Abraham Joshua Heschel, Israel: An Echo of Eternity, 1967
Sacred history is the collecting of threads of [G-d’s] promise…. The relationship of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is itself living history…the love of the people for the land is an ongoing, powerful being together even when living at a distance, a real link, a being at home spiritually, an embrace that never tires, a hope that never ceases.
Moses tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb. An angel appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight, why is the bush not consumed?” (Ex. 3:1-3)
Moses at the burning bush saw a permanence that defies destruction. The amazement of Moses: the bush was burning, yet the bush was not consumed. We too, walking in the wilderness, arrive at times at the mountain of G-d and see the whole world- a burning bush, aflame with hatred, envy and murder- yet the world is not consumed.
History is like a burning bush. Though each instant must vanish to open the way to the next one, history itself is not consumed.
History is the realm of divine meaning. But where shall meaning be found in history? Hopes are wrecked, faith is mocked. What must not occur, happens… The anxiety afflicting [humanity] has created a new nightmare. Is history coming to an end? Is there reason for hope?
We are G-d’s stake in human history. We are the dawn and the dusk, the challenge and the test. Israel reborn is a renewal of the promise… History cannot come to an end as long as the promise exists.
מתוך הסנה OUT OF THE MIDST OF A BUSH (a thornbush) — and not from any other tree, in accordance with the idea (Psalms 91:15) “I will be with them in trouble” (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 14).
מַהוּ עִמּוֹ אָנֹכִי בְצָרָה, כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהֶם צָרָה אֵינָם קוֹרְאִים אֶלָּא לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּמִצְרַיִם, (שמות ב, כג): וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם אֶל הָאֱלֹקִים. בַּיָּם, (שמות יד, י): וַיִּצְעֲקוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל ה', וְכָאֵלֶּה רַבִּים. וְאוֹמֵר (ישעיה סג, ט): בְּכָל צָרָתָם לוֹ צָר, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמשֶׁה, אִי אַתָּה מַרְגִּישׁ שֶׁאֲנִי שָׁרוּי בְּצַעַר כְּשֵׁם שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל שְׁרוּיִם בְּצַעַר, הֱוֵי יוֹדֵעַ מִמָּקוֹם שֶׁאֲנִי מְדַבֵּר עִמְּךָ מִתּוֹךְ הַקּוֹצִים כִּבְיָכוֹל אֲנִי שֻׁתָּף בְּצַעֲרָן.
...לָמָּה מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה? לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁאֵין מָקוֹם פָּנוּי בְּלֹא שְׁכִינָה אֲפִלּוּ סְנֶה. בְּלַבַּת אֵשׁ, בַּתְּחִלָּה לֹא יָרַד אֶלָּא מַלְאָךְ אֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה מְמֻצָּע וְעוֹמֵד בְּאֶמְצַע הָאֵשׁ, וְאַחַר כָּךְ יָרְדָה שְׁכִינָה וְדִבְּרָה עִמּוֹ מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, מָה הַסְּנֶה שָׁפָל מִכָּל הָאִילָנוֹת שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם, כָּךְ הָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁפָלִים וִיְרוּדִים לְמִצְרַיִם, לְפִיכָךְ נִגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ, בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּגְאָלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות ג, ח): וָאֵרֵד לְהַצִּילוֹ מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהַסְּנֶה קָשֶׁה מִכָּל הָאִילָנוֹת, וְכָל עוֹף שֶׁנִּכְנַס לְתוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה אֵין יוֹצֵא בְּשָׁלוֹם, כָּךְ הָיָה שִׁעְבּוּד מִצְרַיִם קָשֶׁה לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם מִכָּל הַשִּׁעְבּוּדִים שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות ג, ז):
רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר, מָה הַסְּנֶה הַזֶּה עוֹשִׂין אוֹתוֹ גָּדֵר לַגִּנָּה, כָּךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל גָּדֵר לָעוֹלָם. דָּבָר אַחֵר, מָה הַסְּנֶה הַזֶּה גָדֵל עַל כָּל מַיִם, כָּךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵינָן גְּדֵלִים אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִּקְרֵאת מַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נה, א): הוֹי כָּל צָמֵא לְכוּ לַמַּיִם, דָּבָר אַחֵר, מָה הַסְּנֶה הַזֶּה גָּדֵל בַּגִּנָּה וּבַנָּהָר, כָּךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵם בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וּבָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. דָּבָר אַחֵר, מָה הַסְּנֶה עוֹשֶׂה קוֹצִין וְעוֹשֶׂה וְרָדִין, כָּךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ בָּהֶן צַדִּיקִים וּרְשָׁעִים.
