by Dr. Sharon Weiss-Greenberg
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
In her commentary at on 929, Dr. Sharon Weiss-Greenberg discusses the significance of Moses’s finding that “there was no איש (person)” in his encounter with the Egyptian taskmaster who was beating an Israelite.
Perhaps, with the enormous caveat that I am not condoning nor promulgating punishment without trial, Moses simply saw that nobody was going to do anything. Here was an Egyptian man powerfully beating a Jewish man. It would seem odd that this was happening in complete isolation. Moses looked around to see if anyone was ready to save the Jewish slave’s life. Not was there anyone of significance or importance but was there someone, anyone, willing to DO something of importance, that is, of saving someone’s life.
Read more at https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/page/52/post/40779
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Sharon Weiss-Greenberg is the Director of Development at ELI Talks. She is the former Executive Director of JOFA. She was recently named by the Jewish Forward as a "Forward 50" Jew of influence and by the Jewish Week as a person to watch as a "36 Under 36" honoree. Sharon has served as the Rosh Moshava (Head of Camp) at Camp Stone, as the co-director of the Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Harvard Hillel and as the first Orthodox woman chaplain at Harvard University. She has taught at Yeshiva University High School for Girls, Yavneh Academy in New Jersey, and the Denver Academy of Torah High School. Sharon earned her doctorate at NYU. She is an alumna of the Wexner Fellow/Davidson Scholarship graduate program, and ROI Community Member. She studied at The Drisha Institute for Jewish Education and received her B.A. and M.A. from Yeshiva University.