We can all imagine the scene. Several women are pleasantly schmoozing with one another, catching up on all of the latest news, and one of them proudly proclaims, “I get a big mazel tov!” The others turn to her and inquire, “What's the occasion? Did your son get engaged? Did your daughter give birth?” “No,” she exclaims, “Even better! My youngest son, you know my little genius… He just graduated, passed his boards and is now a doctor!! Imagine that, my son the doctor. What nachas!”

What parent wouldn’t be excited? As parents, there's nothing like getting nachas from our children's accomplishments. From the very moment that they're born, we are already dreaming and so vividly imagining how incredible and accomplished our little genius, superstar, doctor, lawyer.... rabbi?... already is! Once they're moving about, crawling, and babbling...forget about it. The whole world should clearly be able to see just how gifted, talented and amazing our child is! And when that grand day comes and our child officially becomes a doctor – wow, what can we say! And who don't we say it to??!!

In this week’s parsha, Va-eirah, the Torah for the first time identifies who the parents of Moshe Rabbeinu (our great leader Moses) were:  Amram and Yocheved. This is very strange, as Moshe’s birth and childhood, as well as his young adult years, were all discussed and recorded in last week’s portion. Yet, there the Torah is strangely ambiguous. The verse cryptically states only that his parents were a man and woman from the house of Levi. That's it. Why? Why the big secret then?  And then why in this week’s portion does the Torah finally reveal their identity?

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the great leader of the past generation, shares the following insight. He explains that when a child is first born, yes, we should be extremely, but at the same time we should realize that at present, he/she represents tremendous potential, but nothing more. We should not immediately crown them for accomplishments they have not yet achieved. G-d willing, one day, they will realize their full potential (or at least be well on their way), and at that point we can share our nachas with the rest of the world.  And so in last week’s parsha, when Moshe was born, the Torah merely identified his parents as being from the house of Levi , as if to say that this child, as precious as he was, at that stage showed only potential greatness. His parents were relegated somewhat to the background, as it was not just yet appropriate to share how great and accomplished their son was. However, in this week’s portion, when Moshe came on the scene already having proven himself well on his way becoming our greatest leader, his parents could step forward, be identified, if you will, and share their nachas with everyone. Now, it was no longer potential greatness; it had become true greatness.

If this is a lesson for parents, it is perhaps a  greater lesson for us as children, because every one of us is exactly that: someone's child. As stated earlier, what parent doesn't desperately want to see and receive nachas –  particularly Yiddishe (Jewish) nachas – from their child? We can provide that.

The truth of the matter is that nachas doesn’t depend on what our profession is, but rather who we are as human beings. Are we kind, caring, and giving? Do we treat our own parents with the love and respect they deserve? Are we striving to grow as Jews while also being good family members, friends, colleagues, and neighbors? Hopefully, we can look ourselves in the mirror and say yes. But at the same time, it is very important to conduct a self-evaluation every so often and make sure that we are living up to our own, and our loved ones’, highest expectations. We have it in our power to give our parents the ultimate gift, the gift of true nachas.