The narrative tells us that Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill any male child of a Hebrew woman A midrash deepens the significance of the name. The midrash, however, turns geography into history. The role of Israel is to be the eternal dissenter, the uncompromising critic of cultures addicted to the senses. To fulfill its mission as a beacon, Israel needs to keep its distance. And this is what the Passover Haggadah insists the Hebrews managed to do in Egypt.
They remained distinctive and readily identifiable. Neither exile nor oppression diluted their way of life. In other words, even though both Jacob and Joseph were embalmed, tradition would have us believe that our ancestors in Egypt were able to withstand the allurement of assimilation.
Perhaps it was hostility that reinforced their identity. Some years later we hear of Jews in Palestine, in an era free of persecution, ready to remake Judaism according to the dictates of Hellenistic civilization. Led by priests, this group got permission from the Seleucids to build a gymnasium in the heart of Jerusalem, did away with circumcision and abandoned much of the Torah.
In consequence, they provoked civil war. Flight from the Egyptian army. The splitting of the Red Sea. The celebratory song of Moses and Miriam upon reaching the other side. The sweetening of bitter waters. Manna from heaven. Water from the rock. The defeat of Amalek. He called the second one Eliezer, because he experienced to joy of " The G-d of my father came to my aid and rescued me from Pharaoh's sword.
Yet the choices of these name echoes a similar choice of names made by Joseph. In fact the great amount of similarities between Moshe and Joseph are truly astounding and revelatory. They both felt a disconnection with their people. They both married women raised in pagan societies. Yet most importantly neither lost the yearning to reconnect their bond with their people. We read of one son and then a second one. Here too, we sense the pain of loss and sadness associated with one name and the joy of redemption with the other.
With Joseph we read a logical sentence structure that talks of a first born son HaBechor and then of a second Hashem. Events that flow from one to the other. Seemingly separated events. Why would that be? Genesis ".
From this the Holy Ari teaches that the name the parents choose for their baby is actually a 'small prophecy'. Context Crossref Comm Hebrew. Verse Click for Chapter. New International Version and her two sons. English Revised Version and her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a strange land: Good News Translation and Gershom and Eliezer, her two sons.
Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a strange land"; so he had named one son Gershom.
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