When I teach tefillah to young children, one of my biggest concerns is when a child assumes that tefillah is something that we only offer to God when we have something good to tell him, and that God can only be found in moments when things are good. Instead, I try to remind students the essence of living a spiritual life is to seek God in every moment, in our highest highs, and our lowest lows, a lesson that we learn in this week’s parasha.
Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush is viewed by modern Jews as a transformational moment, not only marking a turning point in the Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom, but also in terms of the intimacy in the spiritual relationship between God and the Israelites. This reading is echoed in our rabbinic commentaries, who argue that the choice of a bush as the vessel of a divine revelation tells us something essential about the spiritual possibilities for our time. Regarding the burning bush, a midrash states:
“A certain heathen asked R. Yehoshua ben Karhah: What prompted the Holy One blessed be God to speak to Moses from the thornbush? He said to him: If it had been from a carob or a sycamore, you would still have asked, but to dismiss you just like that is impossible. Why from the thornbush? To teach you that there is no place without the Divine Presence, not even a thornbush!” (Shemot Rabbah 2:9).
In this midrash, we are taught that it is a mistake to assume that the divine presence does not reside in seemingly lowly things, but rather can be found in any time, place, or thing. Expanding upon this midrash, the Sefat Emet argues that it is also a mistake to assume that God’s presence could not be found in the Israelites’ slavery. He writes:
“In a flame of fire from the midst of the bush” (Exodus 3:2). The Midrash says that this is to show [that] “there is no place devoid of the divine presence- not even a thornbush.” This is the purpose of exile: that Israel make visible His kingdom, which is indeed everywhere. The true meaning of the word galut (exile) is hitgalut (revelation), that the glory of God’s kingdom be revealed in every place. This task is completed by the souls of Israel in this world, as the Midrash says on the verse: “I am asleep but my heart wakes. The sound of my beloved knocking: ‘Open for me!’” (Cant 5:2)" (Sefat Emet on Exodus 3:2).
In this commentary, Moses’ experience at the burning bush reminds all of us that we must never discount the possibility that God can be in a place where we do not expect it. While it was reasonable for the Israelites to assume that God abandoned them during their slavery, we should know that part of the journey from slavery to freedom involves God’s capacity to be present even in our most difficult moments.
Reflecting the message of both of these commentaries, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev argues that we need to look at God’s speech at the burning bush as a call to end not only the Israelites’ physical slavery, but their spiritual slavery, as well. Regarding the verse, “And the Lord said, “I have marked well the plight of My people in Egypt and have heeded their outcry because of their taskmasters…” (Shemot 3:7), Levi Yitzhak argues that this refers to the spiritual and physical slavery of the Israelites:
“When you ask God for some good thing, do not so with the intention of satisfying your personal needs; rather, do so to serve the blessed Creator wholeheartedly. When Israel were in Egypt, their awareness was limited, and their outcry emerged from their personal needs. They did not cry out for God to save them from their suffering so that they could better serve the blessed Creator--to be called the “People of the Lord”-for in Egypt their awareness was constrained.
“But the Holy One gifted them in two ways: God saved them from their suffering at the hands of the Egyptians, and He received their outcry as if they had been crying out on God’s behalf, that, as if they cried out that He save them from their suffering so that they could be called the “People of the Lord”" (Kedushat Levi on Shemot 3:7).
While the Kedushat Levi takes a spiritual approach to Moses’ encounter at the burning bush, the overall narrative of Sefer Shemot gives support to this interpretation. While the Israelites are delivered when from slavery the moment they cross the Red Sea, the climax of their exodus from Egypt occurs at Mount Sinai, where they form an eternal covenant with God. As such, the burning bush marks the moments when Moses realizes that a physical and spiritual transformation is possible for his people.
The entire exodus narrative provides us an opportunity to see how far the Israelites can fall into despair, and how Moses and God began a mission to lift the people up physically and spiritually. When we read the story of the burning bush, may we teach our children that they can see God even in moments of great despair, and finding God in those moments is the most powerful step we can take to begin the process of healing and transformation.
Shabbat Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment