Shemot: A Reflection on Human Nature
Our Torah portion, Shemot, recounts that when Moses grew up in Pharaoh's household and went out to see his brothers, he saw "two Hebrew men fighting," that were striking each other. Moses' reaction was, "And he said to the wicked one, 'Why do you strike your fellow?'" The word 'strike,' in the future tense, indicates that the man had not yet struck his fellow, and yet, he is already called 'wicked.' Indeed, the Torah (Sanhedrin 58b) learns from this that "one who raises his hand against his fellow, even if he has not struck him, is called wicked." We can view the raising of the hand as the beginning of the act of striking another. This is the novelty of this matter: even the beginning of the act of striking causes a person to be called 'wicked.'
However, the assertion that the person is called 'wicked' is not only…
