Parshas Shmos
Don’t Think So Much! Leave The Thinking To Hashem!
“A man of the house of Levi went and married the daughter of Levi.” (Shmos 2:1)
Pharaoh decreed, “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” (Exodus 1:22) Under the shadow of this decree, Yocheved, Amram’s wife, gave birth to Moshe. The Talmud (Sotah 12A) says that when Moshe was born the whole house became filled with light. The Torah says, “She saw that he was [exceptionally] good.” (Shmos 2:2) Thereupon, for the next three months, Yocheved hid Moshe from the Egyptian officers who were taking Jewish male babies and drowning them. When Yocheved could no longer hide the fact that Moshe was born, she placed him in a basket and put him in the Nile River. She hoped that an Egyptian woman would find Moshe and have mercy on him. Thus, saving his life.
Ramban says that it is a known fact that every mother loves her child. Every mother would go to extreme lengths to save her child. Certainly, every mother would, at the very least, hide her child to protect him from harm. Therefore, why was it necessary for the Torah to tell us that Yocheved hid Moshe after seeing that he was “good”? Even if he wasn’t good, wouldn’t Yocheved have hid him, as any mother would, to try to save her child? Ramban answers that the whole house was filled with light when Moshe was born. Yocheved saw in this, something unique and special about Moshe. She felt that this showed that a miracle would happen, and he would somehow be saved. Therefore, she thought of ways to save him.
One of the Rabbeim of Yeshiva Toras Chaim of Miami (Mussar Haskel, Courage to Change, written by R’ Chaim Hirsch and R’ Dovid Mandel, based on the Torah lectures of their rebbeim) noted that the Ramban did not answer his question. The Torah says that Yocheved saw something special about Moshe and saved him. That implies that had she not seen something special she would not have saved him. Why not? Wouldn’t any mother try to save her child even without seeing something special? The answer is that the Ramban must be saying that the situation was so dire and so dangerous that other mothers were not trying to save their babies from Pharaoh’s decree. All the mothers had given up hope! They were at the point of despair and did not see any point in trying to save their babies! Had Yocheved not seen the house light-up with the birth of Moshe, she too would have given up hope! Hashem had to send Yocheved a special sign to motivate her to try to save baby Moshe.
It was this backdrop of feeling of despair which caused Amram to do something drastic before Moshe was conceived. The Talmud (Sotah 12A) says that Amram cried out, saying, “We are laboring for nothing by bringing children into the world to be killed.” The babies are ruthlessly being thrown into the river! Thereupon, Amram divorced his wife. When the word of this spread, the other Jewish men followed suit, also divorcing their wives. Amram’s daughter, little Miriam, questioned her father’s actions. The Talmud continues, that Miriam, said, “Father, your decree is harsher for the Jewish people than that of Pharaoh. Pharaoh decreed only about the males [that they should be drowned], but you decreed both on the males and on the females. And now no children will be born. Additionally, Pharaoh decreed to kill them only in this world, but you decreed in this world and in the World-to-Come, as those not born will not enter the World-to-Come.” This point is mentioned in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 110B). One sage says that every Jewish child who is born is automatically granted a share in the World to Come. Another sage, Ravina, says that even before a child is born, from the moment of conception, the child is granted a share in the World to Come. Miriam continued, “Regarding the wicked Pharaoh, it is uncertain whether his decree will be fulfilled, and it is uncertain if his decree will not be fulfilled. You [Amram] are a righteous person, and as such, your decrees will certainly be fulfilled (see Iyov 22:28).” Amram accepted his daughter’s words and remarried Yocheved in a public ceremony. All the other Jewish men who saw this followed Amram’s example and remarried their wives.
Rav Avrohom Pam zt”l explains that Amram felt the pain of his people. He arrived at the logical conclusion that there was no purpose in bringing children into a world where they would be drowned shortly after being born. Yet, his mercy was misplaced. By listening to Miriam and remarrying Yocheved, Amram had a son, the future Moshe Rabbeinu who would redeem the Jewish nation from Egypt. Had Amram not listened to Miriam’s advice, his act of “kindness” would have turned into “an act of cruelty of monumental proportions”. (Rav Pam on Chumash by Rabbi Sholom Smith)
Rav Pam zt”l says that we learn from this that a person cannot make his own cheshbonos, calculations. One must do all that Hashem commands him and leave the calculations to Hashem. Even well- intentioned decisions can lead to catastrophic errors. When faced with difficult situations in life, one should seek Torah guidance to help him properly deal with his issues.