Shabbos Nachamu and the rich Parshah Va’Eschanan is so full of basic texts and a soulful haftorah that the supplication with which Moshe begins this Sidrah may be overlooked.
The translators of אתה החילות (Shmos 3:24), I think were motivated by the whitewashing that is so typical of the מפרשים, of the biblical exegetists. We often wonder how the supporters of this or that fascist are capable of viewing all the leader’s grievous sins through rose-colored lenses, as the expression goes. Yet, we watch the Patriarchs be forgiven for all kinds of transgressions, from child sacrifice to risking their wives lives (as with Avraham — at least twice with each sin), from piss-poor-parenting to out-and-out parental cruelty (as in Yitzchak having no empathy for Eisav’s plea) and from gross filial malfeasance to narcissistic concern about one’s self image (as with Ya’akov worrying about how he’ll stink among his neighbors if they discover the Chamor genocide). And to my way of thinking Yoseph’s sadistic narcissism and Moshe’s battle with some incipient modesty complete the pictures that the Commentators would choose to whitewash.
In this week’s Parsha, I recommend looking through the commentaries that give two thumb drashas on why God refused moshe’s plea to allow him to see the fruits of his labor for leading a difficult people. I won’t review them; they are there for the picking.
I will but call our attention to the opening of his supplication to God (Shmos 3:24).
ה׳ אלוקים אתה החילות להראות את עבדך את גדלך
God, You began to show (I) your servant your strength
As far as I know, the word החילות only appears one other time and that's with Haman's wife ....”Hay-my-man, now that you've “begun” to fall before Morty, you're Oisgephukte in gantzen.” Any case ... Here, it is not unreasonable to my way of thinking to read אתה החילות only as 'You began to show your servant' ... And there is, to my way of thinking, but one way to parse this:
'now that you did start to show me, you're obligated to continue.'
חוצפה .… Chutzpah
I would turn down such a request, too. And so typical of the Moshe who feels entitled and is full of rage ... as he is in his cursed-blessings in האזינו and זאת הברכה and having no intention of going quietly into that dark night. Interesting that in this Parsha, Moshe refers to the people by their “wisdom and understanding” חכמתכם ובינתכם … and in just some weeks we shall read those later Parshas when he screams:
עם נבל ולא חכם
An imbecilic people … oy! … and not wise, either.
Always preferred, to my way of thinking, to take reality and people ‘neat’ … באשר הוא שם (In that they are there … Breishis 21).
Any case, let us not be surprised when followers of either a malevolent or a beneficent leader find every means to whitewash those sins of their leader. Call it Tribalism, call it Group-Think, call it Grunsk-in-the-morning, if you like. There is a Fundamental Attribution that the Psychologists talk about … one version of it leads to seeing everything that is ours as Kosher and all else as Road-Kill.
Don’t believe it? Listen to someone locked into some form of athletic chauvinism singing the praises of their losing team.
Disclaimer: I’ve been married to a sports fan for ~53 years.