לזכר נשמת אמי שולמית בת ר’ יעקב אליעזר
As the Exodus was approaching Hashem said to Moshe,
דַּבֶּר־נָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ כְּלֵי־כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב׃
וַיִּתֵּן ה’ אֶת־חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרָיִם גַּם הָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה גָּדוֹל מְאֹד בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּעֵינֵי עַבְדֵי־פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי הָעָם׃“Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from her’s, objects of silver and gold.” The LORD disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, the man, Moshe was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people. (Shemot 11:2-3)
Why is Moshe referred to here as, הָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה, “the man, Moshe”? The commentary , Meshech Chochma, explains that the greatness of Moshe was perceived by the Egyptians in more than one way. Moshe is called אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ-ים, the man of G-d. Meshech Chochma explains that this refers to Moshe being Hashem’s conduit for His miracles. That clearly put Moshe way beyond the scope of a regular human being. But there was another aspect of Moshe. They saw Moshe the person.They saw ,as Meshech Chochma writes, a humble and caring individual who was merciful in all his thoughts and actions. They saw him as an אִישׁ, a a man/person in the truest sense of the word. Someone that we call a mensch (the Yiddish word that means person and is used to depict a person of character).
This is what the Torah is conveying when it states, “the man, Moshe was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.” They saw a real mensch.
Now the Meshech Chochma wrote that the Egyptians saw in Moshe a humble and caring individual who was merciful in all his thoughts and actions. How and when did they see this? Did they follow him around and see how he interacted with the Jewish slaves? I believe that this took place at the most logical time they would have seen Moshe. This was when he came and told Pharaoh to allow the Jews to leave to worship Hashem in the desert or He would bring a plague upon them. Is this the time to see Moshe as humble, caring, and merciful? This would seem to be the time to see him as someone who meant business! I would suggest that Moshe approached Pharoah with humility. And as he warned Pharaoh to allow the Jews to leave it was apparent to everyone that Moshe had no interest in seeing the Egyptians suffer. It was clear that when Moshe warned Pharaoh about a plague that he did so hoping that Pharaoh would have mercy on himself and his people. Moshe delivered a firm message from Hashem but it was accompanied by his care and mercy for other human beings. Even the Egyptians who suffered through Moshe appreciated him for being a mensch.
The first half of the verse states that Hashem gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. Otherwise they would have never given away their gold and silver to the Jews. But there is no mention that Moshe’s esteem was given by Hashem in the eyes of the Egyptians. That’s because it wasn’t necessary. Everyone appreciates a mensch.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak