A basket among the reeds, and Pharaoh’s daughter, who opens it to find a crying child.
The story
A man from the house of Levi marries a daughter of Levi. The woman conceives and gives birth to a son. She sees that he is good, and hides him for three months.
When she can no longer hide him, she takes a papyrus basket for him, coats it with pitch and places the child inside. She sets the basket among the reeds at the edge of the Nile. His sister stands at a distance, to know what will be done to him.
Pharaoh’s daughter goes down to the Nile to bathe, while her young women walk along the riverbank. She sees the basket among the reeds and takes it. She opens it and sees the child, and he is crying. She has pity on him and says, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
וַתֵּרֶא אֶת־הַתֵּבָה בְּתוֹךְ הַסּוּף
Shemot 2:5
His sister asks Pharaoh’s daughter if she may go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for her. Pharaoh’s daughter answers, “Go.” His sister goes and calls the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter tells her to take the child and nurse him for her, and promises to pay her. The woman takes the child and nurses him.
וַאֲנִי אֶתֵּן אֶת־שְׂכָרֵךְ
Shemot 2:9
The child grows, and the woman brings him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he becomes her son. She names him Moshe, and says, “For I drew him out of the water.”
She opened it and saw him, the child, and there was a baby boy crying. She had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
Words from the verse
וְהִנֵּה־נַעַרand there before her, a baby boy
וַתַּחְמֹלshe took pity
What it teaches: Loving-kindness
Doing good for others without expecting anything back.
The Torah shows here that kindness begins with a look: Pharaoh’s daughter opens the basket, sees a crying child and has pity on him. Then the pity becomes action: she agrees to have a nurse brought and promises to pay her. And the child she found among the reeds becomes her son.
A question to sit with
Who around me needs me to notice them right now, even if they have not asked for help?
Questions about the story
What does the child’s sister do once the basket is set among the reeds?
Runs home to call their mother
Stands far off to see what will be done
Hides in the reeds beside the basket
Answer
b. Stands far off to see what will be done
The Torah says his sister stands at a distance, to know what will be done to the child. Nothing is said about running home or hiding in the reeds.
Whom does the sister call to nurse the child?
The child’s mother
An Egyptian woman to nurse him
One of Pharaoh’s daughter’s young women
Answer
a. The child’s mother
The sister offers to bring a Hebrew nurse, then goes and calls the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter even promises to pay her for nursing him.
The lesson
Kindness begins the moment you see a crying child and do not walk past.
For this week
This week, try to notice someone who seems to be struggling, even someone you do not know, and simply ask, “How can I help?”
From the sources
In the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan reads a verse in Chronicles that names Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, as a mother. The Talmud then asks: did Batya give birth? Was it not Yocheved, Moshe’s mother? And it answers: “Yocheved gave birth and Batya raised him, therefore he was called by her name.” In his reading, the verse calls Moshe her son because she raised him.
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
