Parashat: Shemot

Parashat: Shemot
Torah Reading: Exodus 1:1–6:1

“The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months.”

— Exodus 2:2

There are moments in life so good and so beautiful that we want to rush out and shout them from the rooftops, sharing them with the world. And yet, there are other moments—just as good and beautiful, perhaps even more so—that we choose to keep to ourselves just for a moment (or for a few months) until we decide if and when we’ll choose to share the news. Moses’ conception and birth, come in a major line of beautiful creations — that are suddenly seen and judged good and/or beautiful.

Throughout the entire first chapter of Genesis, God creates beautiful things that are quite literally meant to be shared with the world — but it is not until God “sees” the creation that it is named good: we find this for light, for the land and the seas, for the seed-bearing fruits, for the sorting and separating of day and night, for all of our creepy-crawlies and sea (and land!) creatures and for so much more.

Our patriarchs — or at least Abraham and Isaac — go through a capricious game of charades in order to save their reputations (and lives) when they suddenly see their wives as beautiful — so much so that others might kill their husbands in order to claim the women as their own. Joseph’s dream interpretation (albeit genuinely with the help of God) is seen as good and it is promised that if Jacob is brought to Egypt, all too will be good!

As we begin our story anew, with a new chaos to creation format, it’s a beautiful thing to remember the good that comes with each new life — how our story is greatly impacted by the goodness and beauty of each additional name, and how those stories can be held close and/or shared widely as we continue along our journey. May this too, be for the good.

— Rabbi Amanda K. Weiss