Parshat Shemot5 min read

Moses Drawn From Water and the Three Who Led Israel Through the Wild

A crying child in a basket on the Nile became the redeemer of Israel. The rabbis followed the water from Pharaoh's river to Miriam's well to the desert clouds.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The River Chosen for Death
  2. A Princess Reached Across the Decree
  3. The Man Who Commanded the Water
  4. Water Follows the Redeemer Into the Desert

The River Chosen for Death

Pharaoh's decree had a simple geography: every Hebrew boy into the Nile. He was using the river that Egypt depended on for its own life as the instrument of Israel's dying. The water that grew the grain and watered the herds would also swallow the next generation. It was an elegant cruelty.

Jochebed worked against it with pitch and reeds. She built a small ark, the same word used for Noah's vessel, and she caulked it on the outside but not inside, so the smell would not distress the baby. According to the tradition in Legends of the Jews, she added a small canopy over him and whispered as she worked: perhaps I will not live to see him stand under a marriage canopy. The hedge of hope inside despair.

She did not place him on the Nile. She set him in the reeds at the water's edge. Miriam stayed on the bank. The future of Israel floated in a waterproofed basket between the reeds, three months after the decree, waiting for whatever would come next.

A Princess Reached Across the Decree

The Babylonian Talmud in Sotah 12b gives Pharaoh's daughter a purpose the Torah does not state directly. She came to the river not for bathing in the ordinary sense but to wash away the impurity of her father's household and his gods. Rabbi Yohanan, in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, says she was converting. The word for bathe, lirhotz, carries the same root used in Isaiah for the washing away of the daughters of Zion's filth, a purification, not a bath.

Her handmaidens tried to stop her from taking the basket. Her father's decree extended to his own household; even royalty did not defy a king's edict. The Talmud says an angel struck them dead for their resistance, all but one, because a princess should not be left entirely alone in the moment of her act. She sent her arm toward the basket and her arm stretched, the reach miraculous, longer than an arm should go. She opened the cover. The child wept.

That weeping mattered. Multiple traditions say she heard a divine voice inside the crying. She heard the full weight of the future in that one sound. And she named him Moshe because she drew him from the water, which means the name does not let the rescue stay private. He carries the river in his name for the rest of his life.

The Man Who Commanded the Water

Midrash Tehillim, reading Psalm 90, asks a riddle about Moses: the psalm calls him both a man of God and a man of flesh. When does he become which? The Midrash answers that he was called a god when he stood before Pharaoh with the authority of the divine voice behind his words, and simply a man when he fled that same court in fear. The water-drawn child becomes the man who commands water, and the man who commands water is still capable of flight. The infant who could not lift his own head out of the reeds grows into the figure who lifts his staff and splits the sea, and the same hand that the princess once stretched toward him now stretches over the deep.

Water Follows the Redeemer Into the Desert

Midrash Tanchuma on Bamidbar records God's rebuke to Israel when they complained about the desert: have I acted like a desert to you? When you left Egypt, I gave you leaders whose whole character was organized around provision. Moses brought water from the rock, striking the stone until it ran and the camp drank. Miriam's well, the portable miraculous spring that traveled with the camp, came in her merit, rolling from station to station so that no one thirsted while she lived. When Miriam died at Kadesh the well dried up, and the people cried for water again, their throats turning to the very desert God had asked them about. Aaron's clouds of glory, the seven clouds that surrounded the camp and smoothed the mountains before their feet, functioned in his merit, leveling the ground and shading the marchers from the Egyptian sun overhead. When Aaron died the clouds departed and the nations felt emboldened to attack.

Three leaders. Three gifts drawn from the same source as the basket on the Nile. The redeemer who began in water sustained his people with it across forty years, the rock answering his staff the way the reeds had once held his cradle. His death did not erase what the river had written in his name.

MosesMiriamAaronRedemptionWaterExodusWomen
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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Exodus 1:23, 2:1-10Torah (Masoretic Text)

And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying: Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall let live.

And a man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw him that he was good, she hid him three months.

