Dear Friend,
What made Moses, Moses? We are told very little about Moses until the time G-d appears to him and tells him to go tell Pharaoh to “Let My People Go”.
Moses is 80 years old when he stands before Pharaoh, and we are told very little about those first 80 years of Moses' life.
All we are told is that he grows up, goes out and sees how an Egyptian is beating a Jew, so he eliminates the Egyptian and saves the Jew. We know Moses protects his own.
Then we are told that he sees two Jews fighting and he intervenes to stop the aggression. We know he will not ignore injustice even in his own community.
Then we are told that he leaves Egypt and ends up at a water well where female shepherdesses were being harassed by male shepherds, so Moses stands up and defends the ladies and saves them from the aggression. We know he will not tolerate injustice even amongst total strangers.
In 80 years, these three episodes are all the Torah finds necessary to tell us about Moses.
Well, it really is all we need to know about him.
Why Did G-d choose Moses? Because he cared, he could not tolerate injustice, and more importantly, in each episode, was brave enough to get up and do something about it.
This is real leadership!
The Zohar teaches that every Jewish has a little bit of Moses in them. That spark inside us that pushes us to do what is right even if it is unpopular. That’s Moses speaking and saying, “get up and lead, take charge of your life, be the Moses of the moment!”
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
Directors
After seventy years of communist oppression and seven hours of flying, Boris, a burly immigrant from Moscow steps off the plane in a free land to begin his new life in his new home, Israel. Standing at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, a young and enthusiastic Israeli reporter plunges a microphone in front of him with a level of excitement that is only seen when an inside scoop is about to be caught. The reporter asks with focus: “Tell me, what was life back in Russia like?”
To which the Russian immigrant replies: “I couldn’t complain.”
An obviously unexpected answer, the young reporter continues to probe: “Well how were your living quarters there?” To which the Russian responds “I couldn’t complain.”
Not expecting this answer either, the reporter decides to hit him with a question that is bound to get the answer he is looking for: “What about your standard of living?” To which the Russian replies again: “I couldn’t complain.”
At this point, the reporter’s frustration with the new immigrant’s answers reaches a crescendo, and so in a derogatory tone the reporter yells out, “Well, if everything was so wonderful back in Russia, then why did you even bother to come here?” To which the new immigrant replies with gusto: “Oh, here I can complain!”
WEEKLY eTORAH
This is the Parshah that describes the beginning of bondage for the Jewish people in Egypt. Moses experiences his first official Divine revelation at the Burning Bush. There he is charged with the formidable mission to confront the Pharaoh and demand that he "Let My people go." Moses is full of questions and repeatedly seeks G‑d's reassurances.
It was not necessarily for what they had done in the past that G‑d would redeem the Jewish people, but for what He anticipated for them in the future...In one exchange at the Bush, Moses asks, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should take the Children of Israel out of Egypt? Rashi interprets the first part of the question as Moses doubting his own qualifications to suddenly become a player in the king's court. In his typical humble way Moses didn't see himself worthy of challenging the mighty monarch of Egypt. The second part of the verse is explained by Rashi to be questioning the worthiness of the Jewish People. What have they actually done to deserve such a miraculous redemption?
To which the Almighty answers, firstly, have no fear and have no doubts, I will be with you. And secondly, this is your sign that I have sent you: when you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve G‑d on this mountain.
Now it's very nice to know that this mountain was, in fact, Mount Sinai and that the Burning Bush encounter occurred on that very same mountain. But wherein lies G‑d's answer to Moses' second question? He asked "who am I?" so G‑d replied to the point and said don't worry "I will be with you." But to the question of by what merit did Israel deserve redemption we don't see any answer. That they "will serve G‑d on this mountain" doesn't seem relevant to the discussion at all.
Here it is that we find a fascinating insight into the intriguingly infinite ways of Providence. G‑d was saying that it was not necessarily for what they had done in the past that he was ready to redeem the Jewish people, but for what He anticipated for them in the future. On this very mountain they would receive His Torah; they would become His chosen messengers to be a light unto the nations; they would be the moral standard bearers for the entire world. Never mind what they did or didn't do in the past. G‑d had big plans for this nation and it would all begin with the impending Exodus.
What a powerful message for all of us. Sometimes, the kindness G‑d does for us is not because of what we've been but rather what it would enable us to become. It's not for what we have already done but for what we still will do.
So I shared with him the Rashi mentioned above and told him it might not be something he had done in the past but something he would still do in the future. Perhaps G‑d gave him a new lease on life for a reason. Not only to enjoy more years with his family but to do something significant for G‑d, for His people, for the world.
The Almighty's confidence proved justified. The man went on to deepen his personal spiritual commitments and also made a meaningful contribution to Jewish communal life.
So should any of us be the beneficiaries of a special blessing from Above, instead of patting ourselves on the back and concluding that we must have done something wonderful to be thus rewarded, let us rather ask ourselves what G‑d might be expecting us to do with this particular blessing in the future. How can we use it to further His work on earth? Special blessings carry with them special responsibilities.
May each of us successfully develop all the potential G‑d sees in us and use it for our own moral development and to somehow better the world around us.
-adapted from www.chabad.org
