You’re Not In This World For Yourself,

In this week’s parsha, the daughter of Pharaoh sees the basket of a little baby
floating in the Nile River and she unwittingly rescues the future leader of the
Jewish people. She calls him Moshe, which means that he was drawn from
the water. The Talmud tells us that Moshe’s biological mother, Yocheved,
had given him a number of beautiful names, yet the only name that stuck
was the one given him by the princess of Egypt. Why?
I once heard a homiletical insight from the distinguished Rabbi Berel
Wein in which he explains that the name Moshe impressed upon him that
he was a survivor. He was drawn from the water in which so many other
Jewish babies died, yet he alone survived. This realization inspired Moshe
to become the great leader of the Jewish people. He knew that if his life was
spared when so many others were lost, then that must mean that G-d had
a special mission for him – a unique purpose – to accomplish great things
for the Jewish people.
There is a great lesson here for all of us. All Jews who were born after the
Holocaust should consider themselves survivors. I could have been born
during the period of the Holocaust, yet G-d chose to bring my soul into
this world after that horror. Do you know why? Because I have a special
mission. So do you. We all do. And that mission is to use our talents and
abilities to build the Jewish people, for our sages tell us, “We were not put
into this world for ourselves. Rather, the purpose of our existence on this
Earth is to give to, and help, others.”
Wishing you an inspiring Shabbos,
Rabbi Moshe Gruenstein