Parshas Sh'mos 5767

Commentary by Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum

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When Jacob and his sons first came to Egypt they came as guests of the viceroy. That quickly changed after Joseph and his brothers died. A new Pharaoh, who did not want to remember the great accomplishments of Joseph, rose to power. He saw the proliferation of the Jewish people throughout Egypt, and was concerned that they would try to overpower the Egyptian government. The exile of the Jews now began in earnest.

Pharaoh enacted various decrees against the Jewish people. He enticed them to help build new cities for the country. Gradually the people’s freedom was severely limited and they became enslaved to Pharaoh. The Egyptians then began to oppress the Jews with backbreaking labor. Pharaoh also ordered the Hebrew midwives to abort the Jewish male fetuses shortly before birth. When they refused to listen to him he decreed that every male infant should be killed. Despite these evil decrees, and actually, as the Rabbis explain, because of the decrees, the people continued to multiply and populate the land.

In this setting, a baby boy was born to a couple from the tribe of Levi. The man’s name was Amram and his wife’s name was Yocheved. The child’s mother was afraid the Egyptian authorities would find him, so she put him in a lined basket and set it among the reeds in the river. Pharaoh’s daughter, Bisyah, came to bathe in the river. She saw the child and took pity on him, and brought him home to be raised in the king’s palace. The child’s sister who had been standing nearby offered to bring a Jewish nursemaid to nurse the child. Bisyah agreed and the child’s own mother was brought to help raise him. Bisyah called the child Moshe. This would be the name by which he would be known for all times.

As Moshe grew older he began to empathize with his brothers’ pain. He tried to help them, but he soon found himself having to flee Egypt for his own life. He settled in Midian where he married the daughter of Yisro. Yisro was a former adviser to Pharaoh and a deeply religious man who had dedicated his life to seeking out G-d. He would later convert to Judaism.

When Moshe was eighty years old, G-d appeared to him in a burning bush, and instructed him to go to Egypt to lead the Jewish nation out of slavery. Moshe did not feel himself fit for this task. He argued that he was not an orator. He was also concerned that the people would not believe him. G-d insisted that Moshe go, and that his brother Ahron would assist him. Although the exodus would not happen for another year, the process leading to it was now ready to begin.

“The Children of Israel groaned from the work and they cried, and their cries went up before G-d...” (Exod. 2:23)

The Chasam Sofer explains that the nation’s cry was actually the first step of their redemption. He compares it to a patient who was paralyzed and felt no pain. Suddenly his sense of feeling returned, and he began screaming in pain. The doctor seemed overjoyed.

“How can you be so happy when you see me suffering like this?” the patient asked.

The doctor replied, “When you didn’t feel anything, I was concerned, because that is a sign of the seriousness of the illness. Now that your feeling has returned, however, I see that the illness has begun to run its course and you’ll get better.”

Before the nation cried, it seemed that they had fallen into a hopelessness from which they could not be helped. But once they realized their bitter situation and cried, it was only a matter of time before they would be redeemed.

Did You Know...

Kabbalistic sources teach that when a child is born, the parents are endowed with a sense of Divine Wisdom in naming their child his or her Jewish name.

The Jewish name defines the essence of the child, in some ways. For this reason, many have the custom to name a child after a beloved relative or great person, since a part of that person’s soul is shared with the child being named.

Similarly, one should not name a child after a wicked person. If one wants to name a child after a relative who was not a very good person, the name may be changed a bit, or a different name can be added.

The Jewish name is used for all religious purposes such as being called to the Torah, on the ketuba (marriage contract) or get (divorce contract), and on one’s grave.