When Pharaoh made his decree that baby boys should be cast into the Nile, Amram, the leading sage at the time, divorced his wife. He said, “Why should we bring children into this world for naught?” The populace followed suit and divorced their wives.
His young daughter, Miriam, said to him, “Your decision is worse than Pharaoh’s. He decreed only against the boys, but your decree is also against the girls. He denies them this world, but you also deny them the world to come.” (Sotah 12a)
Heeding his child’s advice, Amram remarried Yocheved and they gave birth to Moshe, the one who would lead the Jews out of Egypt, to accept the Torah, and until the Promised Land. Once again, the Jews followed his lead and remarried their wives.
What Miriam did, was redirect Amram’s thinking by reframing it.
He saw the futility of their sons being killed. She pointed to the survival of their daughters. He saw a brief and brutal life; she showed him a glorious eternal life with Hashem.
Quite often, the biggest enemy we have is how we view the enemies and challenges we face. If we understand that there is purpose and meaning to what we do and go through, we can use it to lead us in the right direction.
When we see the promise of each situation, we open the door for Redemption.
Thought of the week:
Never regret being a good person to the wrong people. Your behavior says everything about you, and theirs says enough about them.
