B"H
Friday, Tevet 20, 5782 / December 24, 2021
Parshat Shmot begins with the story of the enslavement of the Jewish people by the Egyptians. Pharaoh decrees that every Jewish newborn boy be drowned in the Nile River. We read the story of Moshe’s birth and how he was saved from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moshe grows up and when he sees an Egyptian officer beating a Jewish man, he killed the Egyptian. The next day he saw two Jewish men arguing and one wanting to hit the other one. Moshe reprimands him. The man replied, “Do you plan to kill me as you have killed the Egyptian?”
The Torah continues, “Moshe became frightened.”Pharaoh heard about the incident, and he attempts to kill Moshe, but Moshe managed to flee to the land of Midyan and stops at a well.
At the well he met his future wife, Tziporah, the daughter of Yitro. Moshe became a shepherd attending to his father-in-law’s flock. One day as he was attending to the flock, he saw a bush burning but the bush wasn’t consumed by the fire. When he came closer, G-d tells him to go to Pharaoh with a mission to take the Jewish people out of Egypt.
Q. On which day was Moshe saved from the Nile River? Why was that day significant?
A. It was the seventh day of Sivan. Moshe turned three months old on that day. On this day, eighty years later, Moshe was on Mount Sinai when G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people.
Q. Why did Pharaoh choose drowning the Jewish children as the method of killing them?
A. G-d punishes measure for measure. Pharaoh knew that G-d made a vow to Noah, after the Great Flood, that He will never bring a flood again as He did at the time of Noah. Pharaoh figured if he drowns the Jewish babies, G-d will not be able to punish him, measure for measure, through water because of G-d’s vow not to bring a flood again. In the end, Pharaoh and the Egyptians were punished by drowning when they chased after the Jewish people.
Q. The Torah tells us that first, “Moshe became frightened” and then “Pharaoh heard what Moshe did and wanted to kill him. It makes more sense that he became frightened after Pharaoh wanted to kill him.
A. There is a saying in Yiddish, “Tracht gut vet zein gut.” Translated it means, “Think positive and things will (turn out to) be positive.” The Torah teaches us here that it was an error on Moshe’s part to be afraid. The fact that Moshe was afraid shows that he thought negatively, and this brought about that Pharaoh wanted to kill him. The moral lesson is that when we are in a difficult situation, we should do what it takes to get out of it, but we must think positively and trust in G-d. G-d will then direct things to turn out positive.
Today, the 20th of Tevet, is the day when our great sage, philosopher, physician, and scholar, Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon, known as RAMBAM (Maimonides) passed away, in the year 1204. May his memory be a blessing.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 3:57 / Shabbat ends: 5:07