Shemot Names — שמות
HAFTARAH: Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23
Note: The regular readings above are often interrupted with special readings on Jewish holidays, special Sabbaths, and Rosh Chodesh. Refer to the annual Torah Portion schedule for these special portions.
Portion Summary
Shemot (שמות) is both the title for the second book from the scroll of the Torah and the title of the first Torah portion therein. Shemot means "names." The English-speaking world calls this book Exodus. The Hebrew title for the book comes from the opening phrase of the book: "Now these are the names (shemot) of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob" (Exodus 1:1).
The English name Exodus comes from the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Greek title for the book is Exodus Aigyptou, which translates as "Departure from Egypt." The name Exodus is an abbreviated form of that title. Exodus means "departure." The book of Exodus tells the story of the children of Israel enslaved in Egypt and their miraculous redemption through the hand of Moses, the story of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the construction of the golden calf and the construction of the Tabernacle.
As we study the first week's reading from the book of Exodus, we find the children of Israel in slavery. It seems at first that the God of their forefathers has forgotten them. But God has not forgotten His promises. He remembers His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and brings a Redeemer to their children's children, for the sake of His name, with love.
Portion Outline
- Torah
- Exodus 1:1 | Introduction
- Exodus 1:8 | The Israelites Are Oppressed
- Exodus 2:1 | Birth and Youth of Moses
- Exodus 2:11 | Moses Flees to Midian
- Exodus 3:1 | Moses at the Burning Bush
- Exodus 3:13 | The Divine Name Revealed
- Exodus 4:1 | Moses' Miraculous Power
- Exodus 4:18 | Moses Returns to Egypt
- Exodus 5:1 | Bricks without Straw
- Exodus 6:1 | Israel's Deliverance Assured
- Prophets
- Isaiah 26:1 | Judah's Song of Victory
- Isaiah 27:1 | Israel's Redemption
- Isaiah 28:1 | Judgment on Corrupt Rulers, Priests, and Prophets
The Good Shepherd
The parable of the lost sheep is one of the most famous parables in the Gospels. Have you ever heard the Moses-version of the parable?
A shepherd tending his flock (Photo: Cropped
from image by Kamil Rejczyk, on Flickr.
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
After fleeing Egypt, Moses spent forty years shepherding sheep. The Scriptures frequently compare Israel to a flock. She is the flock of the LORD. Her leaders are her shepherds, appointed by her ultimate Shepherd, the LORD Himself: “You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalm 77:20). “Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock” (Psalm 80:1).
Israel’s greatest leaders herded sheep. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob followed the flocks. David shepherded over his father’s flocks. Moses proved himself worthy to shepherd Israel by faithfully taking care of his father-in-law’s flocks:
Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was tending the flock of Jethro in the wilderness when a little kid escaped from him. He ran after it until it reached a shady place … and the kid stopped to drink. When Moses approached it, he said, “I did not know you ran away because of thirst, you must be weary.” So he placed the kid on his shoulder and walked away. Thereupon God said: “Because you have mercy in leading the flock of a mortal, you will surely tend my flock, Israel.” (Shemot Rabbah 2:2)
The Scriptures also refer to the Messiah as a shepherd over the flock of Israel: “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd” (Ezekiel 37:24). Yeshua saw Himself, like Moses, as the Good Shepherd over the flock of Israel. He undertook a mission seeking the lost sheep of Israel: the sinners and backslidden among the Jewish people of His day. The parables of John 10 further illustrate the messianic role of the shepherd over Israel. The disciple Peter said, “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).
When the voice from the burning bush announced, “The place on which you are standing is holy ground,” Moses realized he stood in the presence of a deity. He just did not know which one it was.
God called to Moses from within the burning
bush, Exodus 3 (Image: © FFOZ/Bigstock)
God identified himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. That narrowed the field down significantly. By identifying Himself as the God of the patriarchs, the LORD distinguished Himself from the pantheons of clamoring fakes and would-be-gods of the world.
Moses had been nursed by his mother and had lived among his people. He was well-versed in the lore of his fathers, the stories of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From boyhood he knew the stories of the God who appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him, but the stories only became a reality in his life as the voice from the bush declared, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:6)
The holy martyr Stephen says that when he heard these words, “Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look” (Acts 7:32). This was not some local deity or mountain god, it was the God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. Moses immediately concealed his face lest, in seeing God, he die.
Success, prosperity, and a comfortable life can become a spiritual prison of materialism from which it is difficult to escape. Are you wearing the golden handcuffs?
