The pasuk describes Moshe's encounter with the burning bush.
And Moshe said 'I will turn now to see this great sight, why is the bush not burning. And Hashem saw that he turned to see, and G-d called to him...'
The clear implication is that G-d only spoke to him when, and because he turned to see the bush. Why was that so great an act?
Moshe exhibited with this a tremendous desire to learn. He appreciated the greatness of the supernatural occurrence he was experiencing "HaMareh haGadol - This great vision", and wanted to understand it.
But it was more than that. The Medrash describes the setting under which Moshe found himself by the bush. "Moshe had gone to the desert to prevent his flock from grazing on private grass. One sheep broke away, and Moshe chased it till it collapsed from exhaustion in front of Har Sinai. Moshe lifted it to bring it back to the flock, but then saw the vision of the Bush. Hashem had said, in essence, that he who cares enough about the individual lamb would care enough about His people."
So, when Moshe turned to the bush, what happened to the sheep?
Moshe could have decided to bring the sheep back and return afterwards to investigate the "fire". Just dropping the sheep after all his efforts to get it must have been quite frustrating.
But Moshe understood that "tomorrow" doesn't always arrive. He had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a fire such as this, and he wasn't about to let that chance slip through his fingers. This quality of recognizing the value of NOW is vital for a leader.
Lastly, Moshe was willing to re-prioritize. A minute before, he had only one goal, that of saving his livestock. Mid step, he was willing to rethink if that was really the ideal action. Deciding that his personal growth was more important (he could buy Yisro another animal) he abandoned his original goal entirely. How much is lost due to "well, its a waste of time, but I'm so close to the end..."?
R' B. M. Ezrachi, Rosh Yeshivah of Ateret, once said "a great man is one for whom every action is a great action". Someone who is constantly judging the value of his actions and reprising what his priorities should be and how to achieve them, considers every action important. He is the one who would drop everything to learn from the bush. And he is the one Hashem would choose to lead Klal Yisroel out of Egypt.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saved from drowning by Moshe
The gemara (Sotah 12b) describes the setting of Moshe's birth as follows.
1. Paro's advisors saw a star that represented the birth of Yisroel's savior.
2. They were not sure if he would be a Jew, so they advised to have all children (even Egyption) thrown into the sea.
3. The astrologers saw, through the stars, that Moshe had been placed in the water. They thought that to mean that the danger had passed.
4. Paro cancelled the decree to have all children thrown into the see.
The gemara then relays Moshe's comment that Klal Yisroel owed him appreciation: "It was only due to me - being put into the sea - that you were all saved. Had that not happened, the nation would have been drowned."
I don't get it. True, the decree was only cancelled because of Moshe. But it was only enacted because of Moshe as well!
In discussing this with my father shlita over Shabbos, he suggested that this is very similar to what happened with Mordechai. Mordechai instigated the fight with Haman that endangered the Jews, and is then given much credit for leading us to a advantageous resolution.
Is it possible that one must thank someone for helping him when he created the problem? Did Yosef owe his brothers appreciation for pulling him out of the pit after casting him into it? I find that hard to imagine!
When Chazal discuss the reasons for the decrees of Purim, Mordechai is not even mentioned. He was doing what he had to, and there could have been no way that would have lead to disaster, unless the tragedy was otherwise iminent and deserved. In fact, the conclusion of Purim - "Kiymu Mah SheKiblu Kvar - was that the people accepted that the actions of and enactments are made by the Rabonnim for the sake, and with the knowledge of, the Torah. They repented blaming Mordechai for causing a tragedy that he was incidental to.
We can suggest that a similar thing happened with Moshe. At some point the desperate Egyptions would have ordered the drowning of all Jewish children. Had that happened, the decree would have continued until there was no more nation, chas vsholom. Such a decree did not happen though, since the first time the thought of drowning children was floated, it was targeted Moshe, and included even the Egyption children [in theory]. Such an edict clearly could not be maintained indefinitely. As soon as the threat passed, the issue was cancelled, and was probably too sensitive a point to be raised again, even had Paro wanted to.
Perhaps a support can be found in the eventual retribution of the Egyptions. They are drowned at sea, as punishment for drowning the Yisroeli babies. Despite the fact that the decree was relatively short lived, and included Egyption babies as well [although the Egyptions might not have complied with their own children]. Perhaps though, since they intended to make such a decree against the Jewish children, and only had to abandon the idea because of the way it worked out with Moshe, they are credited with having carried out their original nefarious intentions.
1. Paro's advisors saw a star that represented the birth of Yisroel's savior.
2. They were not sure if he would be a Jew, so they advised to have all children (even Egyption) thrown into the sea.
3. The astrologers saw, through the stars, that Moshe had been placed in the water. They thought that to mean that the danger had passed.
4. Paro cancelled the decree to have all children thrown into the see.
The gemara then relays Moshe's comment that Klal Yisroel owed him appreciation: "It was only due to me - being put into the sea - that you were all saved. Had that not happened, the nation would have been drowned."
I don't get it. True, the decree was only cancelled because of Moshe. But it was only enacted because of Moshe as well!
In discussing this with my father shlita over Shabbos, he suggested that this is very similar to what happened with Mordechai. Mordechai instigated the fight with Haman that endangered the Jews, and is then given much credit for leading us to a advantageous resolution.
Is it possible that one must thank someone for helping him when he created the problem? Did Yosef owe his brothers appreciation for pulling him out of the pit after casting him into it? I find that hard to imagine!
When Chazal discuss the reasons for the decrees of Purim, Mordechai is not even mentioned. He was doing what he had to, and there could have been no way that would have lead to disaster, unless the tragedy was otherwise iminent and deserved. In fact, the conclusion of Purim - "Kiymu Mah SheKiblu Kvar - was that the people accepted that the actions of and enactments are made by the Rabonnim for the sake, and with the knowledge of, the Torah. They repented blaming Mordechai for causing a tragedy that he was incidental to.
We can suggest that a similar thing happened with Moshe. At some point the desperate Egyptions would have ordered the drowning of all Jewish children. Had that happened, the decree would have continued until there was no more nation, chas vsholom. Such a decree did not happen though, since the first time the thought of drowning children was floated, it was targeted Moshe, and included even the Egyption children [in theory]. Such an edict clearly could not be maintained indefinitely. As soon as the threat passed, the issue was cancelled, and was probably too sensitive a point to be raised again, even had Paro wanted to.
Perhaps a support can be found in the eventual retribution of the Egyptions. They are drowned at sea, as punishment for drowning the Yisroeli babies. Despite the fact that the decree was relatively short lived, and included Egyption babies as well [although the Egyptions might not have complied with their own children]. Perhaps though, since they intended to make such a decree against the Jewish children, and only had to abandon the idea because of the way it worked out with Moshe, they are credited with having carried out their original nefarious intentions.
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