(On August 30, 1973, the New York Mets were in last place. Responding to the rally cry of Ya Gotta Believe of pitcher Tug McGraw, the Mets took over first place three weeks later.)
Studies show that faith and prayer can have a significant impact on a patient’s ability to recover from illness. And when facing all types of obstacles, belief in a successful outcome makes it possible to persevere and come up with solutions to great challenges.
This week we begin the Book of Shemot. The Jewish people have become enslaved and the Egyptians have decreed that every baby boy should be killed at birth.
Despite the decree, Moshe’s mother Yocheved decides to hide him at birth in hopes of his being saved. The Torah records that she saw that he was “Tov” (good), and she hid him for 3 months. After 3 months she saw that she could no longer hide him so she decided to make a basket and leave him in the Nile. The rest is history.
Ramban asks a question on this. Any mother would do her utmost to save her child. So why does the Torah say that she saw he was Tov and decided to hide him. The Torah seems to be indicating that she only hid him because she saw he was Tov.
The Ramban answers that the Tov that she saw was a new and unique type of Tov (Rashi quotes the Sages who say that the house was filled with light). When she saw this she thought to herself that a miracle will certainly happen to save him. Therefore she decided to hide him and when she couldn’t hide him anymore, she came up with a new idea to save him by making a basket and placing him in the river.
It seems that the Ramban has not really answered his question. Even if she didn’t see this special Tov, she could have come up with the idea of putting him in a basket.
My Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz z”l explains that if not for the fact that she believed a miracle would occur to save him, she would not have come up with the idea to put him in a basket. She would have had a feeling of hopelessness and despair that would have paralysed her thinking. She would have thought that “there is nothing we can do to save him” and that would have prevented her from coming up with a plan. It was only her belief that a miracle would occur that gave her the peace of mind to be able to think clearly and come up with a plan to save him.
We all face difficult times in life, when we are not sure how to proceed and we consider giving up. If we allow ourselves to feel that the situation is hopeless, we won’t come up with solutions. It is at these times that our faith in Hashem will help us to think clearly and come up with a plan.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shaps and the JET Team
