Parashat Shemot (5761)

With God’s help, on the eve of the holy Sabbath of Parashat Shemot, 5761

“As He Now Is”: Between Sage and Prophet

In our portion we are told that Moses our Teacher, who grew up in Pharaoh’s house, went out to his brethren and saw an Egyptian man striking

a Hebrew man, one of his brethren. Then: “He turned this way and that way, and saw that there was no man,” and afterward: “He struck down the Egyptian

and hid him in the sand.” Rashi ad loc. cites a Midrash: “‘and saw that there was no man’—no one was destined to come forth from him

who would convert.” Before killing the Egyptian, Moses ascertains that no one was destined to come forth from him who would convert,

and only then kills him. This passage raises many difficulties, but here I wish to focus on an apparently

marginal point: the nature of Moses’ vision of the future.

A prophet is generally perceived as one who sees the future. Whereas an ordinary person can see only

what is happening in the present and remember what he saw in the past, the prophet is endowed with the ability to anticipate the future,

that is, to see events before the time of their actual occurrence.

Let us now try to think about what Moses our Teacher saw. Seemingly, he contemplated the future of that Egyptian,

and already now saw that no one who would convert was destined to come forth from him, and then decided to kill him. But it is clear

that this description misses the truth, and is nothing but an optical illusion. That Egyptian, whom Moses killed

a moment later, of course fathered no descendants after his death, and therefore had no descendant at all

who could convert. Moses our Teacher himself, by his very act, caused it to be the case that he would have no descendants whatsoever.

That Egyptian’s actual future was changed by Moses’ act, for he was put to death by him

at that very moment. If so, when Moses tries to contemplate his future, as it will actually unfold, he does not

observe anything at all. That unfortunate Egyptian had no future whatsoever. In such a situation Moses could not

see any future descendant of his, and certainly not ask whether such a one was destined to convert.

Someone might try to explain that the reference is to descendants that the Egyptian already had before he was killed by

Moses, but then Moses’ consideration seems pointless. If those descendants already exist, what do they have to do

with the question whether to kill their father now? Clearly the consideration was made on the basis of future descendants of

that Egyptian.[1]

Moses our Teacher’s vision in this case was not prophecy, at least not in its commonly understood sense, for he

beheld a “virtual” future, a future that was not going to occur at all. Moses beheld the future that was supposed

to occur if indeed the Egyptian were to remain alive, and not what actually occurred in the future. There are visions

of prophecy of this kind in other contexts as well (some claim that in fact all prophetic visions are

of this sort).

Let us sharpen the point a bit. In the case at hand Moses our Teacher did not contemplate the future at all, but the present. He

examined the Egyptian in his current state and concluded that, in light of that state, it was not to be expected that his descendants

who might emerge from him in the future would convert. What Moses our Teacher examined was the current spiritual state

of that Egyptian, and not his future.

When Ishmael was cast by Hagar beneath one of the bushes, the Sages tell us that a discussion took place in the heavenly

court as to whether to save him or leave him to die. The angels argued that he must not be saved, since he was destined

to harm Israel throughout history (down to our own day). The Holy One, blessed be He, answered them that He hears his cry

“as he now is,” and the Sages explain that the Holy One, blessed be He, established here a principle that a person is judged solely according

to his state in the present.

In the case of Moses and the Egyptian we see the other side, perhaps a somewhat less sympathetic side, of that same principle.

A person is judged according to his deeds in the present, “as he now is,” even if the outcome of the judgment in this case (unlike

in Ishmael’s case) is stringent. It is possible that the Egyptian, or someone among his descendants, would have repented,

or perhaps converted, and nevertheless he was judged stringently, “as he now is.”[2] In a similar vein, the Sages said

about one who says, “I will sin and repent” (that is, I will sin now, and afterward I will repent and everything will be atoned for),

that he is not given the opportunity to repent.

Moses our Teacher’s vision in this context was more the vision of a sage than the vision of a prophet. This is

a sage who contemplates the present, not a prophet who contemplates the future. The Sages tell us that a sage is preferable to a prophet.

In our context this can be understood in that a sage can see even a future that will not actually occur,

and in this respect he is preferable to the prophet, who sees only a future that actually comes about.[3] Contrary to what one might perhaps

think, a vision of the kind of “as he now is” is sometimes stronger than foresight (see

our remarks last week, which are very closely related to what is said here).

Prophecy has been taken from the world, but wisdom remains to us, and Israel is not bereft: “a sage is preferable

to a prophet.”

Have a peaceful Sabbath.

This page may be placed with texts designated for respectful disposal in any synagogue or religious academy. Comments are welcome.

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[1] It is interesting to note that the Sages tell us that the blasphemer who was among Israel in the wilderness (see Leviticus, chapter

24) was the son of that Egyptian. Even stranger, this son actually did convert, for he

was with the children of Israel in the wilderness (in fact he was the son of a Jewish woman, and the Malbim there discusses whether

before the giving of the Torah someone of this sort was required to convert). Seemingly, then, Moses did not foresee correctly

the future?! On the other hand, it is clear that this Egyptian could not have had sons after his death (a

virtual son cannot convert). Clearly, the blasphemer was the Egyptian’s son from before he was killed at the hand of

Moses, and that indeed was the sort of education he received. Moses our Teacher apparently ‘read him’ well.

[2] The Mishnah in chapter 8 of Sanhedrin says that a stubborn and rebellious son, and a burglar who breaks in at night,

are judged on account of their end. It seems that there too this is not prophecy in its ordinary sense but a correct

assessment of the grim present of such people.

[3] Of course, a prophet too can be in the category of a sage, and he usually is. If so,

when he contemplates with the vision of a sage he sees the potential future, and when he uses

prophecy he sees the future that will actually occur. It is customary to explain that Elijah the prophet, who will resolve

questions and difficulties (alluded to in the well-known acronym meaning, “The Tishbite will resolve questions and difficulties”), even though a prophet is not permitted to issue rulings in matters of Jewish law by prophecy

(“It is not in heaven”), will use his power as a sage and not the power of prophecy.

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