ויהי בימים ההם ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלתם ... (ב-יא)
We are all familiar with the famous Rashi that the meaning of “Vayigdal Moshe” - and Moshe grew up, is that Moshe Rabbeinu placed “his eyes and his heart to feel the pain of his fellow Jews.” Moshe was growing up in the palace of Pharaoh, completely exempt from the slave labor of the Jewish people. But he put his eyes in the right place! He put his heart in the right place and he went out to help others. He chose to be focused on othrs, rather than self-focused. This is the meaning of growing up!
My father, Rav Pinchos Hoffman shlita, loves to say over the following idea at every Bris in the family. We give the baby a beracha, “Zeh Hakatan Gadol Yehiye.” This is the small one, he should become big! Obviously we are not referring to his physical size! What exactly are we blessing the baby? When you want to know the meaning of a word in Hebrew, you look at the very first place it is found in the Torah. There you can understand the true significance of the word. So, the first place in the Torah that we see the words “Gadol” and “Katan” are by the luminaries. The sun is called the Maor HaGadol and the moon is called Maor HaKatan. The sun is the quintessential GIVER! It provides the entire world with light and warmth. Everything that it has, it shines outward. The moon, on the other hand, has absolutely no light of its own. It is a TAKER. It takes the light of the sun and reflects it. Since the sun is a giver, it is called Gadol, big, and since the moon is a taker, it is called Katan, small.
This is the true significance of these words. Being big has nothing to do with how old you are. There are older people who never grow up, because they never learn how to truly care and give to others. And then there are young people who willingly give up their time, their money and their honor to go out of their way for others. These people are called Gedolim! So, we give the new baby a heartfelt beracha: “Zeh HaKatan Gadol Yehiye” - now you are small. You are a taker! But B”H, GADOL YEHIYE! You should become a GIVER! You should be the kind of person who always thinks about others - like Moshe Rabbeinu!