Parshat Shmot Think Tank

BABY MOSES

One of the problems that we face when reading the Torah is, believe it or not, that we know too much. Since we are already familiar with much of the general story line, we tend to miss the subtleties and complexities of the unfolding plot. This week’s Torah portion is a perfect example of this situation.

We know that the daughter of Pharaoh pulls Moses out of the Nile and raises him as her son. With this information in hand, the plan of Moses’ mother Yocheved seems almost logical. But if we step back and remember that nobody knew that Moses would be saved, we must ask, what in fact was her original intention? Certainly Yocheved was not the only woman in her predicament. We can only assume that every Jewish mother in Egypt lay awake at nights attempting to devise a plan to save her child from the Egyptian murderers. Furthermore, every law-abiding Egyptian was probably expected to bring any Jewish children to the proper authorities.

What, then, was Yocheved’s plan as she built her son’s floating cradle? What was Miriam expecting to see and do? Was this an act of nonsensical desperation, an ultimate act of faith, or a carefully thought-out scenario?

Chaim Saiman, a native Atlantan and graduate of Georgia State University, is studying at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel.

E-mail your thoughts to thinktank@tfdixie.com and we’ll post them up here on this page.

RESPONSES:

"I think that Yocheved had Divine providence, and that this is what Hashem wanted her to do." -- Mark Greenberg, Detroit.

"I think that Yocheved and Miriam were doing HASHEM's will, so went ahead and made the basket, and sent it down the Nile, but, being human, Yocheved had Miriam follow to make sure the outcome was as prophsied to them by the Eternal One. Egypt was, as Stalin's Russia, where all was suspect and success for survival of the Hebrews was nil. No one but that Tzaddik chosen by G-d could survive pharoah's harsh decree. Evil pharoah, whose heart was hardened, had no free will. It had been taken away from him; he had to serve the decree and he had to lose everything eventually so that we might be made free by the Almighty Hand of G-d." -- kol tuv, Ryfkah