Concept of the wealth and success becoming a
prison. (Image © Bigstock)
When Jacob first went down to Egypt, he went only to sojourn there until the famine had passed. It was supposed to be temporary. But the temporary stay turned into what looked like permanent residence. They settled, and they prospered. They might have remained in Egypt, happy and well fed. Life in Egypt was good. Perhaps it was too good.
Happy, well-fed, and prosperous, the children of Israel could have easily forgotten about their great spiritual heritage. Content with the comforts and luxuries of Egypt, they might have abandoned their aspirations of inheriting Canaan. Who would want Canaan when he already had Egypt?
The children of Israel found their situation in Egypt suddenly reversed when the Egyptian government forced the Hebrews into servitude. A person becomes accustomed to privileges and luxuries and begins to think of those things as necessities. Things that, at one time, he could not afford, and therefore did not worry about, become indispensable needs as he prospers. His own wealth and success become "golden handcuffs" from which he cannot escape. While we are in the service of materialism, our spiritual health inevitably suffers. Yeshua warned us, saying, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Matthew 6:24).
While in Egypt, Israel was lured by the attractions of Egyptian society. They began to assimilate into the larger culture. Assimilation poses a greater danger to the people of God than persecution. When we are persecuted, we band closely together and firm up our convictions. We remember that we are not part of the greater culture. When we are received into the culture, however, we lose those distinctions, and we begin to lose our identity. We fall sway under the powerful spell of social allure.
The rabbis speculated that something like this was happening in Egypt. One Jewish collection of commentary on the book of Exodus suggests that the Israelites went so far as to quit circumcising their sons so that their children would fit in better with Egyptians:
When Joseph died, the Children of Israel abrogated the ritual of circumcision. They said, "Let's be like the Egyptians." Because they quit circumcising themselves, the Holy One, Blessed be He, reversed the Egyptians' friendly attitude toward them. (Shemot Rabbah 1:8)
Instead of settling down and trying to fit into Egyptian culture, the children of Israel ought to have been looking toward the return to Canaan. By remaining in Egypt, they made themselves (and especially their children) vulnerable to Egyptian culture. They were already entering spiritual enslavement long before their physical enslavement began.
Whether it is the trappings of wealth or the pressures of socialization, we must beware of allowing ourselves to become spiritually enslaved. The children of Israel may have fallen victim to both. Real, physical enslavement followed quickly.
The Death of a Dream
What was Moses planning to do? Did he plan to kill every Egyptian in Egypt and hide them all in the sand? God had a better plan.
An ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic carving of
captured slaves, or prisoners of war. (Image © Bigstock/BasPhoto)
He returned to the Hebrews the next day. He had a deep sense of purpose. Somehow he must help his people. He was on a mission from God. When Moses came across two Hebrew men fighting, he attempted to mediate between them. Instead they turned their resentment toward him. Clement, the disciple of Peter, says that they resented him out of a sense of envy:
Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he heard these words from his fellow countryman, "Who made you a judge or a ruler over us? Will you kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" (1 Clement 4:10)
Yeshua taught that a prophet is without honor in his own home ( Matthew 13:57). Just as the Israelites initially rejected the authority of Moses, so too the Jewish leadership in the days of the apostles rejected the authority of Yeshua. Just as Moses disappeared, only to reappear a generation later and bring about the redemption from Egypt, so too Yeshua has been concealed and will be revealed in the last generation to bring about the final redemption.
When Moses realized that his attempts to help his people were not welcomed, nor could he trust them to conceal his secret about the Egyptian he had killed, he fled from Egypt. His noble delusions of being the redeemer of Israel all came crashing down.
"He supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand" (Acts 7:25).
Moses' life can be divided into three forty-year segments. At the age of forty, Moses thought he was the redeemer of Israel. He had a dream of saving his people. His dream was frustrated, and in exasperation, he gave up. He fled into the wilderness, where he became a shepherd, herding sheep for a pagan. He married a Midianite woman. His dream of redeeming Israel died in the wilderness. Only after the dream was dead and Moses was no longer trying to achieve it at all did God call him. Only then—long after the all the pride and bravado were gone—was Moses ready to be a tool in the hand of God. He spent the last forty years of his life fulfilling the dream that had been birthed in him forty years before.
