Who were Moshe’s (Moses’) parents? Based on this week’s parsha in which Moshe’s birth is recorded we would have no idea. All it says is:
וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֵוִי וַיִּקַּח אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִי וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן
A man of the house of (i.e. the tribe of) Levi went and took [into his household as his wife] a woman of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son (2:1-2)
We find out who they are in next week’s parsha (6:19):
וַיִּקַּח עַמְרָם אֶת־יוֹכֶבֶד דֹּדָתוֹ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת־אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת־מֹשֶׁה
Amram took as his wife his father’s sister Yocheved, and she bore him Aharon and Moshe
Why aren’t their names mentioned at his birth?
What do we know about Amram and Yocheved? The Talmud (Sotah 12a) describes him as the “Gadol HaDor”, the greatest man and leader of his generation. In another place the Talmud (Bava Basra 17a) tells us that Amram lived his life so righteously that he only died because of the decree that every human must die due to the sin of Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge (see Breishit 3:6)! Yocheved was the daughter of Levi the son of Yaakov. Moshe had what we call yichus. He had quite a Jewish pedigree! Why does the Torah hide it from us?
Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman in his commentary on the Torah called Sha’arei Orah suggests that the Torah is conveying a fundamental lesson here.
If the Torah would have told us who Moshe’s parents were some might say, “Of course Moshe grew to become the great individual he was. Look at his yichus. Look at who his parents were!” Now there are many sources that teach us that not only do we pass on to our children physical traits we also pass on to them spiritual and character traits. Potentially this can put a child ahead of the game. Yichus has its advantages.
But all this means nothing unless a person finds the strength within themselves to make the right decisions on how to live their lives. Making the right decisions will put a person way ahead in life even without the pedigree.
This is what the Torah is teaching us. Moshe’s parents could have been Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous. What really mattered were the decisions that Moshe made on how he’d live his life.
There is a Jewish saying that goes like this. Yichus is a bunch of zeros. It only has value if you put a one in front!
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak