Muslim and Jewish Families Save Each Other, 50 Years Apart
5 min read
To enhance the significance of Israel’s descent into Egypt, we can reflect upon this Jewish teaching: “Every descent is for the sake of a greater ascent.” The descent acts as a springboard, to
launch upward that which is falling.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, takes this idea a step further. He explains that “the descent is in fact a necessary preparation for the ascent, and its ultimate purpose is the ascent—the descent is nothing other than a part of the ascent itself.” Through this spiritual lens, Israel’s exile down to Egypt can be viewed as the prelude to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Consider the life of Moshe. Born during Pharoah’s decree of male infanticide against all male Jewish babies, Moshe’s survival was against all odds. These were desperate times indeed. In what might be considered the first recorded act of civil disobedience, the midwives, Shifrah and Puah, whom many of our Sages identify as Moshe’s mother, Yocheved, and sister, Miriam, selflessly endangered their lives by boldly assisting Hebrew mothers to safely deliver their babies in defiance of Pharoah’s brutal decree.
As we know from the narrative, when she felt that she no longer could hide her baby, Yocheved negated her maternal instincts. She relinquished her infant son to Divine providence by placing Moshe in the Nile River inside a waterproof basket. As Miriam stood watching from a distance, an astounding occurrence took place. Pharoah’s daughter and her hand- maids appeared. In an unpredictable turn of events, Pharoah’s daughter rescued what was clearly an endangered Hebrew baby. Her own handmaid reprimanded her for blatantly transgressing the law Pharoah’s daughter listened to her conscience, thereby defying her father.
She…saw him, the child, and behold, a youth was crying.
A puzzling discrepancy comes to light in the wording of this verse. It first describes the three-month-old Moshe as ha’yeled, the child, and then speaks of naar, a youth. Every word in the Torah is deliberate, so how are we supposed to understand these words? Rashi explains that both terms refer to Moshe, who, although just a baby, had a cry that sounded like that of an older child. Baal Haturim, however, presents a fascinating counter-interpretation. He agrees that ha’yeled refers to Moshe, but proposes that the crying naar is actually Moshe’s older brother, Aharon (Aaron). He derives this from a gematria—a Kabbalistic method of revealing numerical correspondence between Hebrew words. The words naar bocheh, a youth was crying, are numerically equivalent to “Aharon Hakohen.”
This understanding presents a broader perspective through which past and present events connect. Two events, occurring many years apart, are profoundly connected in time. Yosef’s brothers threw him into a pit. As Yosef cried out, they chose not to listen, deafening their ears to his despair. This cruelty became the catalyst that led to Yosef’s, and later their own, descent into Egypt. By contrast, Aharon’s tearful response to his brother’s plight set off a parallel reaction from Above. Divine providence interceded, overriding the natural order of things. Now, we can better understand why Pharoah’s daughter appeared at just that time. We can perceive the hidden force that propelled her to boldly defy her father’s harsh decree. Without the cries of Aharon and the courage of Yocheved, Miriam, and Pharoah’s daughter, there may not have been a Moshe.
Eighty years later, we have another event that changed the course of history. Moshe, who years before had to flee Egypt after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave, had been shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks. He noticed a burning bush that was not being consumed by the fire. He said, “Let me turn away and go over there to behold this remarkable sight.” It was only after God saw that Moshe had turned aside to investigate that “He called to him from the midst of the bush.”
How often do we fail to see the obvious? We all have blind spots. Moshe could have walked on by, but instead, he changed his course. That singular action impacted history. Likewise, there are pivotal times in our lives when we’re given the choice of whether or not to change our direction. At times, a change may appear to be a setback, as when Yosef was sold into slavery or Moshe became a fugitive, fleeing for his life. But, as we can see from these examples, the setback may just be a setup for a greater purpose that takes time to be revealed.
Seeing beyond the status quo and taking action are characteristics that distinguished Moshe. These traits can also distinguish you and me. We easily can miss a lot of what’s going on around us. A plethora of distractions compete for our attention. How many unclaimed blessings have been calling our names? Perhaps we haven’t noticed them, even when they are in plain view. We all would like to enjoy immediate results from our efforts, but life is a process that unfolds over time.
Strive to find purpose, even while you wait. Challenge yourself to become more. When things seem down, know that tomorrow they could start to rise. If you should find yourself plagued by crisis or trauma and your faith is put to the test, try to remember: “Every descent is for the sake of a greater ascent.”
