Just recently, in the Daf Yomi, the daily study of Talmud, the following question is posed: Why when the Torah describes what was engraved in the first tablets of the Ten Commandments, the word Tov – good – does not appear, while when the Torah describes what was engraved in the second set of tablets the word Tov does appear?
The Talmud answers that the word Tov was not included in the first tablets since they were destined to be shattered due to the sin of the golden calf, and G-d did not want the word Tov – good – to be broken. Since the second tablets were to last forever, G-d included it in the fifth law, when stating the reward for honoring one’s father and mother.
The Talmud asks, what would be so bad if the word Tov was included in the first tablets and was shattered?
Reb Ashi replies, “Chas V’Sholom, Heaven forbid! Tov/good would cease from the Jewish people, if it were to be shattered!”
The Talmud continues and quotes Rebbe Yehoshua who states, if one sees the Hebrew letter Tes in a dream, it is a good omen for the person.
The Talmud discusses the basis for this statement and concludes with the following: From the first word in the script of the Torah, which is Beraishis, the letter Tes does not appear until the verse states, “And G-d saw the Or/light that it was Tov/good.” Since the letter Tes first appears in the Torah in the word Tov, it is good for him if he sees the letter Tes in a dream.
You may be wondering why I am sharing this with you. Is there any connection to this week’s Parsha? Well, the Torah relates that a man (Amram) and woman (Yocheved) from the house of Levi conceived and she gave birth to a baby boy (Moshe) and they ‘saw that he was Tov/good’ and she hid him for three months from the Egyptians who were out to kill male babies.
Our eminent commentator Rashi, explains the words, “He was Tov,” to mean, that the entire house was filled with light, with Moshe’s birth.
The Talmud tells us that we know that the word Tov describes the light that emanated from Moshe, because it is the same phrase the Torah used when telling us that G-d saw that the light of creation was Tov/good.
Interestingly, one of Moshe’s ten names was Tovia, which reflects on the great light that he spread and continues to spread to us through the Torah he taught. Baal HaTurim cites the verse that we recite when returning the Torah to the Ark after it is publicly read. G-d says, “For I have given you a Tov/good teaching, do not forsake My Torah.” Thus, the Torah which is Tov was transmitted by Moshe, who personified Tov, to a nation that G-d said Tov/goodness will never cease from them!
Goodness is not produced in a vacuum. The Torah relates that the Pharoh of Egypt personally instructed the Jewish midwives, Shifra/Yocheved and Puah/Miriam to abort the male Jewish babies. They defied his decree following G-d’s dictates and lovingly delivered and sustained the babies.
The Torah tells us, Vayeetav – and G-d did good to the midwives. What was the good that G-d bestowed upon them? The Talmud explains that it is the house of Kehuna/Priesthood and Levites that would emerge from Yocheved’s children, Moshe and Ahron, and the house of royalty that will emerge from Miriam who was an ancestress of King David.
Immediately after Yocheved received this blessing of good from the Almighty, the Torah tells us of the birth of her son Moshe whose entire existence was good.
Our Sages teach us that built into the actual name Mitzrayim/Egypt, the country that enslaved us for hundreds of years, is their mentality towards slaves and their power over them. The root of the word Mitzrayim is Maitzar which means constricted. The Egyptians held their borders so tight and restrictive that no slave ever successfully escaped.
There is a hint in the actual construction of the word Mitzrayim to this idea. The first letter of Mitzrayim is a regular letter Mem מ ; it is called the open letter Mem, as opposed to a closed Mem which appears at the end of a word. The last letter of Mitzrayim is a final Mem ם . The imagery is that one was welcome to enter into the open borders of Mitzrayim, represented by the beginning open Mem. However, once they were there and absorbed into the land there was no way out as characterized by the closed final Mem.
At the time of our redemption, when the Jews in Egypt called out to G-d and placed their trust in Him, He miraculously extracted us from our horrible servitude and destroyed the Egyptians, the mightiest of all nations.
The same holds true with our current impossible situation. As Israel is battling our enemies from all sides and we are witness to the rise of audacious and rampant anti-Semitism, we wonder how this will all be resolved. The answer is, just as we saw in Egypt when we called out to G-d in prayer and placed our trust in Him, He delivered us, so too now, when we will call out to G-d in prayer and place our trust in Him, He will deliver us as well!
