Weekly Dvar Torah: Moshe and the Nile

When Pharaoh heard that the redeemer of the Jewish people was being born, he decreed that all male newborns should be thrown into the Nile river.

When Moshe (Moses) was born, his mother, Yocheved, placed him in a basket and left him floating in the Nile.

What was Pharaoh’s message by throwing children in the Nile?

How did it help to place Moses in a basket to float on top of the Nile river?

The idea of Egypt is absolute materialism, the denial of G-d as the master of the universe, that’s why the Egyptians worshipped the Nile as their god.

In Egypt, they had no rain from the sky, their source to irrigate the land was the Nile, and all their needs drew sustenance from the river, so they turned the Nile into their god.

When Pharaoh realized that the Jewish redeemer was being born, he knew that he will shepherd them out of Egypt, and he will take them to worship G-d and look up to G-d, this was the greatest challenge to his ideology of worshipping the source of life down below.

Pharaoh believed that life and sustenance come from below, Jews knew that life and sustenance come from above.

So Pharaoh decreed that the Jewish leader should be thrown into the Nile, so he too will drown in the false god of Egypt, this way the Jewish G-d will no longer be a threat to Egypt.

What did Yocheved do? She placed Moshe in a basket, so even when in the Nile, he is still floating on top, even when in danger, and in the lowest of places, yet he is higher and above the Egyptian god.

A Jew knows that everything is from G-d, even when forced to be involved with worldly matters, even when he needs to go to work to earn a living, and at times it may seem like sustenance comes from material sources, he prays to G-d, because it’s G-d’s blessing that ultimately sustains him.

This was the mission of Moshe, the faithful shepherd, who in addition to being dedicated and faithful, he also fed his flock, the Jewish people, with faith, he fed them faith in G-d.

This was the total opposite to the weltanschauung of Pharaoh, to Pharaoh god was below, everything comes from the Nile, to a Jew G-d is above, and everything comes from heaven.

A Jew prays and asks for rain from the heavens, Pharaoh worships the Nile to overflow from below.

Pharaoh wanted to drown the children below in the god of the Nile, and Moshe will feed the Jews faith in the G-d from above, so get rid of Moshe by drowning him in the Nile, the god of Egypt.

Yocheved outsmarted Pharaoh by placing Moshe in a basket, so even while in the Nile, he will still be floating above the Nile, even down there he rises higher and reaches out to G-d.

A Jew knows, that even when exiled in Egypt, where the Nile is god, he always looks up to G-d, and even in Egypt he gets his sustenance and survival from G-d.

And Moshe kept the Jews afloat during the exile, and finally he became the redeemer who took them out of Egypt altogether.

Do what you need in this world because G-d commanded us to elevate the world by using it, and have faith that you will succeed.

And when we elevate the world, we will merit the ultimate redemption with the Moshiach the final redeemer, who will take us out from exile speedily in our days.

Have a redeeming Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Yosef Katzman