Weekly Torah from Jewish Everything. Net

A Thought On Parshas Shemos

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"...va'yigarshum va'yokam Moshe va'yoshian..."
"...and they chased them away but Moshe got up and saved them..." (2:17)

The incident at the well is intriguing. Fugitive Moshe stopped near a well where the seven daughters of Yisro hoped to water their sheep. Rival shepherds came and chased them away but Moshe protected them and helped the girls tend to their flock.

The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 2:45 and Sanhedrin 2:7) writes that the path to Divine insight and to prophecy begins with a person feeling impelled within himself, on his own, to act with zeal and consciousness in doing what is right and good. "Rescuing the pious from the plot of the wicked, protecting a great person, bestowing positive influence on the many, and being alert to worthy and noble causes through which to actualize one's self constitutes "a heavenly spirit" driving a person to do good. Moshe Rabbeinu displayed this early on when he stopped the Egyptian taskmaster, when he admonished the Jew who struck his friend...even when Moshe was a fugitive and a frightened stranger passing through Midian, he could not tolerate others oppressing the weak. He could not restrain himself from doing what is right."

A person needs to do what is right because it is right. There are situations when we are in the minority or are newcomers or are outnumbered by belligerent others. The value of doing what is right is not, according to the Rambam, a matter of being foolhardy or of needing to "make a point" or of being compulsive and unemotional in behaving according to standard. The spiritual ideal is in one having a perspective that when someone is in trouble or in need then we cannot tolerate the presence of oppression and cruelty. We act with zeal because that constitutes goodness and embodies a Divine-like attribute.

An example of this may be the Talmudic adage (Yevamos 79a) that a Jew can be identified by three qualities: we are compassionate, we are modest and we are kind. There are poskim who write that this is not merely a "nice saying" or an ideal, but is rather a halachic axiom. If a stranger appears and claims to be a Jew but has no evidence to prove it, the local rabbi might put him under "surveillance" and observe how he adapts as he visits the community. A Jew, even a stranger, will not allow an opportunity to do good "slip by." Even though he may be only passing through town, he will do what is right when the need arises.

Many years ago, my family was in Israel for the summer and I was here alone. I still marvel at how a newcomer to the area, a rebbe in one of the yeshivos, met me and although he had just moved in himself in order to take a job at the school, he invited me for a Shabbos meal. I observed to him at the time that this was an illustration of that gemara's essence. He was a stranger in town yet the chance to be machnis orech, to invite a guest, was a chance that he jumped at. That is the path of Enlightenment.

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The Rosh is interested in the grammar in our verse. Va'yigarshum. And they drove them away. While seemingly this refers to the rival shepherds chasing away Yisro's daughters, the word is written in the masculine. Just as the later word va'yoshian "and he saved them" is in the feminine form, our word here should say va'yigarshun. The Rosh writes that his father taught him that the word takes on a very different meaning. It does not mean that "they chased them away" but it means "the well waters were obstructed" (compare Yeshaya 57:20). The shepherds blocked access to the well so that the girls could not use the water.

When Moshe approached the well, the waters rose and spilled over that boundary. Foiled, the shepherds then pursued the girls to harass them but again Moshe arose and fought them off. It was this report - that Moshe did not hesitate to do what was right and that his deeds seemed accompanied by Divine grace and intervention - that convinced Yisro that this was no ordinary man. This was a person who was a descendant of Yakov who was always prepared to do what was right. The "pious spirit" is escorted by Divine providence and those who protect others are protected by HaShem.

With HaShem's help, my next three parsha emails will be sent from Jerusalem.