EXOD25 See [[EXOD18]] Exodus 1:17 fearing TELVOL1 488

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EXOD26 The most famous non-Israelite villain in the Torah is the unnamed Pharaoh of Egypt, who launches a campaign to drown all male Israelite infants at birth [this verse]. Yet the Bible does not want the Israelites to hate all Egyptians. Indeed, one of its commandments states, "You shall not a abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land" Deuteronomy 23:8. As a reminder to Israelites not to let their antagonism toward Pharaoh escalate into dislike of all Egyptians, the Bible teaches that the infant Moses was saved by the daughter of the very Pharaoh who issued the order to kill the Hebrew babies. There is perhaps no stronger repudiation of racism in the Bible than this; the man who tried to destroy the Israelites was thwarted in his plan by his own daughter. Pharaoh was evil, but his daughter was righteous.

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EXOD27 See [[EXOD2]] Exodus 1:1 came AMEMEI 69-70

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EXOD28 [continued from [[EXOD3]] Exodus 1:1 AMJV 193-4] But unlike those other families, now divided, their young daughter Miriam convinced her parents Amram and Yocheved to reunite. It was this reunification of the family which resulted in the subsequent birth of Moses, which in turn symbolized and began the redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. [Continued at [[EXOD132]] Exodus 10:10 no AMJV 194].

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EXOD29 In his Commentary on [this verse], [Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164)] remarks on the significance of Moses' having grown up in freedom in the house of Pharaoh and not as a slave in the house of bondage: owing to the education he received in the palace and the habits he acquired there, his soul was "on the highest rank" and not "lowly" as are the souls of slaves. Moses' noble morality is already exemplified at a young age, when on two occasions (Exod 2:11-12, 15-17) he physically interceded against those who were acting with violence [hamas]. Similarly, Ibn Ezra remarks, Moses' verbal intervention in the fight between the two Hebrews [this verse] was motivated by his desire to prevent violence. These comments about Moses' "high soul" and bold actions bring to mind Nietzsche's views on master morality versus slave morality in his Genealogy of Morals. However, while Nietzsche's master acts egocentrically on the basis of values he has created by his own will, Ibn Ezra's Moses acts altruistically in order to prevent oppressors from doing violence to others. It is Moses' determination to save victims from the violence of their oppressors that, according to Ibn Ezra, qualified him to liberate the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. (By Warren Zev Harvey, “Ethical Theories among Medieval Jewish Philosophers”)

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EXOD30 Why "reeds" [a relatively inferior material]? R. Elazar said: From here it is derived that the righteous value their money more than their lives [or, in this case, more than the lives of their children]. And why so? For they do not stretch forth their hands to steal. R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said: Because reed is pliable and can withstand both soft and hard objects. (Sotah 12a)

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EXOD31 "As one measures, so is it measured under him." Miriam waited for her brothers; for this reason, the Jews waited for her in the desert, as it is written (Numbers 11:15): "And the people did not journey until Miriam had been taken back." And "The good measure [i.e.., that of reward for the first measure] is greater," for she waited for a short time, whereas the Jews waited seven days for her (Sotah 9b, 11a).

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EXOD32 Don't condemn children because of their parents' misdeeds. Few people will acknowledge acting in so unfair a manner, yet it is very common in traditional Jewish circles to greatly emphasize yichus (lineage) when considering marital prospects for oneself or one's children. Thus, families in which a scandal has occurred often find it difficult to make a match. The Bible repeatedly warns against making a child suffer for a parent's sins. Jeremiah prophesies that a criterion of a better world is that children no longer suffer because of the misdeeds of their parents: "In those days, they shall no longer say, 'Parents have eaten sour grapes, and their children's teeth are set on edge'" Jeremiah 31:29 – 30 [The character of the parents is certainly not an infallible indicator of the child's character. There are few more evil figures in the Bible then the Pharaoh of the opening chapter of Exodus, who decreed the drowning of the male Israelite infants. Yet it was this Pharaoh's daughter who, out of compassion, defied her father's decree and saved the life of the infant Moses. Later the Bible describes King Josiah, who ruled over Judah from 640 to 609 B.C.E. in superlative terms: "There was no king like him before who turned back to the Lord with all his heart and soul and might, in full accord with the teaching of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him" II Kings 23:25. Yet Josiah's father was King Amon, a morally debased figure, and his grandfather was King Manasseh, whom the Bible regarded as singularly wicked, and a man who sacrificed one of his sons in fire II Kings 23:25. Conversely, the Bible relates that the priest Eli, a highly righteous man, raised two sons who were scoundrels I Samuel 2:12-17.] Continued at [[EXOD1040]] Exodus 34:7 TELVOL1 87

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EXOD33 We must feel the suffering of others, even when it means a loss of personal pleasure. … Rashi sites the Midrash Shmos Rabbah 1 which states that Moshe set his eyes and heart to be grieved for his brothers. This is the first incident that the Torah relates about Moshe. The Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, and Moshe, adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, grew up in the Royal Palace surrounded by luxury. He personally was saved from the suffering and anguish experienced by the rest of his people and benefited from the opulence of his surroundings. But herein lies Moshe's greatness: he could have forsaken his people and chosen a life of material comforts; instead, he went out among his people and "set his heart to be grieved for them." He did not merely feel sympathy for their plight and then forget them. He intentionally went out of his way to feel the pain of their suffering to the degree that he could feel his own. This, says the Midrash, was what merited Moshe the right to the leadership of the Jewish people and to be chosen as the emissary who would receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. He risked his life and gave up his privileged status as a member of the royal family to save him (Verse 12). We must learn from Moshe to care about the suffering of others, even if it means sacrificing our personal pleasure. Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv in Chochmah Umussar, vol. 1, essay 1 and 99.

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EXOD34 The Torah holds the scales equally balanced between rich and poor, employer and employed; but it is clear that the heart of the Lawgiver was with the oppressed labourer. Did he not himself leave a royal palace in order to go out and relieve his people from their burdens? [this verse] No less than seventy times does the word 'ani (poor man) occur in the Bible (with evyon "needy man") a close second with sixty-one)--an indication that the needs of the poor were uppermost in the mind of the Lawgiver. No Socialist ever denounced more trenchantly than did our prophets the evils of their times, thundering against the grinding of the poor in the violence and immorality committed by the rich. [See especially Amos ii. 6-16 et passim; Is. iii. 14-15; Jer. xxii. 13ff; Job xxiv. 2-11] In education, the children of the poor would be given first consideration, for from them would scholarship emerge. [Ned. 81a] Even the Messiah, according to one Rabbi, [Exodus R. xxii] will be found among the ragged poor. When God was asked by Israel: "Who are Thy people?" The answer they received was "The poor".

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