Who Was Tzipora, the Wife of Moshe, the Greatest of All Prophets?

Imagine what outstanding middot and refined qualities a girl would need to possess to be worthy of marrying Moshe Rabbeinu – the undisputed leader of the Jewish nation. Let us explore the nature of Tzipora to see what qualified her for this unique position. 

The name Tzipora means bird, and it was a fitting name since Tzipora was swift as a bird to do the will of Hashem¹. Furthermore, a bird is kosher and is one of the few animals that may be brought as a korban – just as Tzipporah was pure enough to merit marrying Moshe Rabbeinu². Tzipora – like a bird, purified her father’s house from idol worship, just as a Kohen purifies a metzora with the blood of a bird³. Additionally, the name Tzipora comes from the word ‘tzafra’ meaning the morning, since her beauty radiated like the morning sun⁴. It is also derived from the Hebrew phrase, ‘tzafu ureu’ meaning look and see since Tzipora was a woman of great beauty⁵. 

The Torah describes Tzipora as a ‘Kushi’ meaning a person of black skin. 

The Sifri comments that she was termed black since she was as distinctive in her beauty and actions as a black is in his skin⁶. She was as beautiful in her youth as she was in her old age⁷. 

Tzipora was righteous and would become a convert to Judaism. She was one of seven daughters born to Yitro, and just as her father saw the authenticity in Judaism and rejected all other deities to serve Hashem, Tzipora followed in his footsteps and joined the faith of the Jewish people. 

Moshe met Tzipora at the well, just like his forefather Yaakov met his wife Rachel, and Eliezer encountered Rivka as a marriage partner for Yitzchak. Since Yitro had no sons, his daughters were tasked with drawing water from the well for the sheep to drink⁸. The other shepherds ostracized Yitro’s daughters because Yitro rejected idol worship. When the shepherds saw Yitro’s daughters, they impatiently snatched their water away from them and threw the girls into the well. Moshe came to their rescue⁹, and the well water miraculously rose towards him when he came to draw water from it. This was indicative of the fact that he was a great tzaddik.

When Moshe requested Tzipora’s hand in marriage, Yitro responded to him with a challenge. He showed Moshe a beautiful tree that had grown in his garden, which had produced nuts and blossoms. This was no ordinary tree, it was a supernatural tree whose existence dated back to the sixth day of creation. When Hashem created Adam, He gave him a miraculous staff for safekeeping. Adam passed this staff down from generation to generation until it came into the possession of Yosef. When Yitro left Egypt as a fugitive fleeing the wrath of Pharoh, he took the staff with him and planted it in his garden. 

Tzipora, in her great righteousness, possessed the same outstanding qualities as our holy matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah. This demonstrates that one need not be born virtuous to reach closeness to Hashem. So long as one seeks Hashem and desires a relationship with God, one can reach extremely high levels. One should never deny oneself greatness on account of one’s parent’s lowly origins.

By some miracle, the staff blossomed into a wonderful tree. Many young men sought Tzipora’s hand in marriage since she was a truly remarkable girl. Each potential suitor was told to try and pull the staff out of the ground, however no one succeeded in this endeavor. Each man who attempted to remove it was swallowed up by the tree. Yitro told Moshe that if he was able to uproot the staff from the ground then he would have the privilege of marrying Tzipora¹⁰. To Yitro’s amazement, Moshe pulled the staff out of the ground with ease. No other man could achieve this feat because Moshe was Tzipora’s destined mate¹¹.

Tzipora, in her great righteousness, possessed the same outstanding qualities as our holy matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah¹². This demonstrates that one need not be born virtuous to reach closeness to Hashem. So long as one seeks Hashem and desires a relationship with God, one can reach extremely high levels. One should never deny oneself greatness on account of one’s parent’s lowly origins. Yitro worshipped every idol known to man before coming to the truth, however, this didn’t stand in the way of Tzipora becoming supremely righteous. 

The commentators mention that Tzipora was blessed with beauty and grace. This is somewhat strange since external beauty is not generally a virtue by the Torah’s standards. In Eishet Chayil we say, “grace is false and beauty is worthless, but a woman who fears Hashem should be praised.”¹³ This teaches us that beauty is only praiseworthy when coupled with yirat Shamayim. When the two work together in tandem, it produces a most wonderful result as in the case of Tzipora. 

When Moshe failed to give a bris to his son Eliezer due to his urgency in leaving Midyan to travel to Egypt, Hashem sent an angel in the form of a snake to swallow Moshe. The halachic obligation of performing a bris mila is the duty of the father. Since Moshe didn’t fulfill his obligation, he endangered his life. When Tzipora saw that her husband’s life was in danger, she quickly took a knife and performed the bris herself. As soon as she completed the bris, the angel freed Moshe, and his life was saved. Tzipora teaches us how to take action in performing a mitzva and how to make haste to do the will of Hashem. She shows alacrity in doing what is correct, and it was her foresight and bravery that rescued Moshe from death. In fact, from this incident, we learn that a woman may perform a bris mila on a child, although she is not obligated to do so¹⁴.

Tzipora had the great privilege of marrying the greatest man of the generation. We too should strive to cleave to talmidei chachamim in every manner possible. Tzipora had many outstanding qualities which we should seek to emulate. She possessed holiness, righteousness, and alacrity.

May we merit to follow in the footsteps of the righteous Tzipora, and may we possess much internal holiness and beauty that will radiate outwards to light up the world.

1. Shmos Rabba perek alef ↩︎
2. Yalkut Reuveini ↩︎
3.  Medrash Agada brought by Torah Shlaima ↩︎
4. Chizkuni ↩︎
5. Midrash Avachir ↩︎
6. Bamidbar 12, 1 ↩︎
7. Sifri Behaaloscha, 99 ↩︎
8. Medrash Tanchuma ↩︎
9. Shmos Rabba ↩︎
10. Medrash Vayosha ↩︎
11. Sefer Hayoshar ↩︎
12. Yalkut Shimoni 168 ↩︎
13. Mishlei Perek 31 ↩︎
14. See Shulchan Aruch,Yoreh Deia 264 : 1 ↩︎