And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and with pitch, and she put the child in it and laid it in the reeds by the bank of the river. And his sister stood far off, to know what would be done to him.

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside, and she saw the ark among the reeds and sent her handmaid to fetch it. And she opened it and saw the child, and behold, a boy was crying, and she had compassion on him and said: This is one of the Hebrews' children.

Then his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh: Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you? And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her: Go. And the young girl went and called the child's mother.

And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her: Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child and nursed it.

And the child grew, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said: Because I drew him out of the water.

Full source
Sotah 12bTalmud Bavli, Sotah

She placed him in a marsh, as it is written: “The reeds and willows [suf] shall wither” (Isaiah 19:6). The verse states: “And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe [lirḥotz] in the river” (Exodus 2:5). Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: This teaches that she came down to the river to cleanse herself from the impurity of her father’s idols, as she was immersing herself as part of the conversion process.

And similarly it states: “When the Lord shall have washed [raḥatz] away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of destruction” (Isaiah 4:4). This washing clearly refers to the purging of spiritual sins, rather than bathing for the sake of cleanliness. The verse continues: “And her maidens walked along [holekhot] by the riverside” (Exodus 2:5).

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This walking is nothing other than the terminology of going toward death, and similarly it states: “Behold, I am going [holekh] to die” (Genesis 25:32). The verse continues: “And she saw the ark among the willows” (Exodus 2:5). Once her maidens saw that the daughter of Pharaoh was intending to save Moses, they said to her: Our mistress, the custom of the world is that when a king of flesh and blood decrees a decree, even if all the world does not fulfill it, at least his children and members of his household fulfill it, and yet you are violating the decree of your father.

After the maidens tried to convince her not to save Moses, the angel Gabriel came and beat them to the ground and they died. The verse concludes: “And she sent amatah to take it” (Exodus 2:5). Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya disagree as to the definition of the word “amatah.” One says that it means her arm, and one says that it means her maidservant.

The Gemara explains: The one who says that it means her arm explained it in this manner, as it is written “amatah,” which denotes her forearm. And the one who says that it means her maidservant explained it in this manner because it does not explicitly write the more common term: Her hand [yadah]. Therefore, he understands that this is the alternative term for a maidservant, ama. The Gemara asks: And according to the one who says that it means her maidservant, didn’t you say earlier: Gabriel came and beat them to the ground and the maidservants died, so how could Pharaoh’s daughter send her?

The Gemara answers: It must be that Gabriel left her one maidservant, as it is not proper that a princess should stand alone. The Gemara asks: And according to the one who says that it means her hand, let the Torah write explicitly: Her hand [yadah]. Why use the more unusual term amatah? The Gemara answers: This verse teaches us that her arm extended [ishtarbav] many cubits.

As the Master said in another context: And similarly you find with regard to the hand of Pharaoh’s daughter that it extended, and similarly you find with regard to the teeth of evildoers, as it is written: “You have broken [shibbarta] the teeth of the wicked” (Psalms 3:8), and Reish Lakish said: Do not read the word as shibbarta, rather read it as sheribbavta, you have extended. The next verse states: “And she opened it and saw it [vatirehu], even the child” (Exodus 2:6).

The Gemara comments: The verse states: “And she saw it”; it should have stated: And she saw. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: In addition to Moses, she saw the Divine Presence with him. This is indicated by the usage of “saw it.” The verse states: “And saw it, even the child [yeled]; and behold a lad [na’ar] that wept” (Exodus 2:6).

The verse calls him “a child [yeled],” and the same verse calls him “a lad [na’ar].” A Sage teaches: He is the age of a child but his voice is as loud and deep as a lad; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Neḥemya said to him: If that is so, you made Moses our teacher blemished, since his voice was unusually deep. Rather, this teaches that his mother made a canopy of youth, i.e., a small canopy, for him in the ark, as she said: Perhaps I will not merit to see his wedding canopy.

The verse concludes: “And she had compassion on him, and said: This [zeh] is one of the Hebrews’ children” (Exodus 2:6). The Gemara asks: From where did she know that he was a Hebrew child? Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: As she saw that he was circumcised. The Gemara comments: The Pharaoh’s daughter said: “This [zeh] is one of the Hebrews’ children” (Exodus 2:6).

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This teaches that she prophesied unknowingly, as the intention of the word “zeh” was: This one falls, i.e., is cast, into the water, but no other will fall by means of water, for on that day Pharaoh’s decree was canceled. The Gemara explains: And this is what Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And when they shall say to you: Seek unto the necromancers and the diviners, that chirp [metzaftzefim] and that mutter [mahggim]” (Isaiah 8:19)?

The explanation of their chirping and muttering is: They see [tzofin], but they do not know what they are seeing; they enunciate [mahggim], but they do not know what they are enunciating. Although necromancers and diviners do have some insight into the future, they do not see clearly enough to understand what they are actually seeing. The Gemara applies this to Pharaoh: Pharaoh’s astrologers saw that the savior of the Jewish people would be stricken by water.

Therefore, they arose and decreed: “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river” (Exodus 1:22); they thought that their vision indicated that Moses would be killed in the water. Once Jochebed cast Moses into the water, although he was protected in an ark, the astrologers said: We no longer see in the stars anything like that sign we saw as to the downfall of the leader of the Jews by water, and therefore at that moment they canceled their decree.

But they did not know that what they saw foretold that Moses would be stricken on account of the waters of Meribah. They envisioned a downfall for Moses by water but didn’t fully comprehend their vision. And this is what Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “These [hemma] are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them” (Numbers 20:13)?

The verse indicates that these are the waters that the astrologers of Pharaoh saw and on account of which they erred. And this is what Moses said: “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot [ragli]; and yet You have said: I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month” (Numbers 11:21). Moses said to the Jewish people: On account of me, which is an alternative meaning of the word ragli, all of you were saved, as the decree to throw all males into the river was canceled on my account.

Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa says: That day that Moses was placed in the river was the twenty-first day of the month of Nisan. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, should the one who in the future will say the Song at the Red Sea on this day be stricken on this day? As this was also the date on which the Red Sea would be parted during the salvation of the Exodus.

Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina says: That day was actually the sixth day of the month of Sivan. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, should the one who in the future will receive the Torah on Mount Sinai on this day be stricken on this day? As this was also the date on which the Torah was received. The Gemara asks: Granted, according to the one who says that Moses was placed in the water on the sixth of Sivan, you find that there can be three months during which Moses was hidden after his birth; as the Master said (Tosefta 11:7): Moses died on the seventh of Adar, and Moses was born on the seventh of Adar.

And based on this, from the seventh of Adar until the sixth of Sivan there are three months, which correspond to the three months Moses was hidden before being placed in the water. But according to the one who says that it was on the twenty-first of Nisan, how can you find that he was hidden for three months? The Gemara answers: That year was a leap year in which there were two months of Adar. Moses was hidden most of the first month of the three, from the seventh day of the first Adar when he was born, and most of the last month of the three, i.e., all of Nisan until the twenty-first, and the entire middle one.

All of this together is considered as three months. The Gemara now discusses the next verse in Exodus: “Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter: Shall I go and call you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” (Exodus 2:7). The Gemara asks: And what is different that Pharaoh’s daughter would specifically want a nurse of the Hebrew women? The Gemara answers: This teaches that prior to this, they took Moses around to all the Egyptian wet nurses and he did not agree to nurse from any of them, as he said: Shall a mouth that in the future will speak with the Divine Presence actually nurse something impure?

And this is as it is written: “Whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make understand the message?” (Isaiah 28:9). The prophet is asking: To whom shall God teach the knowledge of the Torah, and to whom shall God make to understand the message of the Torah? The answer is as the verse continues: “Them that are weaned from the milk, them that are drawn from the breasts” (Isaiah 28:9).

