At the end of this week’s Torah portion, Shemot, Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to demand that he free the Children of Israel from bondage. Pharaoh answered them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their work? Go about your own tasks.”
Our Sages explain that Moses and Aaron, being members of the tribe of Levi, were not required to work like the rest of the Jewish People, and were exempted from the bitter decree of slavery. Pharaoh, in effect, asked the two of them: “Why do you involve yourselves in affairs that don’t concern you? Let the rest of the Jews continue in their tasks, and don’t disturb them.”
Why did the Egyptians permit an entire tribe of the Jewish People to be exempt from the terrible bondage forced upon the rest? The Egyptians recognized that each nation must have its own leaders and teachers to whom the people could turn for spiritual guidance. Pharaoh therefore allowed the tribe of Levi to continue learning Torah and to disseminate its teachings among the rest of the Jews. It was accepted as a natural state of affairs that the spiritual authorities should enjoy a higher status and occupy an elevated position in society.
When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh to demand that the entire Jewish nation be allowed to journey into the desert to worship G-d, they were disputing this commonly held notion. Pharaoh, for his part, claimed that it was sufficient that the upper class, the clergy, be allowed to learn Torah and carry out Jewish ritual. Pharaoh was the original proponent of the separation of “church” and state. The Egyptian king did not object to the Leviim learning Torah; he did not seek to totally negate the spiritual and intellectual yearnings of the Jews. He merely sought to perpetuate the Egyptian world-view which saw the two realms of the religious and the civil as two opposing concepts.
As religious leaders, Moses and Aaron were allowed a certain amount of authority by the Egyptian regime, on the condition that they limit themselves to the synagogue and to the yeshiva. When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh with their request, it was seen as a total contradiction of the existing world order. They claimed that the Torah’s very purpose was to show man how to conduct his daily, private life, and that its laws were applicable to each and every facet of a person’s existence. Moses and Aaron radically challenged the man-made division between that which belonged in the spiritual realm and that which was outside of religious law. The Torah is neither limited in scope nor reserved for a select few.
From this we also learn the duty incumbent upon every Jew to help other Jews, even if he is not personally threatened. Aaron and Moses were not content to remain within the secluded tents of learning if the rest of the Jews were not allowed to participate. Because of their self-sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish nation, they were ultimately successful in ending the Egyptian exile and leading the Jews to Mount Sinai.
Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
THE INAUGURAL VISION
Moses, shepherding his father-in-law’s sheep sees a blazing thornbush. We read in Shemos. “The bush was not consumed. Moses said to himself, ‘I must gaze at this great sight—why isn’t the bush burning up from the fire?’” G-d calls to him, saying: “Don’t approach here. Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy soil.” He then speaks to Moses, identifying Himself as the “G-d of your fathers,” and charging him with the mission of leading the Jewish people to redemption.
THE THORNS IN THE FIRE
Since this revelation was the genesis of Moses’s appointment as the leader of Israel, this vision captures one of the common dilemmas in the life of the Jew and indeed of every searching human being.
The story of the burning bush which would not consume the thorns embodies the duality in every heart. On one hand, we experience a desire to be good and moral. But then, at other times, we are mundane and careless, overtaken by ugly emotions.
DOUBT
Moses, the teacher, approaches the thorn bush. He has one question: “Why does it not get consumed?” How is it possible, Moses wonders, that if a person’s spirituality is authentic, it has no bearings on his or her thorns?
G-d responds: “...the place upon which you stand is sacred soil.” You must encounter the holiness in your present situation.
Then G-d continues to tell him: “I am the G-d of your father.” I am present in the midst of this thorny bush.
THE TANYA
This notion is one of the central themes of the Tanya—the magnum opus of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad, known as the Alter Rebbe (1745-1812), whose passing will be marked on the 24th of Teves.
The Alter Rebbe termed his work: Sefer shel Banunim, which means The Guidebook for the Ordinary Person.
Who is the banuni? The banuni is a person who possesses in a conscious way a duality—not like the tzadik, who has achieved moral perfection. The banuni operates on two levels of consciousness. His life constitutes a struggle between good and evil.
Here is the Tanya’s profound idea—all based on that vision of the burning bush. Never doubt the potency and authenticity of your inner holiness and Divinity, just because there are ugly thoughts still lingering in your brain.
G-d does not want you necessarily to attain the spiritual perfection of the tzadik, the toxic-free person. The hero of the Tanya is the banuni: he opens up a door for every human being in every situation and on every level to connect and become true servants of G-d.
I would say that the entire Tanya is based on that single passage G-d told Moses: “for the place upon which you stand is holy.” Wherever you are, you can develop a real relationship with the Almighty.
We all want to transcend our conditions and become Divine. So G-d says, no! You must realize that holiness is where you stand today! To be a Jew means that wherever you are in life, you can become a conduit for holiness and bring heaven to earth.
