יעקב קמנצקי Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky has a great insight I was going to share, we'll start with the next year about why רב משה Rav Moshe didn't drink from these Egyptian women and only from his own mother. But I'll just end that again, what's the name that he has? ותקרא שמו משה Vatikra shmo Moshe, she calls him משה Moshe, כי מן המים משיתהו ki min hamayim mishisihu, because from the water he was drawn forth. Says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra here, what does it mean from the water he was drawn forth? משה Moshe, says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, is an Egyptian name. שם משה מתורגם מלשון מצרים בלשון הקודש Shem Moshe meturgam milashon Mitzrim b'lashon hakodesh. It is the Hebrew equivalent of the Egypt. ושמו בלשון מצרים היה, מוניוס U'shmo b'lashon Mitzrim hayah, Monius. Monius was his Egyptian name. Monius is Egyptian for drawn from the water. The Hebrew translation of this Egyptian name is משה Moshe, and that's the name we call him. And I mentioned earlier, it's somewhat startling that here he has all of these names, ירד, חבר, יקותיאל, גדור, שוכו, זנוח Yered, Chever, Yekusiel, Gedor, Socho, Zanach. משה Moshe has all these names. And what's the name we call him? משה Moshe. The name that was given to him by בת פרעה Bas Paro. And why is that the name that we call him? The ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni is intrigued, that we call him משה Moshe to tell us that בת פרעה Bas Paro had the sympathy, the sensitivity to take him in and to give him this name. So משה Moshe's beginnings were through sensitivity and compassion, and that therefore is the name that we continue to to know him by. Another reason is מן המים משיתהו min hamayim mishisu. It's very interesting, it means, it's very passive. From the water he was drawn forth. Not I drew him forth, he was drawn forth. That means she understood that there was something divine in the way he emerged from the water. He was born, משה Moshe, משיתהו mishisu, he was born in a divine way. This was destined to be. So that's the most accurate description of משה Moshe as having been divinely appointed as a leader, and that's why we give him that name. There are many other reasons why specifically we adopt that name and not other names. As I said, we can speak for an hour about who this בת פרעה Bas Paro is, but we are out of time. Unfortunately, we have to.
