שמות, פרק ב׳, פסוק י״ז

A sudden encounter at a desert well exposes a defining trait of a future leader: an uncompromising readiness to stand with the vulnerable, regardless of their background. When local shepherds arrive to harass a group of young women, a lone stranger steps in to restore justice. These shepherds appear to be a known group who habitually tormented the women [ברכת אשר על התורה]. Their hostility was rooted in deeper social tensions rather than a mere dispute over water. The primary approach among commentators is that the women's father, Jethro, had abandoned local idolatry, resulting in his excommunication. The townspeople boycotted him and refused to tend his animals, forcing his daughters to take on the heavy labor themselves. The shepherds driving them away was a direct enforcement of this social ban [רש״י, רבנו בחיי, הכתב והקבלה, דעת זקנים]. Alternatively, the confrontation was an act of pure bullying, with tyrannical men using force to steal the water the women had already labored to draw [בכור שור, ביאור יש״ר, קאסוטו]. Either way, the expulsion was a localized incident rather than a permanent banishment [נתינה לגר].

The nature of this physical confrontation is understood in several ways. Some suggest the women displayed remarkable resilience, bravely fighting back with the strength of men [העמק דבר]. Others focus on the shepherds' brutality, noting that they attacked the women with aggressive violence, completely disregarding the basic dignity usually afforded to them [רש ר הירש]. A third perspective emphasizes that the town's hatred was truly directed at their father, Jethro, making him the actual target of the hostility, even as his daughters bore the brunt of it [הכתב והקבלה].

Confronted with this violence, Moses immediately rises to their defense. Though he is a solitary stranger, he acts with the spirit of God, risking his own life against a violent mob to protect women he does not even know [ביאור יש״ר, ביאור שטיינזלץ, קאסוטו]. This act completes a profound cycle of justice in his life. Having previously saved a Hebrew from an Egyptian, and intervened between two Hebrews, he now rescues non-Jews from other non-Jews [קונטרס חיבה יתירה]. Because everyone involved in this dispute was a foreigner, Moses did not attempt to preach morality or seek vengeance; his sole focus was the practical, immediate rescue of the oppressed from their oppressors [ספורנו].

The exact nature of this rescue takes on different dimensions. Some traditions suggest the conflict escalated to the point where the shepherds physically threw the women into the well, and Moses had to save them from drowning [הדר זקנים, שפתי כהן, דעת זקנים]. Another tradition describes a miraculous occurrence where the well waters naturally rose toward Moses. Infuriated by their inability to block the water, the shepherds chased the women, forcing Moses to engage them directly in battle [רא״ש].

Following the rescue, Moses goes beyond merely stopping the violence and takes care of the women's needs. Because the shepherds had either stolen or spilled the water the women had previously drawn, Moses takes it upon himself to draw fresh water for their animals [מלבי״ם, בכור שור, רבנו בחיי]. In a final, extraordinary display of supreme kindness and a desire to establish peace, Moses does not stop at watering the women's flock. He extends his effort to water the flocks of the very shepherds who had just attacked them [העמק דבר, הכתב והקבלה, רש ר הירש].