When Jacob and his sons first came to Egypt they were respected as the family of the viceroy, Joseph. That quickly changed after Joseph and his brothers died. A new Pharaoh rose to power who did not want to remember Joseph’s great accomplishments. He saw the proliferation of the Jewish people throughout Egypt as a threat, and was concerned they would try to overthrow the 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 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 follow his orders, he decreed that every male infant be killed. Despite these evil decrees, and actually, as the Rabbis explain, because of these 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 in the reeds by the river. Pharaoh’s daughter, Bisyah, came to bathe in the river. She saw the child and took pity on him, and brought him to 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 the child. Bisyah called the child’s name Moshe, because he was drawn (mishisihu) from the water. Out of respect for Bisyah, this would be the name by which he would be known for all times.
As Moshe grew older he empathized with his brothers’ pain. He saved a Jewish slave from his taskmaster’s beatings by killing the taskmaster, and as a result he had to flee Egypt for his own life. He settled in Midian where he married the daughter of Yisro, 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 lead the Jewish nation out of slavery. Moshe did not feel himself worthy of 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 Aharon would assist him. Although the exodus would not happen for another year, the process leading to it was now ready to begin.
…the Jewish people were fruitful and multiplied… (Exod. 1:6)
A member of the British royal family was once on a ship with Rav Shaul Brach. She remarked to the Rav that she admired the People of the Book, but she was curious why the religious families had so many children.
The Rav smiled and said, “If Her Royalty appreciates the People of the Book, I’m sure she must remember the beginning of the Scriptures, when Noah was instructed to build an ark to save all the animals.”
The princess nodded her head in agreement.
“Well, Noah was told to bring two of each kind of animal, but from the clean species he was instructed to bring seven of each kind. Jewish tradition teaches that children are a person’s greatest asset, and that the best way for a person to contribute to the world’s betterment is by raising a large family.”
Did You Know...
The Hebrew name one is given is how the person is identified in Heaven, and should thus be used, when possible, when praying for an individual. If the Hebrew name is unknown, the secular name may be used.
Our tradition teaches that when one a child is named after a person, a certain dimension of that person’s soul is shared with the child. For that reason a child should not be named after a wicked person, or even after a person who suffered from bad fortune. If one wishes to name a child after a family member under such circumstances, it is preferable to add another name too so that the name will not be exactly the same.
