What do you do when your dad has a penchant for the blood of Jewish babies, and you feel a tug of the heartstrings from the tiny foundling literally on your doorstep (or private-beach-step, in this case)? If you’re Batya, daughter of Pharaoh, you’re bringing him home to your dad and showing off your new son, even as you know he was only left to float down the river and arrive at your swimming hole because of Dad’s decree (Miriam, Moses’ big sister, was watching in the reeds and helped unravel the mystery, without giving away too much). Batya was a fearless priestess princess who didn’t care what people said: She was adopting this baby, and Moses would be her son, no matter what the Egyptian priests, astrologers, and her dad the king said. Sometimes, it’s our compassion that wins out over everything else, no damns given.


haggadah Section: Maggid - Beginning
Source: Rishe Groner for Hey Alma