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, mind you, 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! Talk about attention to detail.
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.
But 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 testament to 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?