This can be compared to a carpenter who hired a young apprentice. The apprentice was eager to get busy with building houses, too eager to take the time to learn the carpentry trade. "Very well," said the carpenter, "if you are so certain of yourself, go ahead and build." Halfway through the construction project, the lopsided frame he was erecting collapsed. The young apprentice turned in his tools and shamefacedly said, "I have to quit. I'm not a carpenter. I can't build anything." "Excellent," the carpenter replied. "Now you are ready to learn how to build."
How could God use me for anything? I'm no one special. I'm just an ordinary person with an ordinary life.
You are the perfect person with whom God can do
extraordinary things! (Image © Bigstock/olly2)
In a similar way, Moses became Moses, the Man of God because God called him, encountered him and commissioned him, not because he was more pious, mightier, smarter or more eloquent than other men. God is in the ordinary, and encounters with God happen in ordinary places. But when God is encountered, the ordinary is immediately transformed into the extraordinary. The very ordinary Mount Horeb was transformed into the extraordinary, Mount Sinai because of God’s presence was there. The very ordinary Moses, a simple Hebrew exile from Egypt, a shepherd in the wilderness, was transformed into Moses the Man of God, the greatest prophet of all time because he encountered God. God transformed the ordinary man into something extraordinary.
Most of us do not regard ourselves as extraordinary people. You probably think of yourself as a fairly ordinary person with a fairly mundane life. From God’s perspective, that is perfect. You are the perfect person with whom He can do extraordinary things. He is not looking for prophets; He is looking for normal people who are carrying on under normal circumstances.
When Moses saw the burning bush, he turned aside to investigate. Only then did the Holy One reveal Himself to Moses. Our problem is that we do not take the time to turn aside and investigate. We all intend to grow spiritually. We all imagine that one day, we will take time to study, take time to grow in Torah, to do a mitzvah, to pray regularly. But you can’t take good intentions to the grave. A famous rabbi once said, “Do not say to yourself, ‘When I have more time, I will study Torah. Perhaps you will not have more time'" (m.Avot 2:4) Do not say, when I have more time, I will turn aside, you might not have more time.
From Survivors To Thrivers
The beginning of Exodus picks up where the end of Genesis leaves off. After Joseph passes away and his generation is gone the Hebrews begin multiplying in the land of Egypt. It seems like the honeymoon will continue on. However, just a few verses into Exodus we read about a new Pharaoh coming to power “who did not know Joseph.” This is where things begin to turn south for the Hebrews:
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. (Exodus 1:8–12)
The blessings of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh had come to pass and the Hebrews had proliferated into “a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Genesis 48:16). However, fearing the growing number of these Hebrews, the new Pharaoh came up with a plan to ensure that this growing minority would not overrun Egypt. He “set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens” (Exodus 1:11). Thus began the oppression of the Children of Israel in the land of Egypt.
In this week’s portion we read several descriptions of how the Hebrews were mistreated, including the cruel decree that all of their newly born infant boys were to be thrown into the Nile. Life for the descendants of Jacob was harsh to say the least. Each day was a struggle for survival. But somehow they not only survived, they thrived. Immediately after learning about Pharaoh setting taskmasters over the Hebrews, we read, “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad” (Exodus 1:12). After the Hebrew midwives are instructed to kill the baby boys we read, “And the people multiplied and grew very strong” (Exodus 1:20). No matter what the Egyptians did to try and destroy the family of Jacob they could not succeed. The God of Jacob had other plans for His people.
Many times we feel the crushing blows of life beating us down beyond what we can withstand. Rather than thriving like the Hebrews, we go into survival mode and our world comes crashing down around us. What was their secret and how can we move from surviving to thriving in difficult circumstances? First, we need to understand that the fundamental nature of suffering is not to destroy us, but to transform us. The Talmud offers a practical approach to understanding suffering in these terms:
Raba says: If a man sees that painful sufferings visit him, let him examine his conduct, as it is said: “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD” [Lamentations 3:40]. If he examines and finds nothing [objectionable], let him attribute it to the neglect of the study of the Torah, as it is said: “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your Torah” [Psalm 94:12]. If he did attribute it [thus], and still did not find [this to be the cause], let him be sure that these are chastenings of love, as it is said: “For the LORD reproves him whom he loves” [Proverbs 3:12]. (Berachot 5a)
As this passage suggests, sometimes suffering is meant to cause us to repent. Sometimes it is to drive us back to the Word of God. Sometimes, however, it is simply because our Heavenly Father desires so for an unknown good. In an oft-quoted passage, James, the brother of our Master, reminds us of this same principle:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)
Paul has a similar understanding:
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3–5)
Paul also understands that all suffering will eventually be beneficial in the end. He reminds the congregation in Corinth, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation” (2 Corinthians 1:6). When an immense amount of pressure and heat is applied to a lump of carbon over a long period of time, it doesn’t merely crumble. It produces a diamond. The Apostles understood that suffering is supposed to produce fruit. But it is all about our mindset. Although it is extremely difficult, if we keep these principles in mind during our times of suffering we can be like the Hebrews in Egypt and be transformed from merely survivors to thrivers.
