Rabbi Joshua the Son of Karha Held Here Am I Implies I Am Ready for

"And He said, Moses, Moses, and he said, Here I am" (Exodus 3:4). What is the meaning of "Here I am"? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah said: "Here I am" ready for priesthood, "Here I am" ready for kingship. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You are standing in the place of the pillar of the world. Abraham said "Here I am," and you say "Here I am." "Do not draw near here" (Exodus 3:5) -- "here" (halom) means nothing other than kingship, as it is said: "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far (halom)?" (Second Samuel 7:18). And so it says: "Has the man come here (halom) yet?" (First Samuel 10:22). Of Joshua it is written: "And the captain of the LORD's host said to Joshua, Put off your shoe (singular) from your foot" (Joshua 5:15). But of Moses it is written: "Put off your shoes" (plural). "And He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham," and so forth. He was revealed to him in the voice of his father Amram, so that he would not be afraid. At that moment Moses rejoiced and said: My father Amram is still alive! The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham," and so forth -- I came to you with coaxing, so that you would not be afraid. Immediately, "And Moses hid his face" (Exodus 3:6). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, because you showed Me honor, I will show you honor before the eyes of all Israel. "And they were afraid to come near him" (Exodus 34:30), corresponding to what is written of him: "for he was afraid" (Exodus 3:6). And because you did not wish to look, therefore "he beholds the form of the LORD" (Numbers 12:8). And because you hid your face, therefore "the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone" (Exodus 34:35). "Behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come" (Exodus 3:9) -- this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, was seeing their servitude and their oppression.