Acting in the Present

Beginning the next chapter in our history, Moshe Rabbeinu, our teacher, is born in this week's Parsha. Our Rabbi's tell us that in truth, Moshe had many names, yet we choose to call him Moshe, the name given to him by an Egyptian princess. Why? What is special about the name Moshe?

Many explanations are given to this question, but I'd like to focus on one which is important for us as midwest NCSY right now. 

The daughter of Par'oh called him Moshe because "min hamayim m'shisihu", he was taken from the water. It would seem, however, that she meant to call him moshoi, "taken"- moshe means "takes", in the present tense!

The Sforno explains that the message of Moshe Rabbeinu is not that he was taken, that something significant happened in his past. Rather it is that he is doing something now. He went from being taken to taking Bnei Yisrael out, in the present.

In life we are blessed with many great experiences. Our job is not to define ourselves by what happened in the past. It is to take what we've done and do something with it in the present. Specifically for Midwest NCSY, our Conclave Winter Regional was an unbelievably inspirational weekend. The question is: What are you doing about it now??? 

Have a great Shabbos