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Biography of Yehuda Katz | Archives | This Week's Parsha
YISRO
"and her (Zipporah, Moses wife) two sons:of whom the name of one was Gersom , for he (Moses) had said, "I was a sojourner in a strange land"; and the name of the other was Eliezer, for "the G-d of my father came to my aid, and He saved me from the sword of Pharaoh." (18:3-4) Yisro,Moses' father-in-law,visits Moses, and brings Moses' wife and their two sons. The commentaries ask a very interesting question concerning the names given to Moses' two sons, as follows: Why was the first born son named Gersom and the second son Eliezer, it should have been just the opposite if we are to follow the chronological events of Moses' life since he was first saved from Pharaoh(refer to Exodus 2:15) and then became a stranger in Midyan (his father-in -laws home)? I would like to ,Bezrat Hashem, propose an original answer. When Moses escaped from Egypt,he then resettled in Midyan and married Zipporah.It would have been very easy for him to forget the hardships of the Jewish people and be complacent with his new found home. Why would he need to worry ,or even think about his past? Yet, Moses feared complacency.The pressing problem at the time of his first born son was this very issue. He needed to remind himself that he's just a sojourner in a strange land. Its very hard to feel anothers pain when one is enjoying the "good" life. Moses feared this more than he perhapes feared Pharoah's sword. He, therefore, named his first born son as a preventative measure so that complacency should not over take him. Do we fear complacency in spiritual matters? Are we comfortable with our level of spiritual growth?Is it just alright to be mediocre as long as we are comfortable? Moses was a great man, and he feared it. What can we say about ourselves? Have a good Shabbos
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