Lawgiver takes law into his own hands: what does Avot say?

The Torah reading for this week's Jewish sabbath begins the book of Exodus (Shemot). The first few chapters introduce Israel's slavery in Egypt and briefly describe the formative years of Moses -- the leader and lawgiver whose story runs through to the end of the Jewish bible.

One event in this week's reading has continued to attract discussion for two millennia or more. It is Moses' departure from Pharaoh's household in search of his brethren, swiftly followed in the Torah narrative by the killing of an Egyptian man who was beating a Jew (Exodus 2:11-12).

Nehama Leibowitz ("Moses seeks out his brethren", Studies in Shemot: Exodus, 1981) observes that this is the first of three instances at the beginning of Exodus in which Moses intervenes to protect a victim from an aggressor. She comments that they reflect on Moses' character as a champion of the cause of justice. Here Moses comes to the aid of a Jew against a non-Jew. He later intervenes in a fight between two Jews (Ex. 2:13) and then, when Jethro's daughters get into difficulties with Midianite shepherds (Ex. 2:17), he takes the cause of one non-Jew against another.

In the Bible's account of Moses killing of the Egyptian, we learn that "He looked this way and that way" and did not strike the fatal blow until "he saw that there was no man..." What does this mean?

Taken literally, the Torah's words suggest that, since Moses did not wish to be seen killing the man, he looked both ways to make sure that there was no witness. For example Rabbi Yaakov Zvi Mecklenburg (HaKetav veHakabalah, 1839) thinks not. Rather, Moses was looking to see if there was any real man among the Jews who was prepared to stand up for the underdog -- but he saw no such person. The Netziv (Ha'Amek Davar) fastens on to Moses' penchant for due process under the law: he looked in vain to see if there was anyone to whom he could appeal for legal protection.

In here review, Nehama Leibowitz cites Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf Einhorn (the Maharzav), who focuses on the teaching of Hillel in Pirkei Avot 2:6 that, "in a place where there is no man, strive to be one", which he interprets in light of similar terminology in Isaiah 59:15-16 ("The Lord looked round ... He saw that there was no man ... so His own arm brought them victory").

The idea of taking the initiative, acting decisively when no-one else is available, able or willing to do so, can certainly be found in Hillel's words. We may however wonder if this was the meaning that Hillel intended them to have. This is because he spoke these words within a longer mishnah that addresses fear of God, piety and the ability to learn and teach Torah. Another point to ponder is whether we would even need a mishnah to teach us the imperative importance of decisive action, when an episode in the Torah -- Pinchas' killing of Zimri and Cozbi (Numbers 25:6-16) -- has taught us this already.

Thoughts, anyone?