14 Jan PARASHAT SHEMOT: CRYING FOR ONE ANOTHER

We read in Parashat
Shemot of the
successful attempt
made by Yochebed,
the mother of Moshe
Rabbenu, to rescue
her beloved infant. After Pharaoh decreed that
all newborn boys among Beneh Yisrael should
be killed, Yochebed delivered a baby, and hid
him from the Egyptian authorities for three
months. Then, seeing that she could no longer
hide him, she placed the baby in a basket and
put the basket in the river. It was discovered
by Pharaoh’s daughter, who opened the basket
and saw a child crying. She exclaimed, “This
is from the children of the Hebrews!” (2:6).
Pharaoh’s daughter took the baby, brought
him home, and raised him as her child. She
named him “Moshe.”
The question arises as to how the princess
realized that this infant was Jewish.
Immediately upon seeing him, she declared
that this was an Israelite child. Why?
The commentators also address a different
question, regarding the syntax of this verse.
The Torah tells, “Va’tiftach Ta’tir’ehu Et
Ha’yeled, Ve’hineh Na’ar Bocheh” – “She
opened it and saw the child, and behold,
there was a lad crying.” Moshe is first called
“Ha’yeled” – “the child,” but then referred to
as a “Na’ar” – “lad.” Clearly, as Moshe was

but three months old, the term “Yeled” is far
more appropriate for him than “Na’ar,” a term
that usually denotes a grown child. Why does
the Torah here speak of a “Na’ar” crying, if
Moshe was a small baby?
An innovative reading of this verse was
suggested by the Ba’al Ha’turim (Rabbenu
Yaakob Ben Asher, Germany-Spain, 1269-
1340). He notes that the words “Na’ar Bocheh”
in Gematria equal the phrase “Zeh Aharon
Ha’kohen” – “This is Aharon the Kohen.”
According to the Ba’al Ha’turim, it wasn’t
Moshe who was crying. His older brother,
Aharon, was standing along the riverbank to
watch what would happen to Moshe, and he
was crying out of fear and compassion for
his baby brother. When Pharaoh’s daughter
opened the basket, she saw an infant – and
she also heard a “Na’ar,” the infant’s older
brother, crying from a distance, worrying
about what would happen to the baby.
This perhaps explains why the princess
immediately determined that the infant must
belong to Am Yisrael – because this is a
uniquely Jewish trait, crying for one another,
caring about one other, feeling each other’s
pain, and shouldering each other’s burden.
In the Book of Yehezkel (34:31), the prophet
turns to Beneh Yisrael and says, “Adam
Atem” – “You are people.” The Gemara in
Masechet Yebamot (61a) interprets this to

mean that “Atem Keruyim Adam” – only the
Jewish people are defined as “Adam,” whereas
other nations are not. This classification of
Jews as “Adam,” the Gemara explains, is
relevant for a certain Halacha regarding the
laws of impurity. But this enigmatic Talmudic
teaching has, over the years, been used by
anti-Semites as “evidence” of the Jews’
contempt for gentiles. They claimed that the
Talmud teaches Jews to view other peoples
as subhuman species – despite the fact that
numerous other sources in Torah literature
make it very clear that to the contrary, all
human beings are created in the divine image
and demand our respect and concern. The
Rabbis struggled to explain the meaning of
the Talmudic teaching that the term “Adam”
is reserved for the Jewish People.
Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin (1887-1933)
offered a compelling, and especially
meaningful, interpretation. He asserted that
the Gemara here distinguishes not between
“Adam” and animals, but rather between
“Adam” and the other Hebrew term used
in reference to human beings – “Ish.” The
difference between the words “Adam” and
“Ish,” Rav Shapiro noted, is that the word
“Ish” has a plural form – “Anashim,” whereas
the word “Adam” has no plural form. The
Gemara teaches that Jews are called “Adam”
because we comprise a single entity. We are
all parts of one organic whole. We are not

“plural,” because we are members of a single
nation. No other nation is bound together in
mutual love, care and concern like the Jewish
Nation. When one Jew is in pain, or is in
trouble, Jews around the world cry. This is one
of the unique aspects of the Jewish experience
– being an “Adam,” part of an organic entity,
where everybody is interconnected and
unconditionally devoted to one another.
This is how Pharaoh’s daughter knew that the
infant she found belonged to Beneh Yisrael –
because she saw somebody crying for him,
worrying about him, concerned about him.
When our Jewish brothers and sisters across
the world are in crisis, we must all feel their
pain. We shoulder their burden of sorrow
with them, and we commit ourselves to doing
everything we can to help them, to support
them, to encourage them, and to ensure their
safety and wellbeing.