The Weekly Shtikle - Shemos

After hiding Moshe for three months, Yocheved is forced to send her away for she can no longer hide him from the Egyptians. Rashi (2:3) writes that Moshe was born after six months of pregnancy and that is what gave Yocheved the three month period in which she was able to hide him. What bothered me about this Rashi is that the entire parsha, Rashi quotes from the gemara in Sotah that deals with this parsha. The gemara (12a) writes that Yocheved actually became pregnant before Amram divorced her and then he took her back three months later. The Egyptians made a mistake and counted from when Amram took her back. It seems quite clear from the gemara that Moshe was born after a nine month pregnancy but it was the three month error that the Egyptians made at the beginning of the pregnancy that gave her the time. For some reason, Rashi chose to neglect the gemara in Sotah and instead quote the Midrash HaGadol on this pasuk. Why?

 

     The Da'as Zekeinim MiBa'alei Tosafos seem to try to reconcile the two Midrashim that they are not actually arguing with one another but I don't quite see how it works. This question is dealt with in the sefer Rashi HaShaleim. They answer there that in the order of the pesukim, the conception of Moshe is recorded after Amram takes Yocheved. Therefore, it is in greater accordance with pshat to say like the Midrash HaGadol than like the gemara in Sotah.  

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikduian: Bas Paroah (Guess what I have to say about that!)
Dikduian: From the Children of the Hebrews
Dikduian: The Strange Thing about Straw
Dikduian: Affliction
Dikduian: Raamseis

Dikdukian: Random Dikduk from Shemos by Eliyahu Levin

AstroTorah: Reflections of the World, Klal Yisrael, and the Sky by R' Ari Storch

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