Parshat Shemot 5777-What really happened at the Burning Bush?

(Dedicated in memory of my father in law-R Meir Ben Binyamin -Prof. Manny Lehman zal whose yahrzeit is on 22nd Tevet)

ב  וַיֵּרָא מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה אֵלָיו, בְּלַבַּת-אֵשׁ--מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה; וַיַּרְא, וְהִנֵּה הַסְּנֶה בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ, וְהַסְּנֶה, אֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל.

2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

ג  וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה--אָסֻרָה-נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה, אֶת-הַמַּרְאֶה הַגָּדֹל הַזֶּה:  מַדּוּעַ, לֹא-יִבְעַר הַסְּנֶה.

3 And Moses said: 'I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.'

The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin-Lithuania d. 1896) in his commentary ‘Ha’Emek Davar’ on Torah makes a number of observations which change and qualify our perception of this famous episode. His first comment points out that the word

אֵלָיו-‘to him’ is different to the basic form (‘lo’-to him) in that the word  אֵלָיו

means:’ to him’ (out of a crowd of others), whereas ‘lo’ means ‘to him’ on his own. Therefore this event happened when Moshe was with other people (presumably other shepherds) and the novelty is that he was the only one to perceive this vision, whereas the others didn’t.

Another point that the Netziv makes is with regard to the next expression:

בְּלַבַּת-אֵשׁ--מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה. He asks that if the bush was on fire, then surely the Torah would describe the flame as coming ‘from’ the bush , or from ‘above’ the bush. Why does it say מִתּוֹךְ “from the midst’ of the bush, which implies that the edges of the bush may not have been on fire at all. How are we to understand this? Moshe seems to have seen a fire burning without any sign of who set it aflame, and also that the bush was not burning except in the middle and not on the edges.

The Netziv concludes that the image was as follows. In fact the fire in the middle of the bush was being extinguished by the bush itself and this was clearly a strange phenomenon against the laws of nature, whereby the bush should have been destroyed by the raging fire. The bulk of the bush itself is not on fire, only the center of the bush.

Netziv also explains the phrase: וְהִנֵּה הַסְּנֶה בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ, וְהַסְּנֶה, אֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל. as meaning that the bush was burning in the middle, but ‘did not consume ‘the outside. If the whole bush was not being consumed, the word used would have been ‘ne’echal’ not ‘uchal’. The word ‘uchal’ implies a more active situation whereby the bush is putting out the flame without itself being consumed.

The import of this phrase fits with his general approach and it shows a tremendous sensitivity to the language of the pasukim. He also points out that in the next pasuk Moshe says that he must find out ‘why the bush is not burnt, which again implies that the bush is not on fire, contrary to our usual perception which is that the bush is totally on fire. The bush is actually consuming the fire, despite the fact that the bush is not being consumed. The fire is getting smaller but the bush remains the same rather than being consumed. The bush is actually ‘consuming the fire’.

The Netziv then deals with the symbolism of the whole event. For Moshe, the very sight of the flame in the middle of the bush only is a sign that this is a Godly vision as there is no sign of anyone setting the bush alight. The second issue that he saw was that the fire was going out. He also saw the angel of God there and realized this was a unique image which he alone had seen. The fire represents the Jewish  people suffering  and the Jews losing lives. This was obvious to him. But what was meant by the non-diminishing bush?

This second item really bothered him. How come that the decrees are weakening (as symbolized also  bythe fire  going out slowly) and that the Jewish people remain. How are the people who are suffering going to win in the end, as symbolized by the bush remaining . How will this happen? The fact that the decrees would diminish if the Jews were dying would make sense, as the decrees would have less people to apply to, as the Jews were diminishing. But this was not the true image that he saw. The bush was remaining in its entirety. The Jews will be getting the better of the Egyptians and Moshe could not understand why.

Moshe looks into the bush to see what is preventing the fire from spreading and from this he discovered why the Jews were not destroyed. The pasuk confirms this by saying:

 וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו אֱלֹהִים מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה- God called to him from the midst of the bush, confirming to Moshe that God’s voice is coming from the fire directly. This means that Moshe should understand that in the designs of the nations against us, God is present , and He confounds the decrees in the place where they are being made. He is in the ‘corridors of power’ and thwarts the plans from there. The Shechina is always with us, even in the places where the evil decisions are being made.The Netziv argues that the non-Jewish anti-Semite can see the hand of God in our survival more than we do and this is a phenomenon which has been documented many times.

We say in Hallel:

א  הַלְלוּ אֶת-יְהוָה, כָּל-גּוֹיִם;    שַׁבְּחוּהוּ, כָּל-הָאֻמִּים.

1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations; laud Him, all ye peoples.

ב  כִּי גָבַר עָלֵינוּ, חַסְדּוֹ--    וֶאֱמֶת-יְהוָה לְעוֹלָם:
הַלְלוּ-יָהּ.

2 For His mercy is great toward us; and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. {N}
Hallelujah.

The nations are praising God because they see His greatness in the fact that we have survived their machinations and evil designs. Many of these plans are unknown to us and only to them and they ‘praise’ (i.e.recognize) God for protecting us. The Netziv has deconstructed and rebuilt this story into a major insight about Jewish survival and this is a ‘miracle’ which many others have written about (see intro of R’ Yaakov Emden to his Siddur, where he argues that this is the greatest miracle that we have experienced in all our history).

With regard to my father in law zal, the burning bush seems a positive metaphor to describe his life and legacy. He was a constant ‘fire’ of zeal for both his Jewish life and learning and also for his scientific career ,which was trailblazing in so many ways, especially in the area of computer science which is so much part of everyone’s life today. He achieved a synthesis of Torah and Science and each area complemented the other in his connection and commitment to God.

May his memory be a blessing for his family and for the Jewish people. Tehee Zichro Baruch.