The pasuk says in this week's parashat Shemot, וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה מַה־יֵּעָשֶׂה -לוֹ Simply, this refers to Miriam, Moshe's older sister, who was standing by watching what would happen to him when he was put into the Nile River. Rabbi Menashe Reizman quoted the Midrash which explains that this pasuk is referring to the Shechinah, standing there watching from afar. The Midrash proves from other pesukim how every word in that pasuk is a reference to the Shechinah. The Maharsha, Masechet Sotah, explains the Midrash is teaching us that although Moshe being thrown into the river seemed like an act of destruction, the ways of Hashem are very far from us. Miriam had a prophecy that the savior was going to be born, and this looked like a nullification of that prophecy. However, this was actually the way in which the prophecy became fulfilled. It was through this that Moshe was raised safely in the palace by the daughter of Pharoah. It also teaches us that although this took place when the harshest slavery began, it appeared that Hashem was so distant, but He was right there standing with them. During their darkest time, Hashem was making the greatest miracles—causing the daughter of Pharoah to go down to the Nile at the exact time Moshe was placed there, and then making the miracle of her arm stretching out to reach him. Rabbi Reizman pointed out that the Torah only devotes six pesukim to discussing all of the slavery in Mitzrayim. Right after that, begins the story of the redemption—how Moshe was born and how he became the go'el. Even the pesukim that speak about the throwing of the babies into the Nile mention Miryam and Yocheved, the mother and sister of the go'el. Perhaps one explanation of this is that we are not meant to dwell too much on the difficulties that we are given. It is hard for us to comprehend how pain and suffering could possibly be good for us, and therefore it is incumbent upon us not to analyze the details too deeply, but rather to trust in Hashem. When Hashem called to Moshe from the burning bush, the pasuk says that Moshe was afraid to look. Hashem appeared to Moshe in a thorn bush, symbolizing עִמּוֹ אָנֹכִי בְצָרָה -He was with us during that hard time. Moshe did not see all the harsh slave labor because he was in Midyan. The Mefarshim explain that here Hashem began showing Moshe the suffering that the Jewish people were going through, but Moshe was afraid to look because he did not want to lower his level of emunah and potentially have questions on the way Hashem was dealing with them. One of the harshest decrees was that Pharoah was killing 150 babies every morning and another 150 every evening, bathing in their blood because he had tzara'at. When Moshe heard about this, along with the fact that Jewish babies were being built into the walls as bricks, he asked Hashem what they did to deserve this. Hashem told Moshe that all of those babies were from previous generations and were receiving their tikkun. It was all chesed, meant to purify them. Hashem told Moshe that if he really wanted, he could save one—and Moshe did. That one baby-Micha- brought about the worst destruction. He was the one who took the Shem Hashem that Moshe used to bring Yosef's aron out of the sea, threw it into the fire when the Jews were waiting for Moshe to come down from Har Sinai, and caused the Egel(golden calf) to emerge alive. Until today, we are still suffering from the effects of the Egel. He later made an idol when they entered Eretz Yisrael, causing countless tragedies to befall the Jewish people. He was also known as Nevat, the father of Yeravam, who caused the exile of the Ten Tribes. That destruction came from just one of those babies. The Lev Aryeh writes that all those who perished in Mitzrayim were neshamot from earlier generations that returned for a tikkun—the generations of the Mabul, Dor HaPelagah, and the people of Sedom. The Mishnah says in Pirkei Avot, אַל תִּסְתַּכֵּל בַּקַּנְקָן אֶלָּא בְּמַה שֶּׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ (Avot 4:20) The Lev Aryeh explains homiletically that this also refers to the tragedies in Mitzrayim. The word קן has the numerical value of 150. Do not look at what happened to the 150 babies in the morning and the 150 babies in the evening; rather, look at who those people really were—resha'im who needed a tikkun. Hashem is always standing near us, but He appears to be afar because His ways are so far beyond our understanding. Everything He does is chesed. We do not have the ability to comprehend His ways in this world, but we do have the ability to trust in Him. We should not dwell excessively on the difficulties; rather, we should believe that everything is chesed done out of love. And if we have that emunah, then we will be considered people who are truly loyal. Shabbat Shalom
