Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe, to the Nile, and her maidens were walking along the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the marsh, and she sent her maidservant, and she took it. She opened [it], and she saw him the child, and behold, he was a weeping lad, and she had compassion on him, and she said, "This is [one] of the children of the Hebrews."
In Posuk 10 it continues: The child grew up, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became like her son. She named him Moses, and she said, "For I drew him from the water."
Asks Rashi, asks why does the torah have to state that the maids were walking along the Nile? Another question: Why did Pharaoh's daughter when she saw the basket did she open it. then when she opens it she sees that it is one of the children of the Jews. the question is how did she know that it was a Jewish child, when it says in chapter 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the Nile, and every daughter you shall allow to live." Therefore, it might have been a gentile child? Another question is: Why did Pharaoh's daughter have passion on the child, when her father ordered the children to die?
To get a better understanding to this Parsha, Moshe was destined to be the leader of Klal Yisrael. Hashem watched over him that he should stay alive. Hashem had a plan that Moshe should be raised in the home of Pharaoh. The plan worked to perfection! Let us disect this: Usually when the daughter of a king would go bathe, her maids would come and help her in the water. Here, Hashem planned that they decided to stay along the Nile and not in the Nile with their master. This was for the reason that if the maids would have gone in together in the Nile, Pharaoh’s daughter would not have opened the basket to save Moshe. This was step one.
Step two: Chazal teach us the reason Pharaoh’s daughter went to bathe, was to cleanse herself from her idol worship. In essence it was to convert to Judaism. Therefore, she insisted that her maids stay along the Nile and not enter the Nile with her, since she didn’t enter to bathe as she would regularly do. Hashem revealed to her all this in her mind.
Once, she immersed and became a Jew, she received the trait of the Jews which is passion and mercy. Hashem also wanted that only a Jewish woman take care of the leader of Klal Yisrael. Therefore, Hashem made sure that she see the basket, and Hashem urged her to go to the basket, and open it. Hence, since she felt already the level of holiness, she was attracted to the holiness of the child. This caused her to realize that it was a Jewish child. Now since she saved a jew, she merited the reward of saving the whole world. This was revealed to her by Hashem, and she fully understood that her action was the plan of Hashem, she felt now that she caused the child to be saved.
The plan of Hashem was working fine, and since it was as the child was reborn again to her, she felt the right to give the child a name Moshe. Since she was the cause that moshe stayed alive, the name Moshe stayed with him all his life. hence, the plan worked that PHaraoh’s daughter became a Jew and she raised Moshe, and it was through her, that Moshe was raised in the home of Pharaoh.
This allows us to understand what followed in the Torah posuk 9: His sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call for you a wet nurse from the “Hebrew women”, so that she shall nurse the child for you?" Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go!" So the girl went and called the child's mother.
Which is now understood, that since she received the revelation of Hashem of her mission, she now was obligated to have a Jewish woman nurse the child. Hence, since she was on a mission from Hashem, she was sure that Hashem would guard her from any harm, and wasn’t fearful of giving the child to a Jewish woman. This is what David Hamelech says in Tehilim 33:9-11
For He said and it came about; He commanded and it endured. The counsel of the Lord shall endure forever; the plans of His heart to all generations.
Moshe was destined to be the leader of Klal Yisrael, and as the Torah states in Parshas Vayelech, that there would never be a leader as great as Moshe. Therefore every part of his upbringing had to be with Kedusha, and with strong detail. Pharaoh’s daughter’s pure work earned the merit.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
