The Talmud teaches that as soon as Pharaoh declared, "Any son who is born — you shall throw him into the Nile," a notable of the tribe of Levi named Amram divorced his wife. All the other men followed suit. Miryam, his daughter, immediately confronted him: "Father, your decree (g'zayrah) is harsher than Pharaoh's. Pharaoh decreed against the boys, but you have decreed against both boys and the girls! Pharaoh's decree may or may not be fulfilled, but your decree shall certainly be fulfilled." Amram listened, took back his wife, and she soon gave birth to a son, who turned out to be Moshe, the redeemer.
Miryam compares two "decrees" that affect Amram himself and the Israelites as a whole. One is from the outside, from Pharaoh. The other is from the inside, from Amram himself. No one would argue that Pharaoh's decree is not real. No one would dispute that Pharaoh's decree is in fact the source, the reason the Israelites' future hangs in the balance.
And yet, Miryam suggests that her father does not distinguish clearly between what is inside him and what is outside. He experiences only a reality of g'zayrah – decree, a situation that will be only one way, that has only one possible end. Miryam calls that into question. She challenges Amram to see that the outside does not have the only word or the final word. Miryam does not promise that things will be better. She does not blame the victim — she does not claim that Pharaoh is nothing, that Amram is everything. She only says that Amram need not be defined 100% by the outside.
One of the most consistent findings of modern psychology is that we tend to blame others for their actions, but to attribute our own actions to the pressure of outside circumstances. Our circumstances do shape our lives and choices, and influence our lifelong patterns. But no matter what, there is always an inside. It is important to know the difference between what Pharaoh decrees and what Amram decrees. No matter how powerful Pharaoh's g'zayrah might be, there is still Amram. In each of us, Amram still decrees, even when Pharaoh decrees. And when that is hard to realize, we need to hear Miryam. She might be a person outside, who has been trying to persuade us. Or a voice inside, worth taking the chance to trust.
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