The conclusion of the verse indicates that the Torah should be taught to the one who did not want to nurse from the milk of a gentile woman, i.e., Moses. The next verse states: “And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Go. And the maiden [ha’alma] went and called the child’s mother” (Exodus 2:8). Rabbi Elazar says: This teaches that she went quickly like a maiden, i.e., with the strength of one of marriageable age, and not as the young child that she was.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says: The word ha’alma is related to the word meaning to hide [le’alem], for she hid her words and didn’t tell Pharaoh’s daughter that she was bringing the baby’s mother. The next verse states what Pharaoh’s daughter said to Jochebed: “And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Take this [heilikhi] child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it” (Exodus 2:9).

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: Pharaoh’s daughter is prophesying and she does not know what she is prophesying, as the word heilikhi means: This is yours [ha shellikhi], i.e., this is your child. The next part of the verse states: “And I will give you your wages.” Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: This teaches that with regard to righteous people, not only is it so that God arranges that their lost items are returned to them, but He also arranges that they get their wages, as the son of Jochebed was returned to her and she also received payment for nursing him.

Elsewhere, the verse states with regard to Miriam: “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances” (Exodus 15:20). The Gemara asks: Why is Miriam referred to as “the sister of Aaron,” and not the sister of Moses? Rav Amram says that Rav says, and some say that Rav Naḥman says that Rav says: This teaches that Miriam already prophesied when she was still the sister of only Aaron, i.e., before Moses was born.

Full source
Legends of the Jews, IV. Moses In Egypt, Moses Rescued From The WaterLegends of the Jews

Pharaoh has decreed that all Hebrew baby boys must be killed. What's a mother to do? As Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) tells us, she takes matters into her own hands. She builds an ark – not a massive one like Noah's, but a small, carefully constructed basket made of bulrushes. She waterproofs it with pitch, but only on the outside, because she doesn't want the smell to bother the baby!

She even adds a tiny canopy over him, whispering, "Perhaps I shall not live to see him under the marriage canopy." A poignant wish, filled with both hope and heartbreaking uncertainty. And then, she does the unthinkable: she sets the ark afloat on the shores of the Red Sea.

She doesn't just abandon him completely. Miriam, Moses' sister, stays nearby, watching, waiting. Why? Because she had prophesied even before Moses' birth that her mother would give birth to the redeemer of Israel! According to Ginzberg, when Moses was born, the house filled with brilliant light. But when they were forced to abandon him, Amram, her father, questioned her prophecy. So Miriam is there, on the shore, to see how things unfold. It's a powerful image of faith and familial love mixed with a healthy dose of "I told you so."

The day Moses is set adrift is significant, by the way. It's the twenty-first of Nisan – the same day, years later, that the Israelites will sing a song of praise to God for their redemption from the sea. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, the angels themselves question God: "Will the one destined to sing Your praises for being rescued from the sea find his death in the sea today?" God, of course, knows the whole story.

Meanwhile, God sends a scorching heat upon the Egyptians, afflicting them with leprosy and boils. Thermutis, Pharaoh's daughter, seeks relief in the waters of the Nile. But there's more to it than just physical discomfort. She is also seeking to cleanse herself from the impurity of the idol worship in her father's palace. When she spots the little ark bobbing in the water, she orders her handmaids to retrieve it.

But here's where things get really interesting. The handmaids protest! "Do you desire to transgress your father's edict?" they ask. Immediately, the angel Gabriel appears and, shall we say, persuades them to be quiet. by burying them in the earth! Only one handmaid is spared to assist the princess. Thermutis, now acting on her own, reaches for the ark. Though it's sixty ells away (that's quite a distance!), her arm miraculously lengthens, and she grabs it.

The moment she touches the ark, her leprosy vanishes! It's a sign, a clear indication that something extraordinary is happening. When she opens the ark, she's astonished to find a beautiful baby boy, radiating with the Shekinah – the divine presence. She notices the sign of the Abrahamic covenant and knows he's a Hebrew child.

Initially, she hesitates, remembering her father's decree. But then, Gabriel gives the baby a good pinch, and he cries out with a voice like a young man. Touched by his cries, and perhaps feeling a divine nudge, Thermutis decides to save him.

