What was so Special about Bat Paro? On a cursory glance at the first few verses of the second chapter of Shemot one notices a severe absence of names. Strange, one might think for the opening of a book termed “shemot” but these pesukim ring with anonymity. “A man from the household of Levi took a daughter of the household of Levi. The woman had a son, (later referred to as the child or the youth).” The daughter of Paro, who is not identified by her own name, tends to the child after conversing with the child’s sister. Only at the end of this episode do we hear a name, Moshe, given to the child who had been extracted from the waters of the Nile river. It would appear that the Torah is downplaying the characters in this story and emphasizing just two; Paro as represented by his daughter and the child who is revealed at the end of the event to be none other than Moshe. This literary tool emphasizes the irony of the entire episode. Am Yisrael’s eventual savior is saved and protected by their enslaver’s own daughter. What is the significance of this? Let us take a closer look at the sequence of events. The Torah tells us that on seeing the “teiva” or box, Paro’s daughter stretched out her hand and took it. Although this is the plain meaning of the verse, Chazal tell us that Bat Paro’s hand grew very long in order that she be able to reach the box into which the baby had been placed. Furthermore, on opening the box, the Torah says that “she saw him” supposedly referring to the child. Here again, the midrash tells us that she witnessed the presence of God. Seforno explains that the word “ama” translated above as hand actually refers to Bat Paro’s maidservant. He states that she sent her most trusty assistant to look at the teiva. This was due to Divine providence for had she instructed one of her other helpers to fetch the box with the baby, it may have been cast back into the river. All of the above points to the fact that Bat Paro was some form of emissary of God and was afforded Divine assistance in order that she be able to save baby Moshe. We could assume that this is all part of Hashem’s plan to create a future leader for Am Yisrael but this still raises the question as to why Bat Paro should be selected for this mission. Rav Elchanan Samet points out that while one would expect Bat Paro to have pity on an abandoned baby, in this case such feelings should have been short-lived. Once she discerned that this was an Israelite baby surely she should have thrown him back into the river as was decreed by her father. The midrash even describes a dispute between the princess and her servants who claimed that she, of all people, should respect the orders delivered by the monarch. However, Rav Samet suggests that maybe because of her status, Bat Paro could allow herself to keep the baby as she was not concerned with being discovered and subsequently punished by the authorities. We can therefore assume that there was a specific reason why Bat Paro wished to protect and nurture this Hebrew baby. She seems to be genuinely concerned for the child and wishes to do whatever she can in order that he will survive. Rabbi Sacks, in his series of essays “Covenant and Conversation” elaborates on this idea: “Then comes the final surprise: When the child matured, [his mother] brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. She adopted him as her own son, and named him Moses. “I bore him from the water”, she said. Pharaoh’s daughter has not simply had a moment’s compassion. She has not forgotten the child. Nor has the passage of time diminished her sense of responsibility. Not only does she remain committed to his welfare; she adopts the riskiest of strategies. She will adopt it and bring him up as her own son. This is courage of a high order. Yet the single most surprising detail comes in the last sentence. In the Torah, it is parents who gave a child its name, and in the case of a special individual, G-d himself. It is G-d who gives the name Isaac to the first Jewish child; G-d’s angel who gives Jacob the name Israel; G-d who changes the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. We have already encountered one adoptive name – Tsofenat Paneakh – the name by which Joseph was known in Egypt; yet Joseph remains Joseph. How surpassingly strange that the hero of the exodus, greatest of all the prophets, should bear not the name Amram and Yocheved have undoubtedly used thus far, but the one given to him by his adoptive mother, an Egyptian princess. A midrash draws our attention to the fact: This is the reward for those who do kindness. Although Moses had many names, the only one by which he is known in the whole Torah is the one given to him by the daughter of Pharaoh. Even the Holy One, blessed be He, did not call him by any other name. (Shemot Rabbah 1: 26) ” The midrash, as discussed by Rabbi Sacks, states that Bat Paro acted with incredible kindness and for this she is rewarded. But what prompted this extension of kindness? In order to answer this question we will ask a different one. The Torah informs us that “Moshe grew up and went out to his brethren” (Shemot 2:11). How did he know that he himself was a Hebrew? When was he informed that these slaves were actually his brothers? The only logical conclusion is that Bat Paro told him. She adopted him, he grew up in the Egyptian royal palace but she always knew the truth about Moshe’s origins. At some stage, when she deemed him ready, Bat Paro informed Moshe from where he really came and who his biological parents were. We suggest, therefore, that Bat Paro did not act merely out of kindness towards a baby who was in need of food and shelter. She made a conscious decision to defy her father. Protecting Moshe and eventually telling him of his lineage was her “little” rebellion. She disagreed with her father’s policies but was powerless to change them. When fate, or as the midrash states, Divine providence, presented her with the opportunity to pursue her beliefs in opposition to the evil decrees of her father she did not hesitate. She took in the little Hebrew child, raised him as her own, only to secretly convey to him that he was in fact a Hebrew lad. The midrash states that she was rewarded for her act of “chessed”. In essence, her little rebellion turned out to be the beginning of the process of redemption. Yes, God’s hand guided Bat Paro along the way, but without her sense of kindness and morality Jewish history may have played out very differently. As we read this week’s parsha, let us salute Bat Paro and attempt to learn from her sense of courage and responsibility. Even having grown up in the corridors of evil she knew when to take a stand and do the right thing. The result of her actions led to the emergence of Moshe Rabbeinu, as the greatest leader of all time. Shabbat shalom, Rav Yonatan