Shmos - Gate of Tears

Moshe rabbeinu is born at the time Pharaoh has told the Egyptians to throw all the new born baby boys of Israel into the river. His mother hides him, then in what seems to be an act of desperation, puts him in a basket and floats him away on the Nile. Unexpectedly the daughter of Pharaoh retrieves the basket. When the baby cries she has pity on it and adopts the child even though she knows he is a Hebrew.

The commentaries give several reasons why an Egyptian princess would behave in such and unusual way. Nachmanides comments that he was  crying like a child, sharply and vigorously, therefore she had pity on him. The Seforno comments that when she opened the basket and saw him, she saw that he was good and very handsome. The Gemara (Sota 12:) states in the name of Rabbi Yossi the son of Rabbi Hanina that she saw that he presence of God was with him. Tikunay HaZohar comments: You should know that all of the gates are locked, but the gate of tears is not locked. But, there was no one who could open for us these gates until the master of tears came, as it says, “She opened it, and she saw the child, and behold the boy was crying”, (Shmos 2:6).

We would think that a baby that the whole world is against would be powerless. But we see that this was not true. In spite of his parents giving up on him and a hostile society, HaKadosh Baruch Hu was still with him and gave him the power of tears. With this he could exhibit his other good characteristics and not only save his own life, but the lives of many others as well.

We also see this characteristic with Yosef the tsaddik. His brothers threw him into a snake pit, sold him as a slave in Egypt, and mockingly said, “we’ll see what comes of his dreams”, (Genesis 37:20). A person can say that Yosef will be powerless to do something about this, he will be a slave in Egypt. Instead Yosef became ruler of Egypt and the brothers were placed under his thumb. This is like the Yiddish expression, man proposes and God disposes.

The Chumash is explicit that HaKadosh Baruch Hu watches over the weak. It commands Israel, “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless”, (Exodus 22:20-23). Rashi explains: You shall not oppress any widow or orphan - The case applies to all people, but the Scripture speaks of the usual situation, since they [widows and orphans] are weak therefore care frequently oppressed. - [From Mechilta].

The Torah teaches us that there are spiritual forces in the world. There is a force of righteousness, a force of rectification, and a force of retribution. These forces are revealed by means of the abuse and subsequent rectification of the disadvantaged. Even an infant can have power. It takes some depth to see the hand of God in this and unscrupulous brutes are often blind to this. In the end the righteous will walk in the light of true wisdom and, “rejoice when he sees revenge; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God judging the world”, (Psalm 58:11-12).

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

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