Even though this verse seems to tell of Moses’ origins, it does not exactly fit the facts, for Moses was not this couple’s firstborn; he was the younger sibling of Miriam and Aaron. The sages explain the background and context of this verse. After the midwives disobeyed him, Pharaoh decreed that the Egyptians themselves should murder every Jewish child by drowning them in the Nile. Seeing that there was no escape, Amram, Moses’ future father reluctantly parted from his wife, Yocheved. As the leader of the Jewish people in Egypt, others followed his example.
Miriam came to her father and argued that his “decree,” made by parting from her mother, was harsher than Pharaoh’s, for Pharaoh had only decreed that boys would not survive and Amram had just decreed that even girls would not be born. What do we see? First, that Miriam has a sense for the superiority of the feminine. In Amram’s mind, it seems that it had never occurred to him that there were also daughters that needed to be considered. She has to remind him of the girls. In a bit more depth, as explained in Chasidic writings, Pharaoh believed that daughters have a weaker intellect and thus could be easily integrated into Egyptian culture, which is why he did not only command the murder of the boys, but also ordered, “but let every girl live.”
Miriam says, “Father, that’s what Pharaoh thinks, but I believe that daughters have a very strong mind. On the contrary, it is they that will save the Israelites.” This had never occurred to her father.
Miriam then made two more arguments: Pharaoh is wicked and there is great doubt whether people will listen to his command, but you, my father are a tzaddik and whatever a tzaddik commands is performed; everyone will leave their wives and the Israelites will cease to exist. In addition, Pharaoh’s decree is limited to this world. But when your decree will prevent any children from being born, you are preventing these souls from entering both this world and the next. Amram accepted his daughter’s arguments, and the verse quoted describes his re-marriage to Yocheved, after which Moses was indeed born.
Miriam here reveals her sharp intellect and her ability to serve as an advisor. Advice is associated with the sefirot of victory (netzach) and acknowledgment (hod), which in the body are identified primarily with the kidneys.
Immediately after she convinced her father to re-wed her mother, Miriam received a prophecy that their next son would be the redeemer. So now she is both an advisor and a prophetess. According to Kabbalistic principles, her prophecy is associated with victory and her advice with acknowledgment. Both these episodes are only hinted to in the Torah text.
