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I Call You My Daughter

Because Basya called Moshe her son, Hashem called her His daughter.

A teaching ofBasya bas Pharaohבתיה בת פרעהProfile ›

Divrei HaYamim speaks of the sons of Bisya bas Pharaoh, and Chazal read the names there as names of Moshe. The Midrash in Vayikra Rabbah hears in her name a reward from Heaven. Hashem said to her: Moshe was not your son, yet you called him your son. You too are not My daughter, yet I call you My daughter. That is why she is called Bisya, bas Yah, the daughter of Hashem. The Gemara draws the practical rule from the same verse: whoever raises an orphan in his home, the Torah counts it as though he had given birth to the child. Basya took a child who was not hers and gave him a mother's love and a name. Hashem answered her in the same measure, taking a princess of Egypt as His own daughter.

Source: Vayikra Rabbah 1:3 (on Divrei HaYamim I 4:18); Gemara, Megillah 13a

Practical lessonTreat someone as your own

Think of a child or young person in your life who is not yours: a student, a niece or nephew, a neighbor's child, a guest at your Shabbos table who has no family nearby. This week, give them one thing you would give your own: your full attention at a meal, help with homework, a call on their birthday, a word of praise in front of others. Basya's love for a child who was not hers made her Hashem's daughter. Every bit of that love counts above.

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