Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
When baby Moshe is born, here’s how the Torah describes his mother’s reaction:
וַתַּ֥הַר הָאִשָּׁ֖ה וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן וַתֵּ֤רֶא אֹתוֹ֙ כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה֔וּא וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה יְרָחִֽים׃
The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And she saw that he was good, and she hid him for three months.
This line is surprising—isn’t it normal for a parent to think that their new baby is good? Why does the pasuk have to bother telling us about it? The commentaries suggest that Moshe’s mother must have noticed something unusually special about him.
כי טוב הוא. כְּשֶׁנּוֹלַד נִתְמַלֵּא הַבַּיִת כֻּלּוֹ אוֹרָה (סוטה י"ב):
When he was born, the whole room became filled with light. (Rashi was from France and lived about 1,000 years ago)
Think about Rashi:
- Back in Bereishit, “כִּי טוֹב (ki tov, it was good)” was a phrase used to describe every step of creation. And the first time it appeared was when God created light. How do you think that might influence Rashi's reading? (See Bereishit 1)
- What is the significance of comparing Moshe’s birth to the creation of the world?
ואם היה צועק לא היה אפשר לְצָפְנו, כי היה קולו נשמע מרחוק, ומפני שהיה טוב יָכְלָה לְצָפְנו.
If the baby had screamed, it would have been impossible to hide him, because his voice would have been heard from far away. It was because he was “good” that his mother was able to hide him.
Think about Shadal:
- All babies are good! But have you ever heard someone say, “she’s such a good baby”? What do they usually mean?
- How does the order of the words in our pasuk provide support for Shadal’s reading?
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