To his right sits his queen, Alfar’anit. And to his left? His daughter, Bithiah, with a three-year-old Moses on her lap. Now, this isn’t just any toddler. In a moment of pure, unfiltered toddler audacity, Moses reaches up, snatches the crown right off Pharaoh's head, and plops it on his own!

Can you imagine the scene? Gasps ripple through the room. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, the king and his princes were "terrified." What does it all mean?

Enter Balaam, son of Beor, the resident advisor with a dark agenda. He whispers in Pharaoh’s ear, reminding him of a past dream, interpreted as a warning about a Hebrew child. Balaam suggests this is that child, a Hebrew boy with the "spirit of God," deliberately trying to seize the kingdom. He paints a picture of the Hebrews as cunning deceivers, citing examples from their patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Each, in Balaam’s telling, schemed and manipulated to gain power and land. He even brings up Joseph, who, though he saved Egypt, ultimately "made slaves of all its inhabitants."

The stakes are high. Balaam urges Pharaoh to spill Moses’ blood, lest he grow up and usurp the throne. A chilling proposal, right?

So, Pharaoh calls in the wise men of Egypt, seeking their counsel. But here’s the twist: Gabriel himself, yes, the archangel Gabriel, disguises himself as one of the wise men! As we find in Midrash Rabbah, divine intervention is often hidden in plain sight.

Gabriel proposes a test. Place an onyx stone and a burning coal before the child. If Moses reaches for the stone, it proves he acted with intention, and therefore, should be killed. But if he grabs the coal, it was an innocent, childish act.

Tension hangs in the air. The stone and the coal are presented. Moses reaches for the gleaming onyx. But then, bam! Gabriel intervenes, guiding Moses’ hand to the burning coal. The coal sears his hand, and instinctively, Moses brings his hand to his mouth, burning his lips and tongue. This, legend says, is why Moses later becomes "slow of speech and of a slow tongue."

Because of the burn, Pharaoh and his princes conclude that Moses acted without knowledge. He is spared. But the story doesn't end there.

God, who protected Moses, "turned the king's mind to grace," and Bithiah, his foster mother, ensures he receives the best education. The Hebrews, according to Ginzberg, see him as a beacon of hope, while the Egyptians remain wary.

Moses excels in his studies, surpassing even his teachers. But the most remarkable thing? He transformed his own character. He took an "originally evil disposition" and molded it into something noble.

Years later, after the Exodus, a king of Arabia commissions a portrait of Moses. But when he shows it to his physiognomists – experts in reading character from faces – they declare it depicts a covetous, haughty, sensual man! Outraged, the king confronts Moses, who reveals a profound truth: He was all those things, by nature. But through sheer force of will, he overcame those impulses and became the man he was destined to be.

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How much of our destiny is predetermined, and how much is shaped by our own choices? Moses’ story is a powerful reminder that even with divine intervention, the struggle to become our best selves is a journey we must undertake ourselves.