THE BURNING BUSH

As I pen this blog for Parshas Shemos, I remember, well, my beloved and adored mother ע״ה , whose yarzeit we observe this Shabbat. Our Mother  ריבה בת יחיאל was truly an אשת חיל who was and continues to be remembered by our entire family and is our inspiration for all that is good in this world. May her life be emulated by her family.  זכרונה לברכה.

This weeks Sedrah introduces us to Moshe and his election as our שליח הי and how Hashem chose him as the redeemer of the Jewish People. As I peruse this Sedrah, my mind and heart are tuned to a most fascinating episode in the life of Moshe, the moment that he was introduced to Hashem at the burning bush.

The Torah describes it in this fashion;
  וירא מלאך הי אליו בלבת אש מתוך הסנה וירא והנה הסנה בער באש והסנה איננו אכל. 
"An Angel of Hashem appeared to Moshe in a blaze of fire from amidst the bush. He saw and behold the bush was burning in the fire but the bush was not consumed".

Moshe approaches the bush to see why  the entire bush is not burning?

The Rav , Rabbi Soloveitchik זצ׳ל   analyzes this phenomenon.  The Rav says: שהאש היתה באמצעו ובלבו של הסנה - "The fire was in the middle, in the heart of the bush, but not בחוץ, not on the outside of the bush. The peripheral part of the bush appeared as any other bush.

This caused Moshe to wonder; why didn't the inner fire spread to the outer part of the bush? Not only was Moshe perplexed regarding the burning bush he was also questioning whether the Jewish people deserve to be redeemed.

In response to his questions the Rav explained that Hashem was telling Moshe to look at the סנה, "You are looking at the חיצוניות, the outer layer of בני ישראל, the peripheral part of the people." Often, when one looks at the outer veneer of someone it may seem that they are not deserving of redemption.  However, you really need to look into the inner, the פנימיות of a Jew, for every Jew has that inner Yiddishe  Neshama , that special לבת אש, that special inner quality, that always remains pure and can never become soiled in any way.

It is only Hashem that can see this special fire that burns in the the soul of every Jew. In this way, Hashem showed Moshe that, indeed, the Jewish People truly deserve their redemption. 

There are times we may look at a Jew and their outer actions are inappropriate, but know well that the Pintila Yid, dwells within them and this inner core of the Jewish Neshama is the Z'chut that every Jew is worthy to be redeemed.

Too often we are quick to judge others, primarily, by what we see on the outside, but like the סנה, we need to look deeper into the פנימיות of that individual and when doing so we will see the goodness, and the attributes that they really possess.

Seek deeper into the inner core of people before you prejudge them and you will realize that they are living בצלם אלוקים.

There is a Chazal that says, "In the future, the Mashiach will have the ability to bring back all the Jews into the fold." The reason he will be able to accomplish this is his special ability and middah to judge every Jew favorably. With such an approach  we will have the Z'chut that every Jew will reconnect with Hashem and then the ultimate Geulah will be realized.

May it come quickly in our time.


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