AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM IN A FLAME OF FIRE FROM WITHIN THE THORN BUSH, AND BEHOLD, THE THORN BUSH WAS BURNING WITH FIRE, BUT THE THORN BUSH WAS NOT BEING CONSUMED.

(Shemot 3:2)

 

from within the thorn bush But not from any other tree, because of [the verse] I am with him in distress (Ps. 91:15).

(Rashi Shemot 3:2, Judaica Press translation)

 

An angel of the Lord appeared to him - R. Judah b. Nehemiah said: Moses, being a novice in prophecy, God said: 'If I reveal Myself unto him with a loud voice, I will frighten him, and if in a low voice, he will think lightly of the prophecy.' So what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He revealed Himself unto him in the voice of his father. Moses then thought to himself: 'My father has come from Egypt'; but God said to him: 'I am not thy father, but The God of thy father' (ib. 6).

(Shemot Rabbah 45:5, Soncino translation)

 

R. Eliezer said: Just as the thorn-bush is the lowliest of all trees in the world, so Israel were lowly and humble in Egypt; therefore did God reveal Himself to them and redeem them, as it is said: And I am come down to deliver them from Egypt (ib. 8). R. Jose said: Just as the thorn-bush is the prickliest of all trees and any bird that goes into it does not come out unscathed, so was the servitude of Egypt more grievous before God than all other servitudes in the world, as it is said: And the Lord said: I have surely seen (raoh raithi) the affliction of my people (ib. 7).

(Shemot Rabbah 2, Soncino translation)

 

The broad meaning of God's appearance in the bush is this important truth: "No place is empty of the Divine Presence, not even a bush" (Shemot Rabbah). Even the lowliest place is not beneath being a dwelling place for the Divine Spirit. All earthly existence, even that which is least important in human eyes, is designated and prepared for a divine purpose.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch Shemot 3:2)

 

Dedicated to my mother, Dr. Hava Shur,

who was a key collaborator in the project of translating Philo into Hebrew,

upon the occasion of her 80^th birthday.

An Egyptian man as Preparation for Being a Man of God

Yaron Shur

Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens. These seven Hebrew words [here translated] describe the first forty years of Moses' life. Since Scripture is so sparing in its language, the Sages of every generation have attempted to describe the process of Moses' education and personal development in various ways. He was, after all, the man who reached the highest levels of leadership and prophecy in Israel. The verse's seven words describe an unexplained process by which an Egyptian prince comes to side with the oppressed and enters into a struggle against the very Pharaoh who had adopted him.

Moses grew up - in order to comprehend the great drama and change that occurred in Moses' life it is necessary to describe the process of his being raised and educated in Pharaoh's house. Ibn Ezra found two reasons for attributing importance to the fact that Moses grew up as a prince: "Perhaps God arranged it for him to grow up in the royal house so that his soul would achieve the highest level through education and custom, and not be lowly and accustomed to a slave's home" and also "For if he had grown up among his brothers and they knew him from his youth, they would not have been in awe of him, since then they would count him as one of themselves." Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch states that Moses' education combines "valor, health, and strength. Only a healthy body, whose strength has not dissipated, can achieve the further requirements: clear thought that is capable of drawing wisdom from the Torah which is open before all people, and also wealth - implying independence." Philo of Alexanderia lived before the destruction of the Second Temple in first century BCE Alexandria, which was the center of Greek wisdom for hundreds of years and which produced sages such as Euclid, the father of geometry and Ptolemy, the father of astronomy. According to Philo, Pharaoh viewed Moses as his grandchild and sole heir. He groomed Moses to eventually inherit his throne. Moses was educated in Pharaoh's house of study, following an improved version of Alexander the Great's famous tutelage under Aristotle. Philo tells us that Pharaoh gathered all of the greatest sages of the region from Greece, Egypt, and Babylon in order to give Moses the widest and most general education. Emphasis was placed upon philosophy, music, astronomy, the natural sciences and mathematics. This description dovetails with the way RaMBaM describes Moses as standing before God and asking, Please show me Your ways. According to the RaMBaM in the Guide of the Perplexed I: 54, Moses was asking God to acquaint him with the laws of nature.

