[Avodah] the word "gadol"

[Joshua Meisner]

On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 6:21 PM, Michael Poppers
<MPoppers at kayescholer.com>wrote:

>  In his shiur this past motzoei Shabbos on the transition from the N'vi'im
> (w/ Yirmiyahu being the last to speak in [these terms are mine] "rebuke
> mode" as opposed to "chessed mode") to the Anshei K'nesses haG'dolah,
> RYReisman spoke a bit about the meaning of the word "gadol." IINM, he quoted
> Rav Dessler z'l' as saying that this word in early times certainly referred
> to greatness in chessed/doing for others (as opposed to greatness in stature
> or, I would assume, honor), and he worked with that theme in explaining the
> thoughts of GRA on the first b'rachah of the Amidah as well as various other
> matters. Not that this needs my hasqamah, but p'suqim like the last one in
> M'gilas Estheir and the one related to the Shunamis of M'lachim Beis do IMHO
> make more sense with such a p'shat. However, and this is why I'm writing,
> how does one understand p'suqim like "gam ha-ish Moshe gadol m'od b'eretz
> Mitzrayim" of this week's parashas hashavua (P'Bo, for those reading this
> during a different week :)) in light of such a p'shat? Thanks.
>
> The Meshech Chochmah notes that the gadlus that the avdei Par'o - the
chartumim and sarim - would have seen in Moshe was different than the gadlus
that the hamon am would have seen in Moshe, and darshens the order of the
two groups in the passuk in this sense.  Had Moshe merely been an incredible
magician, his fame would have spread from the hamon am up to the leaders,
but the mention of the leaders first implies that they were the first to
recognize "his natural behavior, his wisdom, his humility, and all of his
middos in being concerned for the good of others and showing mercy in all of
his attitudes and actions", and that this respect trickled down to the hamon
am.

He doesn't explicitly mention chesed, but his pshat seems to be along those
basic lines.

Joshua Meisner
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