Parshat Shemot - 5764

"The Prince and the Pauper"

Miriam had prophesied that "my mother will give birth to a son who will save Israel" (Megilah 14a). When Yocheved did give birth to Moshe, the "Chumash" says, "She saw him, that he was good" (Shemot 2:2). Rashi there cites the Midrash which says that when Moshe was born, the house became filled with light (Shemot Rabbah 1:19). Amram, the father of Moshe, according to the Gemara cited in Masechet Megilah, upon seeing the fulfillment of his daughter's prophecy, "stood up and kissed her on the head."

It was the time of the harsh decree that all Jewish baby boys had to be drowned in the Nile River, because that was the advice that the astrologers of the Pharaoh had given him, to cut short the life of the one who had the potential to be the savior of the slave population of Hebrews. Moshe, placed in a basket by his grieving mother, and set afloat in the marshes of the Nile by his sister, Miriam, was found by the daughter of the Pharaoh. The Princess of Egypt saved the infant, gave him the name by which he is known to all generations, made the courageous decision to adopt him (guaranteeing herself an honored place in the World-to-Come), despite her father's genocidal policies.

When Miriam suggested that the baby be nursed by a Hebrew woman, Moshe returned to the house of his parents, where he received his deep attachment to the Jewish People, bonding with his mother and receiving also the foundation of his deep attachment to his father which would cause him to name one of his sons "Eliezer," because the "G-d of my father had come to his aid." (Shemot 18:4)

Moshe spent his childhood in the royal palace, raised by the daughter of the Pharaoh, ultimately receiving a "Harvard"-like education there. Unbeknownst to his Egyptian retinue, he would slip out occasionally to spend time with his family, and also to internalize a critical leadership "skill" of the heart - what the Saba of Kelm called the ability to be "nosei b'ol im chaveiro," to share his fellow's burden; to empathize with the suffering of his fellow Jews.

His character was soon to be tested. One day, he observed an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Jew mercilessly. The "Chumash" records that Moshe "looked this way and that" (Shemot 2:12) and "saw that there was no man." Rav Yissachar Yaakovson in "Bina BaMikra" cites the "Ktav V'Kabbalah" who explains that somewhat enigmatic expression as meaning that Moshe looked from person to person among the many observers, to see if any of his fellow Hebrew slaves would come to the aid of their comrade, who was receiving the savage beating. When he saw that there "was no man," that no one was able to rise above the apathetic "slave mentality" sufficiently to want to "get involved," Moshe took action by himself, killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand.

The "Chumash" then recounts another incident involving the young prince. He meets two Hebrews fighting, and one is about to strike the other. Rav Yaakovson cites the Sforno, who explains that here Moshe takes no physical action but interrupts the fight verbally, exploiting his royal presence, and expecting the Jew (unwisely) to understand the foolishness and inappropriateness of his actions, "Wicked man, why do you strike your neighbor?" (Shemot 2:13)

The third occasion we have to observe Moshe at a scene of conflict is in Midian, the country to which he has fled from execution by the palace, where he is now recognized as a danger. The daughters of Yitro, Priest of Midian, shepherding his flocks, are being harassed by the local shepherd roughnecks, and Moshe comes to their aid. Here Moshe takes no violent action, nor does he attempt to point out their error to the Midianite male shepherds; he merely protects the weaker party, as it says in Kohelet, "And the L-rd is always on the side of the weaker party." (Kohelet 3:15)

Thus, the "Chumash" has painted the portrait of the man uniquely qualified to lead the Jewish People to Freedom, Physical and Spiritual. He has within himself empathy and identification with his brothers, a deep understanding of his Tradition, and also the presence to stand as more than an equal in the royal palace, as he will need to do in the coming confrontation with the Pharaoh. He will be the Messenger of the Almighty, commanding the King of Egypt to "Let My People go!"

On the first night of "Pesach," or Passover, the night of the Seder, very surprisingly Moshe's name is hardly mentioned! But there is no more central symbol that night than the Matzah. And the Matzah is a “double symbol.” At the same time, as the "bread over which much is told," it represents expansiveness and Freedom; as the "lechem oni," the poor man's bread, it represents Slavery.

Moshe, in addition to having been a real person was, in a sense, also a “double symbol.” At the same time, by virtue of having been brought up in the palace of the Pharaoh of Egypt, and infinitely more so by his position in the "palace" of Hashem, he represented ultimate human Freedom! Yet, by his identification with, and empathy for every single enslaved Jew, he represented Slavery. He was a "Prince" and a "Pauper." As the "anav mikol adam," the humblest of men, Moshe is hiding in the Matzah!

Of course, we have no leader today resembling in the slightest way the great Moshe Rabbeinu. But the Jewish attitude has always been "Yiphtach B'doro KiShmuel B'doro!" We must unite behind the less-than-great leader just as we would behind the great leader. And once we become a united nation, a "goy echad baaretz," one People united in the Land, hopefully Hashem will once again give us a great leader, in the likeness of a Moshe Rabbeinu or a David HaMelech.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel
Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU

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