The cries of an afflicted nation proved too intense to go unanswered.  God tells Moshe that he will be the Divine emissary to free the enslaved Jewish nation and allow them to be a free people in their destined land.  Moshe took leave of Yisro and began the journey to Egypt with his wife, Tzipporah and their two children.  The Torah then records a strange episode.  “Now he was on the way, in an inn, that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. So Tzipporah took a sharp stone and severed her son's foreskin and cast it to his feet, and she said, "For you are a bridegroom of blood to me." So He released him. Then she said, "A bridegroom of blood concerning the circumcision (Shemos 4:24-26).”  Just a few verses earlier God was insisting that Moshe accept the responsibility of leading the Jewish people and now God stands ready to kill him? 

The Talmud (Nedarim 31b) explains that God was upset that Moshe had delayed the bris (circumcision) of his newborn son.  The Talmudic sage, Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi) explains that had Moshe circumcised the child while they were in Midyan it would have delayed their travel down to Egypt (a child post-circumcision is in a precarious state of health).  Therefore, Moshe decided to begin the journey and when they would be in close proximity to Egypt, Moshe would perform the bris.  So why was God upset?  Mipney she’nisaseyk b’malon techila, because Moshe took care of their lodging arrangements first (before performing the bris). Moshe should have circumcised his son first and then looked for lodging and accommodations afterwards.  The Divine wrath was not a result of Moshe’s failure to perform the bris in Midyan (God agreed with Moshe’s thought process), it was a result of Moshe’s misplaced priorities – it should have been circumcision first, lodging second. 

But is this such an egregious error that it should potentially cost Moshe his life?  Couldn’t God have understood that Moshe was a father, a husband looking to find shelter for his family? 

Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook (Orach Mishpat 143) explains this entire episode in a novel and dramatic fashion.  Why did Moshe take care of his lodging arrangements first?  After all this is Moshe Rabbeinu, a man who spoke with God, a man who understood that the future and success of the Jewish nation depended on adherence to the word of God. Why didn’t Moshe immediately take care of the circumcision even prior to looking for an inn?  Rav Kook explains Moshe didn’t want to simply perform the Mitzvah; he wanted to perform it with “hiddur, additional beauty.”  The concept of hiddur mitzvah, beautification of a commandment, refers to the idea that we don’t simply do the basic minimum in order to discharge our religious obligations, rather, we push ourselves to do more so we can be more.  By beautifying the mitzvah I make the behavioral statement that God’s commandments are important to me and something that I feel truly privileged to participate in.  Moshe did not want to do his son’s bris on the side of the road.  Moshe wanted the bris of his youngest son to be a beautiful moment of spiritual growth and elation. He wanted to make a celebratory meal, invite guests, and speak about the meaning of this physical bond between man and his Creator.  And so, he delayed the bris in order to find suitable accommodations – not just to house his family but for the performance of this important mitzvah.  But God did not agree with this approach.  “Mitzvah ha’ba l’yadecha al tachmitzena, if an opportunity for a mitzvah arises do not let it tarry (literally become chametz, leaven);” better to seize an imperfect present moment than to delay with the expectation of something greater in the unknown future.

This episode carries with it an important message.  There are opportunities that cross our life threshold each and every day.  So often we actively allow these opportunities to pass us by because we are “waiting for something better.”  There are times when we sacrifice our present for the hope of some unknown future.  It is true, often the opportunities before us are imperfect, tarnished and not what I desired and imagined – but they can be beautiful nevertheless.  Let us find the strength to take advantage of the beautiful life opportunities that present themselves before us and not spend a lifetime waiting for something better.