She orders an Egyptian woman to nurse the child, but Moses refuses. He won't take milk from any of them! Why? Because, as Ginzberg explains, God ordained that none of them should later boast, "I suckled him who speaks with the Shekinah." The mouth destined to speak with God would not draw nourishment from an unclean source.

Enter Miriam, as if by chance. She suggests, "Why not try a Hebrew woman? He might accept her breast, seeing she is of his own nation." Thermutis agrees, and Miriam, quick as a wink, brings back her own mother – Jochebed! The baby latches on immediately. The princess, unknowingly speaking a prophecy, tells Jochebed, "Here is what is thine." She hires her to nurse the boy, unknowingly paying her own mother to care for her own child.

What a moment of divine irony! Jochebed is rewarded for her bravery in defying Pharaoh's command by being reunited with her son and paid to care for him. And by placing Moses in danger, Amram and Jochebed unintentionally caused Pharaoh to rescind his decree against the Hebrew children.

The story doesn't end there. The astrologers tell Pharaoh that the danger threatening the Egyptians from a boy destined to be killed by water has passed. So, Pharaoh calls off the drowning of the Hebrew boys. They think they know what’s going on, but they don't understand the full picture. As Ginzberg points out, the water that will be Moses' doom isn’t the Nile. It's the waters of Meribah – the waters of strife – that will ultimately lead to his death in the desert, before he can lead his people into the Promised Land.

Pharaoh, misled by his astrologers, even ordered the drowning of Egyptian boys born during the same period, trying to be extra sure! But because of Moses' merit, all six hundred thousand Hebrew boys born that night were miraculously saved.

So, what are we left with? A story of faith, courage, divine intervention, and a healthy dose of irony. Moses' rescue from the water is more than just a dramatic tale; it's a evidence of the power of faith, the resilience of the human spirit, and the often-unforeseen ways in which God works in our lives. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What "arks" are we building, what prophecies are we upholding, and what unexpected deliverances might be waiting just around the corner?

