Moses, the Man

(10) And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face;

(1) And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. (2) And the woman conceived, and bore a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. (3) And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. (10) And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and said: ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’... (11) And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (12) And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

(19) And they said: ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.’

(6) And she opened it, and saw it, even the child; and behold a boy that wept. And she had compassion on him, and said: ‘This is one of the Hebrews’children.’

(22) And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said: ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land.’

(11) And Moses said unto God: ‘Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?’

(10) And Moses said unto the LORD: ‘Oh Lord, I am not a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’

(21) And Moses said: ‘The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and yet Thou hast said: I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month!

...If sheep and cattle were slaughtered: This is one of the four cases in which R. Akiva expounded, and R. Simeon expounded differently. R. Akiva says,“Six hundred thousand people on foot, and You have said that I will give them meat, and they will eat it for a full month?” The entire verse is expounded literally. The clause, וּמָצָא לָהֶם means, “Would it suffice for them?” This is similar to [the clause,]“and he has sufficient means (וּמָצָא) for redeeming it” (Lev. 25:26). Which [case] is worse? This one, or [when Moses said] “Listen now, you rebels” (20:10)? [Obviously, this one.] However, since [in this case] he [Moses] did not say it in public, Scripture spares him, and refrains from punishing him. But that of Meribah was in public, so Scripture does not spare him. R. Simeon says, God forbid! This never entered the mind of that righteous man. Would the one about whom it says, “he is trusted throughout My house” (12:7) suggest that the Omnipresent cannot provide for us sufficiently? Rather, this is what he meant: “Six hundred thousand… on foot… and You say, 'I will give them meat for a full month’? Then You will kill such a great nation? Will sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them so that they should then be killed, and this meal will satisfy for them forever [i.e., it will be their last]?- [Tosefta Sotah 6:4]

(14) I am not able to bear all this people myself alone, because it is too heavy for me. (15) And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in Thy sight; and let me not look upon my wretchedness.’

(18) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is spirit, and lay thy hand upon him;

Moshe said: If the daughters (of Zelophchad) inherit, is it not by law that my sons inherit my honor (as the next leader)? God replied: Your sons sat and did not engage in Torah study, Joshua gave you honor and served you greatly.

Q: Why did Moshe's sons not study Torah?

(30) And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

(9) And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He commanded him. (10) And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them: ‘Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?’ (11) And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. (12) And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’