The Weekly Shtikle - Shemos

This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father.

Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos.

 

Most young children are already familiar with the epic story of Moshe being placed in a basket and ultimately being retrieved by Paroah's daughter. I had always understood that Yocheved placed the basket in the river such that it would be carried downstream, come what may, as Miriam kept watch. However, a number of different nuances in the pesukim have led me to believe otherwise.

 

Yocheved places the basket in the suf, the reeds. That's not really where one would but a basket for the purpose of moving down the river. It would be quite likely to stay in place. Da'as Zekeinim writes that the gomé was used because it looked similar to the reeds and provided camouflage. Rashba"m writes further that Yocheved was trying to hide the basket among the reeds.

 

I'm therefore led to believe that perhaps Yocheved was not necessarily intending to part ways with her baby. Perhaps they knew what times of day the Egyptians came around to check for children had the baby hidden during those times. It's unclear exactly what the plan would have been. But the last clue that leads me down this line of thinking is the description of Miriam's task. Vateisatzav – Miriam stationed herself in one place. If the basket were floating down the Nile, one would expect that she would have to follow along. Rather, it seems the basket was meant to stay in place while she kept watch from afar.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikduian: Bas Paroah
Dikduian: From the Children of the Hebrews
Dikduian: The Strange Thing about Straw
Dikduian: Affliction
Dikduian: Raamseis

Dikduian: Dikduk Observations on Shemos by Eliyahu Levin

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