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Adapted from Shalom Rav by Rabbi Shalom Rosner
“Ve’Et Shnei Banehah Asher Sheim Ha’Echad Gershom Ki Amar Geir Hayiti Be’Eretz Nochriah. VeSheim Ha’Echad Eliezer Ki Elokei Avi BeEzri VaYatzileini MeiCherev Paroh,” “And her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom, because he [Moshe] said, ‘I was a stranger in a foreign land.’ And one who was named Eliezer, because (Moshe said,) “The God of my father came to my aid and rescued me from Pharaoh's sword” (Shemot 18:3-4).
Many Mefarshim ask why Moshe named his sons out of the chronological order of the events referenced by the names. He named Eliezer based on Hashem saving him from Pharoah’s sword after he killed an Egyptian, and named Gershom in reference to Moshe becoming a stranger in a foreign land, which occurred after he was saved from Pharoah’s sword. So, as Rav Moshe Feinstein points out, Moshe Rabbeinu should have named his first son Eliezer and his second son Gershom in accordance with the chronological order of the events.
And just as puzzling, Why would Moshe want to memorialize the event that led to the naming of Gershom at all? Living in a strange land, away from Klal Yisrael , and surrounded by temptation...wouldn't he want to forget that time? Instead, he named his son for it!?
In his Darash Moshe, Rav Moshe answers with a crucial principle that applied to his generation and still resonates today.
Moshe, in naming his son Gershom, was thanking Hashem for helping him hold onto his identity in Midian, despite being surrounded by Pagans. He was grateful that Hashem helped him remain separate from society, retaining the feeling of being a stranger in his impure surroundings.
Moshe easily could have been elected an official in Midian. He was charismatic, powerful, and wise. Rather than choosing this path, he chose to remain loyal to Hashem, not succumbing to the temptations of his surroundings, and retaining the feeling of being a stranger in Midian.
Therefore, says Rav Moshe, he named his first son Gershom. It was only because Moshe maintained his identity and loyalty to Hashem through his stay in Midian that he could retroactively thank Hashem for saving him from Pharaoh. Had he been saved from Pharoah’s sword only to succumb to the lowly temptations ofMidian, his salvation would have been for naught. It was only because he remained a Ger in Midian that he was able to reflect and see that it had been worthwhile to save him. He therefore named his second son Eliezer, as the event of Eliezer’s namesake was secondary to the event corresponding to Gershom’s name in Moshe’s retroactive realization and expression of thanks to Hashem.
The message is evident to our generation, the generation immediately following the greatest tragedy in Am
Yisrael’s history, the Holocaust. It’s upon us to ask ourselves: Was the salvation of Bnei Yisrael from the Nazis worthwhile? If we prove strong in our observation and dedication to Mitzvot throughout this exile, then the salvation was worthwhile (on a spiritual level). If we persist through this Galut and remain steadfast in our dedication to Torah and Mitzvot, then not only will we be able to look back and say the salvation was
“worthwhile”, but we will BeEzrat Hashem merit the true salvation and see the coming of Mashiach BiMheira BeYameinu.