When first we meet the adult Moses, as a prince of Egypt, he is observing the Hebrew slaves as they toil under their taskmasters. When one begins to abuse a Hebrew, Moses, as Shemot 2:11 recounts, “turns this way and that, and saw that there was no man” to stop this act of barbarity and takes it upon himself to do just that. For his trouble, he is mocked for his interference by his own people, expelled from his palatial home and exiled to the land of Midian.

What does Moses learn from this experience? We see that when he is next challenged to step up, when the daughters of Midian’s high priest are being accosted, some say with the threat of rape, Moses, without a moment’s hesitation, puts himself between the daughters and their tormentors and drives them away. This is for women he had never met, who were not of his people or his tribe; they were simply human beings in need of heroic action.

Even in the face of personal misfortune, the lesson Moses learns is not to bow his head and move along, nor is it to go about his day as though what happens to others does not matter. He learns that his failing was waiting for another to act before acting himself. He learns that regardless of who suffers, it is upon him to protect them.

If we can learn one thing from Moses, it is this: Act. Speak out against injustice, before it is too late. Speak out now against murder, abuse, rape and genocide. We’ve spent too long “turning this way and that,” looking for someone else to step up and do what we know to be right.

This shabbat, we read parshat Bo, the penultimate chapter in the recounting of the exodus from Egypt. It is our hearts’ deepest desire that we find ourselves in the penultimate chapter in the story of Darfur, and that soon, with our help, the Sudanese people can find the peace they have been denied for so long.

Note: Loosely based on the Drasha given by Rabbi Mordechai Silberberg at Chabad House at the University of Western Ontario