One day, Moses is shepherding his father-in-law’s sheep, when suddenly, he witnesses a bush, “burning with a heart of fire,” yet the bush is not being consumed, it is not being transformed to ash. Moses says, “Let me turn aside, and see this great vision! Why is the bush not being consumed?”
The Torah describes the following scene:
“G-d saw that Moses turned to see, so He called out to him from amidst the bush. ‘Moses! Moses!’ And he said: Here I am.”
G-d tells Moses that "I have heard the pain and screams of the children of Israel in Egypt, and I have decided to save them." Now it is you, Moses, who I will send to Pharaoh, and you will take my nation out of Egypt. Moses becomes the greatest leader of all times, liberating a people from oppression and giving the world the Torah, paving a road in the jungle of history.
A Turn of the Head
The Rabbis in the Midrash, always sensitive to nuance, focus our attention on the enigmatic words: “G-d saw that Moses turned to see, so He called out to him from amidst the bush.” Clearly, G-d called out to Moses only because Moses turned to see the sight of the burning bush. But what exactly did Moses do? What does it mean that he “turned to see?”
On this there is a Midrashic argument Rabbi Yochanan says that Moses walked five steps approaching the burning bush. Reish Lakish says that Moses did not take any steps at all; he simply turned his head to gaze at the bush, and when G-d saw that he turned his head in that direction, he called out to him.
What is the motif behind this strange argument?
The Light Bulb Moment
All biblical tales are not merely historical tales of the past, but contemporary lessons for our own lives. The story of Moses, the most important biblical figure, is no different. It is a timeless blueprint for our own inner journey.
Just like Moses, whose life at this point was slow and tranquil, far away from Pharaoh and the enslaved Israelites, and then suddenly is confronted with his burning bush and a new mission to change the destiny of mankind, we too often find ourselves far away from our destiny. We are living in our own orbit, “shepherding our own flock,” minding our own business, in our inner psychological wilderness.
But then, suddenly, we experience a “burning bush,” or a “light bulb moment.” A fire is ignited in our hearts, a light bulb goes off in our minds. Our G-d within speaks to us about a larger mission in life.
Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." It is the day when you suddenly see your full potential and hence your full responsibility to both yourself and those around you. It is a moment of clarity when you know exactly what you are capable of, and what you were created for. It is when you shoulder full responsibility for your destiny.
But how can I know that the voice calling me is real? How do I know that it is not a fantasy created by an imagined ego, a childish dream, divorced from reality? How do I know that this is not the hallucination of a lunatic, or trauma protecting itself, but my personal call to greatness? Maybe I need to go to a psychiatrist or a therapist instead of returning to Egypt and confronting my Pharaoh.
The answer is when the fire burns and burns, yet never consumes your bush. The light bulb never dims. The voice inside me never falls silent. Then I know that this is not a fantasy, but a mission. My inner fire and secret passion, my ‘heart of fire,’ can never be extinguished, can never be placated by any alternatives. I can run, but I cannot hide, because the fire will continue to burn inside me.
Rabbi YY Jacobson
