Shemot 5774

“Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe, to the river…and she saw the basket…and she sent her maidservant, and she took it.” (Shemot/Exodus 2:5)

The Hebrew word used for “her maidservant” is amatah. The Talmud (Sotah 12b) notes that amatah is an expression meaning “her hand” because the joint from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger is known in Hebrew as amah. Thus the Biblical measurement “cubits” is rendered in Hebrew as amot. Our Sages translate the verse as “she stretched out her hand” and explain that Pharaoh’s daughter’s arm grew many cubits, amot, so she could reach the basket containing the baby Moshe (Moses). (The Midrash also interprets the verse this way in Shemot Rabbah 1:23.)

Write Rabbi Yisroel and Rabbi Osher Anshel Jungreis in Torah for Your Table: “Our Sages explain that her [Pharaoh’s daughter’s] determination to do a mitzvah (commandment) --  to save a life – was so all consuming that she reached beyond herself and, because of that, G-d enabled her to transcend her physical limitations and He miraculously extended her arm. We learn…that when it comes to doing a mitzvah and thereby fulfilling our spiritual goals, the word “impossible” doesn’t exist. If we…put forth our best efforts, then G-d will do the rest.”

Writes Mrs. Rosally Saltsman in Parenting by the Book: “Child-rearing often seems difficult, but G-d endows parents with superhuman strength when they need it most, especially mothers. All they have to do is make the initial effort. We all know how difficult it is to cope on only a few hours sleep a day, yet mothers with small children do it for weeks and sometimes months at a time. Parents are capable of superhuman feats because they have superhuman love for their children.”

As parents, we often are faced with what feels like the impossible. We must always keep in mind that if we are sincerely determined, nothing is beyond our reach. The Rabbis Jungreis assert: “We need only stretch out our hands to discover that with G-d, everything is possible.”