Bat Kol International, Weekly Torah Nuggets
Parashat Shemot. Exodus 1:1-6:1
‘When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush…’ (Ex 3:4).
Moses’ encounter at the burning bush is a revelation. But it doesn’t happen all at once. At first, he ‘looks’ out of curiosity at an apparent natural phenomenon (v.3). Then he comes to realize the Almighty is addressing him. Bahya ben Asher (14th century Spanish Torah scholar) interprets this in terms of spiritual growth: like moving from a dark room into the sun and adjusting gradually to the light, so as not to be blinded.
In order for the people and Pharaoh to accept who is truly the God of the Universe: “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the children of Israel out from their midst.” (7:5), Pharaoh’s heart is hardened – he who thinks he is all-powerful will not bow to a ‘higher’ Power.
By the end of his life, Moses will be a great prophet. But a life of profound spirituality has to start somewhere, with small steps, and for Moses that special intimacy with the Lord begins here, not amid a scene of sophistication and grandeur, but at a prickly thornbush.
Reflection:
When I think back on my spiritual journey, can I be grateful for the small steps, lowly tasks, even ‘prickly’ things that were the start of something precious and profound?
Prepared by Teresa Pirola
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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”
Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4