Too Many Jewish Males In Mitzrayim “Vayakutzu Mipnei Bnei Yisrael; The Mitzrim were disgusted with Bnei Yisrael,” (Shemos 1:12). The Ben Ish Chai asks, “Why is it that the Mitzrim were only disgusted with the male population and not the female?
He answers with the Gemara Brachos 60a that says that if the man is mazria first, the child that is conceived will be girl, but if the woman is mazria first, the child will be a boy. Since the men were weakened from all the back breaking labor that the Mitzrim forced them to do, the women were typically mazria first, and most of the burgeoning population was male. It was this explosion of baby boys that disgusted the Mitzrim.
“Furthermore,” says the Ben Ish Chai, “we see the Rishus of the Mitzrim who just wanted to torture the Jews and were less interested in the actual building. If the Mitzrim were unhappy with the amount of male born, they could have lightened the workload of the men which would have resulted in less boys and more girls. Yet the next pasuk says that despite the male tendency of the births, ‘Vayaavidu Mitzrayim Es Bnei Yisrael B’Farech,’ they continued to work them to the bone.”
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False Moshiach In Mitzrayim? When told by Hashem to go to Mitzrayim and take out Bnei Yisroel, Moshe Rabbeinu asks Hashem why Bnei Yisroel will believe that Hashem sent him. Hashem tells him to tell them “Pakod Pakaditi” which is the Siman of the true Go’el that was passed down from Yosef throughout the generations. The Ramban asks, if everyone knew this siman then it wasn’t much of a secret, so what guaranteed the integrity of the person saying it. Anyone can say it even an impostor?
He gives two answers. First that part of Hashem’s promise for the geula and the simanim was that no impostors would come. The first one that would come would be the true Go’el. Another answer he says is that this is the reason Moshe was cut off from his father’s house. Had he grown up by Amram, they would not have believed him, and they would have thought he knew the siman from his father. Growing up in Paroh’s palace and being exiled from Mitzrayim at a young age gave him credibility when he arrived fresh on the scene with the long awaited sign.
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The Torah Moves Fast Forward 60 Years In Mid Pasuk The Ramban says that between the time that Moshe ran away from Mitzrayim and the time he arrived at the well in Midyan, sixty years had elapsed. The Sefer HaMasiyos tells how Moshe became a powerful King in Kush and fought many wars. Yet the Torah doesn’t give the slightest hint to any of this. In fact the pasuk says Paroh wanted to kill Moshe and then, “Vayivrach Moshe Mipnei Paroh Vayeishev B’Eretz Midyan.” (Shemos 2:15). In one pasuk, in one breath, the Torah says he ran away from Mitzrayim and suddenly was in Midyan. Why the absolute total ignorance of these years?
Rav Michel Feinstein says that we see a very important lesson here. The Torah is about Nitzchiyus, eternity. Nothing that is not related to eternity is mentioned or even hinted. Every last story, word, and letter are eternal. Despite that half the life of our great hero Moshe was as a major world leader, it made no difference whatsoever as far as the nitzchiyus of Klal Yisrael was concerned, and therefore was omitted even in any subtle hint.
“We must realize,” says Rav Michel, “that when we come up to Shamayim the only thing that will be looked at are the things that contributed to our nitzchiyus. We may have been busy with great accomplishments during our life, but they will disappear in the eternal world. We will be quite saddened to come to Shamayim with only a tiny fraction of our lives that actually mattered.”
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Too Bad Avrohom Wasn’t Like Moshe After Moshe made his first appearance before Paroh which resulted in harder treatment for the Bnei Yisrael, Moshe complained to Hashem (Shemos 5:23), “Heira L’Am Hazeh V’Hatzel Lo Hitzalta; It has been bad for them and you haven’t saved them.” The Gemara in Sanhedrin states (111a) that Hashem answered back, “Chaval Diavdin V’lo Mistakchim.” Rashi explains that Hashem lamented his loss of the great Avos who heard worse news about the Galus and suffered more setbacks, yet didn’t utter a word of complaint.
The Kotzker Rebbe learns the opposite. Hashem said, “Chaval Diavdin V’lo Mistakchim.” it was a great loss that when I told the Avos about the Galus they were at a loss and did not stand up to complain like Moshe did. Had they done that, there may not even have been a Galus in the first place. “A true leader,” says the Kotzker Rebbe, “stands up bravely even against Hashem to save his people. And that is the way Hashem wants it.”
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Moshe Rabbeinu’s Three Tough Months When Moshe was born the Torah tells us (Shemos 2:2) “Vatitzpineihu Shlosha Yerachim; They hid him for three months.” Rashi explains that he was born six months after Amram and Yocheved remarried. so they had three months before the Mitzri came around to check if Yocheved has a baby.

Rav Shia’le of Belz offers another explanation: In the Midbar Bnei Yisrael complained about their diet of Man and wanted meat, Hashem told Moshe that He will bring them an abundance of meat. Moshe Rabbeinu then said to Hashem
(Bahalosecha 11:22) “Hatzon UBakar Yishachet Lahem…Im Es Kol Digei Hayam YeiAseif; that there are too many people to feed how will you bring all necessary sheep, cattle, and fish?” This comment was a kitrug on Moshe for the way he spoke.
Mosher Rabbeinu was born in Adar. The Mazal of Adar is Dagim or Fish. Nissan’s mazal is a sheep, and Iyar is a bull. Because Moshe questioned Hashem’s ability to feed Bnei Yisrael fish, sheep, and cows, the three corresonding months were dangerous months for Moshe and he needed to be hidden out of harm’s way.

Created By Rov Avrohom Sherman
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