Re: Moshe born to unnamed parents
Daniel Coleman
Note that his parents 'names' are omitted in the parsha called 'Shemos' - their absence demands attention.
I always understood it similar to the sefas emess's Pshat on why Avrohom was chosen to be the founder of our faith, namely because he wasn't that special and really it could have been anyone attuned to a search for Gd/truth. We all have the potential to become great regardless of our humble background: we neednt be born into greatness.
So too with Moshe, the Torah specifically deemphasizes his yichus to suggest that anyone can become a great leader.
I once read a peshat that the rerson the names of Moshe parents are not mentioned in parshas Shemos is because the thrust of the parsha is to teach us that Moshe had a human mother and father, rather than his specific family line.--Similar point to that of R Hirsch that the tTorah wants to emphasize Moshe human nature, although has a slight anti christian twist to it!!
On Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 8:14:59 AM UTC-5, rafi wrote:At the beginning of the parsha we are presented with the genealogy of Moshe and Aaron (and other prominent members of shevet Levi). The obvious question is why did the Torah wait until now to tell us who Moshe’s family was? We were introduced to Moshe when he was a child (although we don’t know his parents yet – “a man from the house of Levi…”) – since then we have followed his progress quite closely (not withstanding some missing years when he allegedly became king of Ethiopia etc) – only now when he is 80 years old are we told about his family.
R Hirsch suggests that we need to look at the placement of the genealogy more closely. After Pharaoh increases the hardship as a response to Moshe’s plea so that the Jews now need to collect their own straw it looks like the mission has failed. Moshe complains to Hashem that he has just made things worse. Hashem’s response is… now things will start to happen! Moshe is about to carry out the plagues and perform wonders in the land of Egypt – this gives rise to the well founded possibility, that Moshe was going to be thought of as a god (this is even hinted in the next passuk after the genealogy where Hashem tells Moshe that he will make him an “Elohim” to Pharaoh…). It was therefore of vital importance that this idolatrous notion is emphatically discarded - before Moshe begins to carry out the plagues and miracles. Moshe was a human, born to human parents of a human family. This also seems to be one of the reasons that Moshe’s kever was hidden – so that it wouldn’t become a shrine.
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