Full source
Midrash Tanchuma, Bamidbar 2Midrash Tanchuma

(Numb. 1:1:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert.” This text is related (to Jer. 2:31), “0 generation, understand the word of the Lord, ‘Have I been a desert for Israel or a land of thick darkness?’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “Because you said to Moses (in Numb. 21:5), ‘Why did you bring us up from Egypt to die in the desert?’ (Jer. 2:31:) ‘Have I been a desert for Israel?’ Did I act like a desert to you? Is it customary for a king of flesh and blood, when he leaves for the desert, [to find] easy living [there] just like that which he had found in his palace, either [palace] food or [palace] drink? However, when you were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and when I brought you out from there, I had you lie down on couches, as it states (Exod 13:18), ‘And the Lord made the people circumvent (Vayasev) through the desert.’” What is [the meaning of] ”circumvent?” It teaches that He made them recline in the way that kings dine (mesavin), reclining upon their beds. “And I did not even bring three fleas to trouble you. And I even raised up three redeemers for you to serve you, as stated (in Micah 6:4), ‘and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.’” Through their merit, Israel was able to travel. Through the merit of Moses there was manna, as stated (Deut. 8:3), “And He subjected you to hunger [and then gave you manna to eat].” Through the merit of Aaron I surrounded you in clouds of glory, as stated (Exod. 13:21), “And the Lord went in front of them during the day [in a pillar of cloud. And it is written (in Ps. 105:39), “He spread a cloud for a cover.” There were seven clouds: one from above, one from below, one from each of the four directions, and one going before them. [That last one] smote snakes and scorpions, leveled the mountains and valleys for them, and burned the thornbushes so that they sent up smoke. When all the kings of the East and West saw this, the peoples of the world said (in Cant. 3:6), “Who is this that comes up from the desert [like columns of smoke]?” It is also written (in Deut. 29:4), “your clothes did not wear out from upon you.” In the case of a baby, all the time that it was growing, its garments and clothes were growing along with it. Now the well [came] through the merit of Miriam, who uttered a song by the waters [of the Reed sea]. R. Berekhyah the Priest said in the name of R. Levi, “[The matter is comparable to] a king of flesh and blood who has a province. So he sends high ranking people into its midst to conduct their affairs and administer their justice. Who has to be responsible for their maintenance? Do not the people of the province have to be responsible for their maintenance? But the Holy One, blessed be He, did not act like that. Instead he sent out Moses, Aaron, [and Miriam], as stated (in Micah 6:4), ‘and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.’” Thus through their merit, Israel was sustained. The manna was through the merit of Moses. You yourself know that it is so. When Moses passed away, what is written (in Josh. 5:12)? “The manna ceased on the next day (i.e., the day after Moses died).” The clouds of glory [came] through the merit of Aaron. You yourself know that it is so. When Aaron passed away, what is written (in Numb. 21:4)? “But the temper of the people grew short on the way,” because the sun was shining down upon them (without a cloud cover). And the well [came] through the merit of Miriam, since it is stated (in Numb. 20:1-2), “and Miriam died there and was buried there. Now the congregation had no water.” And how was [the well] constructed? Like a kind of boulder or a type of hive or a type of ball. It rolled along and came with them on the journeys. When the standards [for each tribe] came to rest and the tabernacle arose, the rock would come and settle down in the court of the tent of meeting. Then the princes would stand beside it and say (in the words of Numb. 21:17), “Rise up, O well”; and the well would rise up. After that, I brought them quails (cf. Numb. 11:31). (Jer. 2:31:) “Have I been a desert for Israel?” Have I treated you like a desert? (Ibid., cont.) “Or a land of utter darkness?” Did not I become a light for you, a light by My own glory? It is so stated (in Exod. 13:21:) “And the Lord went….” Another interpretation (of Jer. 2:31): What is the meaning of “utter darkness? Have I [ever] said to you that I am bringing a benefit and delayed it? Utter darkness (rt. 'pl) can only be a term of delay, as it is used (in Exod. 9:32), “But the wheat and the spelt were not hurt, because they ripen late (i.e., are delayed: rt. 'pl).” Joshua said (in Josh. 21:45), “Not a thing has failed (npl) of any good thing which the Lord (your God) promised unto (you); it all came to you.” [And how are we to understand the rest of the verse] (in Jer. 2:31), “why did my people say, ‘we have let loose (radnu - rt. rwd)’?” What is the meaning of “radnu?” The word is mishnaic (as in ter. 10:3), “one who removes (rwdh) a hot loaf�� (adhering to an oven). They (i.e., Israel) said, “When the bread is baked in the oven and is taken out of it, can it stick to the oven again? Now we in Jerusalem were as in an oven, as stated (in Is. 31:9), ‘says the Lord, who has a fire in Zion and has an oven in Jerusalem.’ Now You exiled us to Babylon. ‘What do you still want from us?’” [That is the meaning of] (Jer. 2:31:), “why did my people say, ‘radnu’” (i.e., he has already removed us from the oven of Jerusalem). Another interpretation (of Jer. 2:31), “why did my people say, ‘radnu?” What [is the meaning of] “radnu (rt. rwd)?” Compare what is said (in I Kings 5:4), “For he subjugated (rwdh) everything beyond the river (i.e., West of the Euphrates), from Tipsah to Gaza.” They said to [the Holy One, blessed be He,], “You have destroyed for us the sanctuary, and You have taken away your Divine Presence from us. ‘Now what do You still want from us?’” (Jer. 2:31) [Why did my people say, “He has dominion over us (radnu)]”; He said to them, “Would that I were now in the desert, where I did those miracles for you.” And so does it state (in Jer. 9:1), “Would that I were in the desert, at an inn for wayfarers….” Where? Where I was praised, as stated (in Is. 42:11), “Let the desert and its cities lift up [their voice].” [The matter] is comparable to a prince who entered a metropolis. When the inhabitants of the metropolis saw him, they fled. He entered a second one, and [again] they fled from him. He entered into another city that was ruined (harevah); and when the inhabitants saw him, they praised him. That prince said, “This city is better than all the metropolises. Here I will build myself a lodging place; here I will dwell.” Similarly, when the Holy One, blessed be He, came to the sea, it fled from Him, as stated (in Ps. 114:3), “The sea saw [Him] and fled.” He revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, [it also] fled, as stated (in Ps. 114:4), “The mountains danced like rams.” When he came to the desert wasteland (harevah), it received Him and praised Him, as stated (in Is. 42:11), “Let the desert and its cities lift up [their voice].” He said, “This city is better than all of the cities. Here I will build a lodging place.” When He came down into its midst, they began rejoicing, because the Holy One, blessed be He, was dwelling in their midst, as stated (in Is. 35:1), “The desert and the arid land shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice and blossom like a crocus.”

Full source
Midrash Tehillim 90:3Midrash Tehillim

Midrash Tehillim (a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms) poses a seemingly simple question about the opening of Psalm 90, traditionally ascribed to Moses: "A prayer for Moshe, the man of God." If he's a man, why call him God? And if he's God, why call him a man? It's a question designed to make us pause and consider the complexities of this towering figure in Jewish history.

The Midrash offers a series of intriguing answers, each painting a different facet of Moshe's many-sided nature.

Consider this: when Moshe stood before Pharaoh, demanding the release of the Israelites, he acted with such authority that, as it says in (Exodus 7:1), God said, "See, I have made you a god for Pharaoh." Yet, when he fled from Pharaoh's wrath, he was simply a man, vulnerable and seeking refuge.

Or think about the miraculous events surrounding his birth and early life. According to the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), when he was cast into the Nile, he was a helpless man. But when he turned the water to blood, one of the ten plagues, he was acting with divine power. He was, in that moment, God-like.

There's another interpretation, too. When Moshe ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the teachings, he seemed to transcend human needs. As (Exodus 16:15) says, the Israelites questioned "What is the manna?", this mysterious substance God provided. Moshe himself didn't eat or drink. But when he descended and rejoined the human world, he ate and drank like everyone else. Was he divine, or simply human?

Rabbi Avin offers a particularly striking image: "From his waist down, he was called a man." What does that even mean? Perhaps it's a commentary on his physical needs, his grounding in the earthly realm.

Rabbi Elazar of Metropolia, however, suggests that Moshe's unique quality lies in his relationship with God. He was called “the man of God” because, as (Deuteronomy 33:21) says, "He performed the Lord's righteous acts and his ordinances with Israel." He wasn’t just a messenger; he actively engaged with God, even arguing about the strictness of the law! Rabbi Elazar points to (Numbers 11:15), where Moshe, overwhelmed by the burden of leadership, cries out, "If you will deal thus with me, kill me!" It’s a raw, human moment, yet it speaks to the depth of his commitment to God's will.

The Midrash continues, highlighting Moshe's role as a judge, "He executed the judgment of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 33:21). He wasn't afraid to challenge even the attribute of justice. The text references (Numbers 16:30), when Korach and his followers rebelled. Moshe declared, "If it is through creation, let the Lord create." He was saying: if a new form of punishment is needed, so be it.

The Midrash emphasizes that no one spoke against the attribute of justice like Moshe. Remember the episode with the Golden Calf? God, in his anger, threatened to destroy the Israelites and start anew with Moshe. But Moshe pleaded, "Please forgive them." And what was God's response? "I have forgiven them as you have spoken" (Numbers 14:20). Moshe's intercession, his willingness to stand up for his people, even against divine wrath, is a evidence of his unique position.

So, was Moshe a man or God? The answer, according to Midrash Tehillim, is both. He was a man elevated by his relationship with God, a leader who embodied both human frailty and divine power. He was a bridge between heaven and earth, a evidence of the potential within each of us to strive for something greater. He was Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our Teacher, and his story continues to challenge and inspire us to this day. What does it mean to be both human, and to strive for something transcendent? It's a question worth pondering, isn't it?

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