Hi,

Hope you’re having a great day.

…Pharaoh has decreed that all newborn Jewish boys be thrown into the Nile River.

Amram and Yocheved have a baby boy.

Yocheved, his mother, hides him as long as possible.

Finally she puts him in a box and places it on the banks of the Nile.

And she hopes.  Maybe he’ll survive somehow.

… Pharaoh’s daughter goes to bathe in the Nile.  She sees the box and opens it.

The baby cries and she has pity on it.  “Its one of the Hebrew boys”!

And she raises him as her own son.  And calls him Moshe.  Moses.

“Because I drew him from the water.” (Exodus, 2:1-10)

… It’s 3000 years later.  And we still call him Moshe!

And in Jewish tradition, Moshe has other names.

But they’re not really used.

We use the name given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter.

… Because we need to remember her.  And appreciate what she did.

First?

She could have just “minded her own business”. 

After all.  She was “royalty”!  And this child was a “Hebrew”.

But she didn’t.  She got involved.

Second?

Think of her courage.

She defied her father.  The Pharaoh.  The absolute ruler.

Not a good idea in Ancient Egypt!

Pharaoh could have easily had her killed.

And would not have had to explain himself at a news conference the next day!

She deserves to be remembered!  And appreciated!

… And we need to remember her example.  And be inspired by it.

Because that’s our mission as Jews.

To stand for what’s right.  What’s moral.  No matter what!

That’s what Moshe taught us!

All the best,