וְלָמָּה הֶרְאָה לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמשֶׁה בָּעִנְיָן הַזֶּה, לְפִי שֶׁהָיָה מְחַשֵּׁב בְּלִבּוֹ וְאוֹמֵר, שֶׁמָּא יִהְיוּ הַמִּצְרִיִּים מְכַלִּין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְפִיכָךְ הֶרְאָהוּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֵשׁ בּוֹעֶרֶת וְאֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל, אָמַר לוֹ כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהַסְּנֶה בּוֹעֵר בָּאֵשׁ וְאֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל, כָּךְ הַמִּצְרִיִּים אֵינָן יְכוֹלִין לְכַלּוֹת אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל.
What is [the meaning of] "I am with him in sorrow"?(Psalm 91:15)When they have sorrows they only call out to the Holy One, Blessed be He. In Egypt, [as it is written] "And their cry came up unto God" (Exodus 2:23). By the sea [as it is written] "And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord" (ibid. 14:10) and there are many other examples like these. And it says: "In all their sorrows He [too] was in sorrow" (Isaiah 63:9). The Holy One, Blessed be He said to Moses, You do not sense that I too dwell in sorrow just as Israel dwells in sorrow. But you should know: from the place I speak to you from within the thorn-bush, [that is a sign] as it were that I too am a partner in their sorrow.
...Why from within a thorn-bush? To teach you that there is no empty place devoid of the Shechinah, not even a [lowly] thorn-bush. "In a flame of fire." At first only one angel descended and stood in the center of the fire as an intermediary. Only afterwards did the Shechinah descend and spoke with him from within the thorn-bush. Rabbi Eliezer said: Just as the thorn-bush is the lowliest of all trees in the world, so too Israel were lowly and downtrodden in Egypt. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself to them and redeemed them, as it says (Exodus 3:8) "And I will go down and save them from the Egypt." Rabbi Yossi said: Just as the thorn-bush is the hardest of all the trees, and any bird that enters into it does not come out unharmed, so too the servitude in Egypt was harsher to God more than any other servitude in the world, as it says (Ibid. 7)
Rabbi Yohanan said: Just as this thorn-bush is used as a fence for a garden, so too Israel is a fence for the world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows near any water, so too Israel only grows in the merit of Torah which is called water, as it says (Isaiah 55:1) "Ho any thirsty one go to water." Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows in a garden or in a river, so too Israel are in this world and the next world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush produces thorns and roses, so too Israel contains righteous and wicked people.
And why did the Holy One, Blessed be He reveal Himself to Moses in this way? Because he [Moses] thought in his heart, saying, Maybe the Egyptians will destroy Israel. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself in a thorn-bush that was burning but not consumed. He said to him, just as the thorn-bush is burning but is not consumed, so too the Egyptians will not be able to destroy Israel.
Rabbi Sampson Raphael Hirsch
God's appearance within the thorn bush proclaims the following great truth:
לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁאֵין מָקוֹם פָּנוּי בְּלֹא שְׁכִינָה אֲפִלּוּ סְנֶה - To teach you that there is no empty place devoid of the Shechinah, not even a [lowly] thorn-bush. (Shemot Rabbah 2,5). Even the humblest place is not too lowly to become an abode of the Divine Presence. Everything earthly, even what seems the least significant to man, is intended and fit to become a bearer of the Divine.
וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃ - Yet the bush was not consumed. Anyone who opens their heart to the Divine will not be destroyed by the Divine but, rather, will become bound up with it. On the national level, this means: I am with their sorrow (Psalm 91:5) - כִּבְיָכוֹל אֲנִי שֻׁתָּף בְּצַעֲרָן. - As it were, I am a partner in their sorrow (Shemot Rabbah 2,5). Even if they are not in a state of degradation and are surrounded by 'thorns,' I am with them, I share their sufferings, and I am with them even among the 'thorns."
