Written by Rabbi Gidon Goldberg
Dear Parents,
How was Yocheved able to conceal Moshe Rabbeinu at home for three months? Rashi attributes this to the fact that Moshe was born six months prematurely, and therefore the Egyptians had no reason to search for a baby. After the nine-month period was up, Yocheved was forced to hide him in the Nile. Hashem arranged for Moshe to be born prematurely so that he would be home with his mother for three months before being taken away from her.
There is a profound lesson in חינוך that we can learn from this. Horav Zaidel Epstein, זצ"ל, explains that the formative years of a child’s education have a profound effect upon his future. In order for Moshe Rabbeinu to emerge as the leader of the Jewish people, it was essential for him to be born inקדושה and טהרה. Moshe needed exposure to the kedushah of Amrom and Yocheved’s home in order to prepare him to be the leader of כלל ישראל.
חינוך begins at home, from birth. A Torah environment has the ability to infuse a child with a sense of רוחניות regardless of his intellectual appreciation of Torah. Chazal relates that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya’s mother placed his crib in the bais hamedrash from the day he was born so that he would absorb the spiritual atmosphere. She kept him there so that the only sounds his ears would hear would be the sounds of Torah. Just having our children be physically present in holy environments, like keeping them next to us in shul regardless of understanding or involvement, impacts their growth.
קדושה and טהרה in our homes, coupled with a healthy dose of mesiras nefesh, are surefire ingredients for successful חינוך for our children.
Gut Shabbos,
Rabbi Gidon Goldberg
Head of School