וַ֠יֵּרָ֠א מַלְאַ֨ךְ ה' אֵלָ֛יו בְּלַבַּת־אֵ֖שׁ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַסְּנֶ֑ה וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃
And the angel of the L-rd appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (Shemot 3:2)
Moshe is struck by this miraculous and confounding sight. Overcome by wonder and taken aback by the impossible contradictions, Moshe hears G-d’s voice calling to him from a bush of thorns. The bush is enveloped by flames but is not diminished by the forces of destruction.
This is the start of an epic journey of Divine revelation. Hashem appears to Moshe through the ‘sneh’ as a precursor to the revelation to all of Am Yisrael at ‘Har Sinai’. As the Midrash, ‘Lekach Tov’, makes the linguistic connection between these two words, we know that the voice at the ‘Sneh’ will progress into the redemptive sounds at ‘Sinai’.
Moshe absorbs this powerful vision of the Jewish People - set to emerge from the thorns and flames of Egypt, on its way to Sinai, and beyond.
But the Midrash goes on to make a further connection - a painful one. ‘Sneh’ also sounds like ‘Sinah’. Hatred. “The Sneh (bush): It comes from the linguistic root of, ‘Sinah’ - hatred - which descended to the idol worshippers.” This is reinforced in Mas. Shabbat 89a when the Sages debate the source of the name, ‘Har Sinai’. After some optimistic attempts, they too settle on the source of 'Sinai' as ‘Sinah’. The moment we received Hashem’s voice in the world - at the sneh and at Sinai - the hatred of the nations of the world rose up. As we bring light, the darkness descends. With their ‘hell-bent’ mission of destroying morality and truth, we emerge as the ultimate enemies of that sheer darkness and death.
We are, once again, witnessing the direct correlation between our efforts to bring light and morality to the world and our enemies’ barbaric attempts to overwhelm the world with more and more darkness. As we raise up the values of Har Sinai, the nations wish to pull down all that is good and pure, driven by venomous Sinah.
The Bush still burns. The Bush still stands. Am Yisrael Chay v’Keyam.
Why a thornbush specifically? Rashi explains that the voice doesn’t emerge, “...from any other tree, because of the concept of, “I will be with him in trouble” (Tehillim 91:15). The Mechilta explains that Hashem’s lofty voice emerges from the lowliest place of a thornbush, because when Am Yisrael is in pain, the pain sits right before Hashem - “I will be with him in trouble”. He speaks to us from within the pain - at our lowest point. He is right there with us - even in a lonely thornbush.
“And a new King arose” (Shemot 1:8) - but the story remains the same - thousands of years later - the bush is set alight, yet still stands. We can hurt and we can hope. We can heave and we can heal. We can be broken and we can build. We can cry and we can create. We continue - through the fear and flames. “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” (Shemot 1:12)
The Almighty - in this primal encounter - chooses to speak to Moshe through a contradiction that we still live in, survive in and P”G will, once again, thrive in. “The Nation of Eternity does not fear the long road.”
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Dedicated to the safety of our chayalim, the return of our captives and a refuah shleima for all. Written with continued Tefillot for the safe return and refuah shleima of Daniel Shimon ben Sharon btoch sha'ar shvuyey Yisrael.
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