This week’s Torah portion is named for Moshe’s (Moses’) father-in-law,
Yitro (Jethro). “Yitro took Tziporah, Moshe’s wife, after she had been sent
away…Moshe’s father-in-law,, Yitro, and his [Moshe’s] sons and his wife
came to Moshe, to the desert where he was encamped, to the mountain of G-d.”
Moshe first meets his future wife, Tziporah, in parashat Shemot.
Moshe flees from Egypt to Midian and sits near a well where Tziporah
and her six sisters are harassed by a group of shepherds. Rashi explains in Shemos
Rabbah 1:32 that the shepherds bother the sisters because Yitro, a Midian
chieftain, had abandoned idolatry and as a result is banned from living in the community.
The Midrash tells that it is Tziporah who cleanses her childhood home
from idolatry. There is a connection to her name, which means “bird”, with
the purification process whose final step is the sacrifice of a bird.
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer on ou.org explains how Tziporah's
background is critical to her position as Moshe's wife and why it is the
perfect training ground for her marriage.
“Moshe would take the position of a courageous, lone pioneer on a very
unpopular mission, driven by his belief in G-d's command, yet largely rejected
by society…His mission compelled him to now confront Pharaoh and disavow his
association with him and the Egyptian monarchy. Similarly, Yitro and his family
departed from the spiritual norm of their locale. Their total and sincere
rejection of avodah zarah (idolatry) thrust them out of a position of
leadership and into a role of lone rebels and traitors.“
Moshe rescues the girls and helps them draw water for their
sheep. When the girls return home, their father tells them to invite Moshe for
a meal. The Midrash tells that Tziporah, true to her namesake, “takes flight” and
runs to bring Moshe home. Writes Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller on
tziporahheller.com: “The strength of her intuitive connection to Moshe’s
spiritual nature is what inspired her.”
Moshe stays in Midian, marries Tziporah, and they have a
son, Gershom. Later in the same Torah portion, G-d reveals Himself in the
burning bush and tells Moshe to return to Egypt. Moshe sets out with Tziporah,
Gershom and their newborn baby boy, Eliezer. On the way, they stop at an inn
and there is a strange incident. The text says, “The L-rd met him [Moshe]
and sought to put him to death. So Tziporah took a sharp stone and severed her
son’s foreskin.” Rashi explains that
Tziporah recognizes that G-d is angry that Moshe, fearing for his son’s health
and safety during travel, had not circumcised his son. Tziporah’s quick
thinking, and her innate understanding of what G-d requires, saves Moshe’s life.
Moshe ends up sending back Tziporah and his sons to Midian
instead of taking them to Egypt. Rashi explains that Moshe’s brother, Aharon
(Aaron) discourages him from taking them because of the suffering in Egypt. In
this week’s Torah portion, the family is reunited.
There is a final mention of Moshe’s wife in Bamidbar/Numbers
12: “Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Cushite woman whom
he had married.” They criticize Moshe for separating from his wife so he
could better focus on prophecy. The commentators differ as to whether or not
the Cushite woman is Tziporah. Rashbam believes that Moshe marries a woman from
Cush where he settles before he goes to Midian and marries Tziporah. Rashi
asserts that the Cushite woman and Tziporah are one and the same, Cushite being
synonymous with “beautiful”. There
are many who understand Cushite to be Ethiopian/Sudanese and a Cushite therefore
to be dark-skinned.
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