The description of Moses' education seems to stand in logical contradiction to the next words of the verse. And went out to his brothers - why would the Prince of Egypt suddenly want to leave the high walls of the royal palace? What brought him to feel any affinity to an oppressed nation that worked for his adoptive grandfather and to think of those slaves as his brothers? Philo explains the peculiarity of Moses' decision and offers a deep and modern psychological explanation of Moses' choice to make contact with his brothers. Philo says: "Therefore men in general, even if the slightest breeze of prosperity does only blow their way for a moment, become puffed up and give themselves great airs, becoming insolent to all those who are in a lower condition than themselves, and calling them dregs of the earth, and annoyances, and sources of trouble, and burdens of the earth, and all sorts of names of that kind, as if they had been thoroughly able to establish the undeviating character of their prosperity on a solid foundation, though, very likely, they will not remain in the same condition even till tomorrow... But Moses, having now reached the very highest point of human good fortune, and being looked upon as the grandson of this mighty king, and being almost considered in the expectations of all men as the future inheritor of his grandfather's kingdom, and being always addressed as the young prince, still felt a desire for and admiration of the education of his kinsmen and ancestors, considering all the things which were thought good among those who had adopted him as spurious, even though they might, in consequence of the present state of affairs, have a brilliant appearance; and those things which were thought good by his natural parents, even though they might be for a short time somewhat obscure, at all events akin to himself and genuine good things" (Yonge translation). Philo sees Moses' departure from the palace walls as a value-decision. Moses decides to connect with the Jewish culture of his ancestors out of a feeling that it is his culture and that it contains a truth which was missing in the culture he had studied in Pharaoh's house. The departure from the palace led Moses to seek a new path.

And looked at their burdens Rashi explains: "He directed his eyes and his heart to be distressed over them." Rashi is precise in reading the verse; literally, Moses saw in their distress and not saw their distress. In their distress - not a superficial sight, but rather emotional solidarity with the sufferer. Here Rashi follows the midrash in Shemot Rabbah (1:27):

And went out to his brothers - two departures - that is to say that the departures were mentioned in order to tell us that if not for his desire to see Israel's suffering and to share in their troubles and toil he would never have left Pharaoh's palace, for there he was much liked and loved.

According to the midrash, Moses' personal qualities led him to take his leave of the palace. It was his brothers' suffering which led him to leave the place where he had been so loved and accepted.

According to Rabbi Soloveitchik, this connection with suffering in the world is Moses' central trait. In his article "Kol Dodi Dofek" he says that in Moses' moment of greatest closeness to God, when Moses asked Him, Show me Your ways, he was asking to come into contact with the source of suffering in the world and asked: "Why does suffering befall man? Why does the righteous man suffer and the wicked man succeed? This connection was not meant to provide Moses with theoretical understanding of suffering or to enrich his understanding of the world, but rather it was meant to help him search for ways to contend with suffering.

To conclude, the verse Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens describes in just a few words the stages of Moses' development, which sprang from a combination of education and Moses' unusual personal qualities. Education granted him abilities and broad-mindedness that would later find expression in his leadership of the people. The prince of Egypt demonstrated unusual personal qualities from the start. Moses did not wait for events to reach his safe domicile behind high walls; rather he chose to go out into the outside world where he met his brothers and demonstrated sensitivity to their suffering and readiness to completely overhaul his own life in order to contend with that suffering.

Moses' humanity is an important key to the understanding of his later story. It is interesting to ponder the word ish ["man"], which used to describe Moses at the beginning of his road and which appears again in connection with his impending death. When he meets Yitro's daughters in our parasha he is described as an Egyptian man. In the beginning of parashat VeZot HaBerakha in Devarim he is described as a man of God. Moses traverses dramatic and complicated processes in the course of his unique life, but through it all he remains a man. The possibility of remaining a man even after growing up in the house of an all-powerful king is tested at the beginning of his career. And went out to his brothers - this demonstrates that he has remained a man. He prefers to remain a man, even at the price of rejecting the crown. That ability reappears in his relationship with God. The man who achieved the level of there did not arise another prophet in Israel like Moses who knew God face to face was a man of God, that is to say: he remained a man even when he arrived at the pinnacle of spirituality. This is Moses' ability to contend with the great honor that was his portion while also remaining true to himself. This is the quality described in parashat Beha'alotkha with the words, and the man Moses was very humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth.

Prof. Yaron Shur teaches in the Hebrew University and in the Lander Institute.

 

The Oppressed Must be Saved from his Oppressor without Regard for Nationality

Two Hebrews - They were Datan and Aviram, who later left manna overnight (see Shemot 16:20).

(Rashi on Shemot 2:13)

 

Hebrews fighting - The verb fighting serves as an adjective which indicates a continuous activity rather than the usual past conjugation of Hebrew verbs. It implies that they were both constantly fighting, from which the midrash concludes that they were Datan and Aviram.

(Ha-Amek Davar, ad loc)

 

Two Hebrews - This comes to order to commend Moses. It shows that he did not kill the Egyptian on the previous day out of brotherly solidarity, but rather in order to save the oppressed from his oppressor. The proof is that on the next day he rebuked a man who caused strife with his fellow, even though both of them were Hebrews and it would have seemed appropriate to sympathize with the victimizer (as well as with the victimized), since he was one of his brothers.

(R. Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, Italy ad loc)

 

Even When Justified, the Killer Cannot Erase the Memory of the Killing

The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to Moses: "Moses, whose son are you?" He replied: "The son of Amram."

"And Amram is the son of whom?" He replied: "The son of Kehat."

The Holy One, Blessed Be He said: "Are any of them still alive?" He replied: "They have all died."

The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to him: "And you want to live!?"

He replied, "Master of the Universe, the first man [Adam] stole and ate against your will, and you sentenced him to death, but I - did I ever steal anything from you?! You wrote about me, My servant Moses, most trustworthy in my house - how, then, can I die?"

He said: "Are you greater than Abraham, whom I tested with ten trials?"

He replied: "Abraham fathered Ishmael, whose descendents enslaved your children."

He said: "Are you greater than Isaac?"

He replied: "Isaac fathered one who will destroy your House, and his sons will kill your sons."

The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to him: "Did I order you to kill the Egyptian?!" Moses replied to Him: "You killed all the firstborn of Egypt, yet I am to die because of a single Egyptian?!"

The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to him: "Are you comparable to me, killing and giving life? Can you give life as I do?"

(From the midrash Petirat Moshe found in Beit Hamidrash,

quoted in New Studies in the Book of Shemot by Prof. Nechama Leibowitz z"l)

 

Even While on the Run, Moses Does not Desist from Fighting for Justice

But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a well... but the shepherds came and drove them off. Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock (Shemot 2: 15-17). Moses came and sat by the well but the shepherds came and drove them off. Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock. Moses came and sat in judgment upon them, he told them: "Usually, men draw the water and women water the flocks, here women draw the water while the men water the flocks; there is a perversion of justice here."

(Avot de'Rabbi Natan 20:1)

 

"Come and note Moses' humility; even though he was fleeing like a commoner, and he saw the daughters of Yitro in distress, and he was not too proud to stand up and draw for them, but his soul was that of a son of the daughter of the king". This is to say that the awareness of his coming from the palace of the great Pharaoh did not prevent Moses our Teacher from standing by those unfortunate women who were robbed by the shepherds of Midian and acting on their behalf in their distress. From his first steps in approaching his brothers, upon seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he decided that the proper course of action is to intervene, to attack the attacker and to kill him. These events are testimony to his sensitivity to the suffering of people and to the quality of his leadership; from here we learn that he is qualified to be the faithful shepherd of his people.

 (Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Pashiyot haShavua, pp. 195-196)

 

The Place On Which You Stand - It Is Holy Ground! - What is Place?

The word HaMakkom - "The place" is be understood figuratively, its application being that Moses' value was very high, as is written, Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who will rise in His holy place? One of clean hands and pure heart.

(Ha'amek Davar, Shemot 3:5)

 

And Abraham returned to his place - to his humanness; he did not continue to seclude himself and pray, even though it is possible to be alone and pray even without revelation of the Divine Presence; he nonetheless discontinued his contemplation of the Divinity once he understood the will of God, and returned to his place.

(Ha'amek Davar, Bereishit 18:33)

 

And I will go to my place and to my land - to my value, that I will not be a servant to others, and thus is its interpretation in Bereishit Rabbah on the verse "And Laban returned to his place - to his bad habits."

(Ha'amek Davar Bereishit 30:25)

 

It is in this figurative manner that it is said: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place, meaning, according to His rank and the greatness of His portion in existence. Similarly in every mention of place referring to God, the sole intention is to signify the rank of His existence, may He be exalted; there being nothing like or similar to it .

(RaMBaM, Guide for the Perplexed, I, 8)

 

 

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $700
• English edition distributed via email $ 100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

In Israel, checks made out to Oz VeShalom may be sent to Oz VeShalom-P.O.B. 4433, Jerusalem 91043. Unfortunately there is no Israeli tax-exemption for local donations.

US and British tax-exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through:

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW ISRAEL FUND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS UNDER $100.

PEF will also channel donations and provide a tax-exemption. Donations should be sent to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New York, New York 10017 USA

All contributions should be marked as donor-advised to Oz ve'Shalom, the Shabbat Shalom project.

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

5,000 copies of a 4-page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.