B"H

Tuesday, Tevet 19, 5777 / January 17, 2017

 

In this week's Parsha, Shmot, we read about G-d’s first revelation to Moshe. "And Moshe was feeding the flock of Yitro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness and he came to the mountain of G-d, to Horeb. And G-d’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn bush; and Moshe looked and saw the bush was on fire, but the bush was not consumed.” 

 

“And Moshe said: I will go closer now and I will see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  G-d saw that Moshe turned to see, and G-d called to him out of the midst of the bush and He said, 'Moshe, Moshe, and he [Moshe] said, 'Here I am.'  And G-d said, 'remove your shoes from your feet for the place upon which you are standing is holy ground.'" 

 

G-d then tells Moshe, that He has heard the cry of the Jewish people due to the Egyptians' oppression.  "Therefore, now I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

 

Q. Why was G-d’s first revelation to Moshe from a thorn bush?

 

A.The Midrash tells that a gentile once asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha, "Why did your G-d speak to Moshe from the midst of a bush and not from a different tree?"

 

Rabbi Yehoshua answered, "Had G-d revealed himself from a carob tree, you would have asked the same question: Why that tree and not another one.  However, now that you asked, I will answer you:  G-d wanted to show Moshe that there was no place where He cannot be found and that He rests not only in the tall trees but also in a low bush.

 

The famous Torah commentator, Rashi, explains that by revealing Himself through a thorn bush, G-d was saying to Moshe that, just as the Jewish people were suffering,He too, is in pain, which is symbolized by the prickly thorn bush.

 

Q.   Why from a “burning” bush?

 

A.   To show Moshe that just as the fire didn't destroy the bush, so too, the Egyptians, or for that matter any other nation,willnot be able to destroy the Jewish nation.

 

For thousands of years the Pharaohs of every generation (their names may have changed, but their goals were the same), tried to destroy us. In G-d’s first revelation to Moshe, G-d made it clear that, just as the bush was not consumed by the fire, because G-d was there, so too, the Jewish people will not be consumed, for G-d is always with us.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY