Megillah, Daf Yod Gimmel, Part 1
רבי שמעון בן פזי כי הוה פתח בדברי הימים אמר הכי: כל דבריך אחד הם, ואנו יודעין לדורשן. +דברי הימים א‘ ד‘+ ואשתו היהדיה ילדה את ירד אבי גדור ואת חבר אבי שוכו ואת יקותיאל אבי זנוח ואלה בני בתיה בת פרעה אשר לקח מרד. אמאי קרי לה יהדיה – על שום שכפרה בעבודה זרה, דכתיב +שמות ב‘+ ותרד בת פרעה לרחוץ על היאור, ואמר רבי יוחנן: שירדה לרחוץ מגילולי בית אביה.
R. Shimon b. Pazzi when he would begin an exposition of the Book of Chronicles would say the following: "All Your words are one", and we know how to find their inner meaning.
[It is written], "And his wife the Jewess bore Yered the father of Gedor, and Hever the father of Socho, and Yekutiel the father of Zanoah, and these are the sons of Bitya the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took" (I Chronicles 4:18).
Why was she [the daughter of Pharaoh] called a Jewess? Because she repudiated idolatry, as it is written, "And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the river," (Exodus 2:5) and R. Yohanan, [commenting on this,] said that she went down to cleanse herself from the idols of her father’s house.
R. Shimon b. Pazi offers a derashah here explaining some of the strange names used in the book of Chronicles. This derashah is brought here because it too cites the notion that anyone who rejects idol worship is called a Jew.
A verse above refers to Caleb (the famous spy) and then a later verse refers to his Jewish wife, daughter of Pharaoh. But how could Pharaoh’s daughter be called a Jew? The answer is that she too rejected idol worship. R. Yohanan interpreted her going down to the Nile to bathe as an act of repudiating her father’s idols.
ילדה? והא רבויי רביתיה! – לומר לך שכל המגדל יתום ויתומה בתוך ביתו מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו ילדו.
"Bore": But she only brought him [Moses] up?
This tells us that if anyone brings up an orphan boy or girl in his house, the verse treats him as if he had bore him.
Pharaoh’s daughter did not really give birth to Moses, she only brought him up. From here we learn a message that is so important for all adoptive parents. Anyone who raises an orphan is treated as he bore him.
ירד – זה משה, ולמה נקרא שמו ירד – שירד להם לישראל מן בימיו.
גדור – שגדר פרצותיהן של ישראל,
חבר – שחיבר את ישראל לאביהן שבשמים.
סוכו – שנעשה להם לישראל כסוכה.
יקותיאל – שקוו ישראל לאל בימיו.
זנוח – שהזניח עוונותיהן של ישראל.
אבי אבי אבי – אב בתורה, אב בחכמה, אב בנביאות.
"Yered": this is Moses.
Why was he called Jered? Because manna came down [yarad] for Israel in his days. "Gedor": [he was so called] because he fenced in [gadar] the breaches of Israel. "Heber", because he joined [hiber] Israel to their Father in heaven.
"Socho", because he was like a sheltering booth [sukkah] for Israel.
"Yekutiel", because Israel trusted in God [kiwu le’el] in his days.
"Zanoah", because he made Israel abandon [hizniah] their inquities.
"Father of", "father of", "father of": he was a father in Torah, a father in wisdom, a father in prophecy.
The verse in its totality reads: "18 And his Judean wife bore Yered father of Gedor, Heber father of Soco, and Yekutiel father of Zanoah." The midrash reads each of these as another name for Moses, based on a pun for Moses’s qualities. In addition the words "father of" are not to be understood literally. Rather "father of" hints at Moses’s quality as "father of" Israel in Torah, wisdom and prophecy.
ואלה בני בתיה… אשר לקח מרד, וכי מרד שמו? והלא כלב שמו! – אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא: יבא כלב שמרד בעצת מרגלים, וישא את בת פרעה שמרדה בגלולי בית אביה.
"These are the sons of Bitya whom Mered took". Was Mered his name? Was not Caleb his name? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Caleb who rebelled [marad] against the plan of the spies come and take the daughter of Pharaoh who rebelled against the idols of her father’s house.
This verse refers to Bitya as Mered’s wife whereas above she was called Caleb’s wife. To resolve the problem we get another pun Caleb rebelled against the bad advice of the spies and Bitya rebelled against her father’s idols. A match made in heaven.