Etz Chayim Chumash, p. 327
What did G-d appear to Moses in a thornbush?
(a) The bush that burns but is not consumed symbolizes the Jewish people, perpetually attacked and endangered by perpetually surviving. (Philo)
(b) The thornbush is the humblest, least impressive of trees and plants. G-d, who will take note of a tiny, oppressed people, chooses to appear in this lowly bush. "No place is devoid of G-d's presence, not even a thornbush." (Exodus Rabbah 2:5)
(c) For the Midrash, the thornbush symbolizes Israel's experience in Egypt (and many other situations in life)....
How long must one watch a burning bush before realizing that it is not being consumed by the flames? How many miracles might be happening around us but we, in our haste, never stop to notice them?
This shall be My name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity.
Etz Chayim Chumash, p. 330
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
The phrase defies simple translation. It has been taken to mean, I am whatever I choose to be... I am pure being... I am more than you can comprehend.. I am in the process of becoming... I will be with you...I stand by those I befriend....
The name of G-d is not a noun but a verb. What does G-d's name mean?... G-d is present in our lives. G-d is with us in our efforts to do what is right but difficult.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Turning Curses into Blessings, 5776
Pharaoh told his advisers: “Look, the Israelite people are becoming too numerous and strong for us”[1] – the first time the word “people” is used in the Torah with reference to the children of Israel. “Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase.” And so the whole mechanism of oppression moves into operation: forced labour that turns into slavery that becomes attempted genocide.
The story is engraved in our memory. We tell it every year, and in summary-form in our prayers, every day. It is part of what it is to be a Jew. Yet there is one phrase that shines out from the narrative: “But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and the more they spread.” That, no less than oppression itself, is part of what it means to be a Jew.
The worse things get, the stronger we become. Jews are the people who not only survive but thrive in adversity.
Jewish history is not merely a story of Jews enduring catastrophes that might have spelled the end to less tenacious groups. It is that after every disaster, Jews renewed themselves. They discovered some hitherto hidden reservoir of spirit that fueled new forms of collective self-expression as the carriers of God’s message to the world…..
In an age in which people of violence are committing acts of brutality in the name of the God of compassion, the people of Israel are proving daily that this is not the way of the God of Abraham, the God of life and the sanctity of life. And whenever we who are a part of that people lose heart, and wonder when it will ever end, we should recall the words: “The more they were oppressed, the more they increased and the more they spread.” A people of whom that can be said can be injured, but can never be defeated. God’s way is the way of life.
HaTikvah, Israel's National Anthem
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה,
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Kol od balevav penimah,
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ulefa-atei mizrach, kadimah,
Ayin letziyon tsofiyah.
Od lo avdah tikvateinu
Hatikva bat shnot alpayim,
Lihyot am chofshi be-artzeinu,
Eretz tzion, virushalayim.
Abraham Joshua Heshel, Israel: An Echo of Eternity, 1967
Why did our hearts throughout the ages turn to Eretz Yisrael, to the Holy Land? Because of hope, because of memory, because of distress. Because of hope. Over and above the deep sadness of our melodies, fears and experiences of persecutions, rituals of mourning and memories of sorrow, hovers the power of hope.
Hope is our power. It is vital quality always at work within a person, anticipating freedom from misery. It is a power of perception, an intuition, a foreseeing.
Hope cannot stand alone… It must be faithfully attended. It must not lose the element of constancy and the intensity of expectancy.
Hope is not cheerfulness, a temperamental confidence that all will turn out for the best… Hope is a conviction, rooted in trust, trust in [G-d] who issued the promise; an ability to soar above the darkness that overshadows the divine.
Out of the Bible comes a voice: You shall be patient, for I the Lord your G-d am patient.
Perhaps the most Jewish characteristic quality of Jewish existence is bitachon “hope.” Believing and hoping are one. It is part of our very existence to be faithful to the future, to keep alive the beginning by nurturing the vision of the end….
Israel reborn is an answer to the Lord of history who demands hope as well as action who expects tenacity as well as imagination.