Parashat Shemot - Exodus 1:1-6:1
Last week we concluded the book of Genesis and this week we have begun the book of Exodus. Up to this point we have been studying a brief history of the world leading up to the emergence of the Children of Israel. Beginning in the book of Exodus, however, we now begin to learn about how God calls Israel out from among the other nations of the earth to be a bride to himself. From here we will learn about the marriage covenant between God and Israel, and their unique responsibilities in that covenantal relationship. Now, however, we are learning about how God raised up a single man who would be faithful over the flock of Israel and lead them in the paths of righteousness. This man, of course, was Moses.
After we read of the miraculous incidents surrounding the birth of Moses and how he was taken into Pharaoh’s court to be raised there, we are given our first glimpse into the compassion he had for his own people:
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (Exodus 2:11–12)
The English Standard translation says that Moses “looked this way and that, and seeing no one” he took action. However, the Hebrew is a little more visual. It says ki ein ish—because there was no man—he struck down the Egyptian. We can read this two ways. The first way is to say that because no one was watching him, he killed the Egyptian. This seems to be the plain and simple meaning of the text. However, we can also read it to say that because there was not another man available to defend the Hebrew slave, Moses rose to the occasion. If we think about this incident in these terms, it will help us understand the words of Hillel the Elder. Hillel taught his disciples, “In a place where there are no men strive to be a man” (Avot 2:6). Maybe he had in mind the actions of Moses in this incident? Because there was not another man to do what needed to be done, Moses had to become “a man” who would defend his brother.
Leviticus 19:16 literally says, “You shall not stand against the blood of your neighbor.” However, it has always been interpreted to mean that we are obligated to defend those who are not capable to defend themselves. This is exactly what Moses did, and most likely an aspect of what Hillel intended in his statement. We are to “be a man” when there are no others willing to be one.
Recently, there was a terrorist in Israel running around stabbing people at random. An Israeli man saw him and took off after him. After a long chase, he was finally able to subdue the terrorist and bring him to justice, but not without receiving knife wounds himself. In an interview after the event he described how he did not feel that he was a hero, nor were his actions optional. He said that the Torah did not allow him to stand by idly while the blood of his brothers and sisters was being shed. Because of the values he learned in the Torah he became “a man” who saved the lives of others and brought a heinous reprobate to justice.
Most of us will never be in a situation like this where we are responsible for the lives of others. However, all of us are put into situations routinely that give us an opportunity to forsake complacency and become a man. As the popular expression goes, “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.” If you look to your left and to your right and don’t see a man, then your time has come. Be a man rather than merely looking for one.
Shemot: Six Stone Jars
“When wine goes in,
secrets come out.”
Sanhedrin 38a
SHILOH
Near the conclusion of the book of Genesis, Yaakov prophesies over his 12 sons, and over Judah he says,
“The
scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his
feet, until Shiloh comes. To him will the obedience of the peoples
be. Binding his foal to the vine, his donkeys colt to the choice
vine, he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of
grapes. His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.”
Genesis 49:10-12
The Targum Yonatan says,
“Kings
shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor soferim (scribes)
teaching the Torah from his children’s children, until the time that the
King Meshiha shall come, whose is the kingdom, and to whom all the kingdoms of
the earth shall be obedient. How beautiful is the King Meshiha, who is to arise
from the house of Yehudah! … his garments will be dipped in blood,
and he himself be like the juice of the winepress. More beautiful are the eyes
of the King Meshiha to behold than pure wine; they will not look upon that
which is unclean, or the shedding of the blood of the innocent. His teeth are
employed according to the precept rather than in eating the things of violence
and rapine; his mountains shall be red with vines, and his presses with his
wine, and his hills be white with much corn and with flocks of sheep.”
Targum Yonatan on Genesis
49 [1]
The Targum thus identifies ‘Shiloh’ with Mashiach. Incredibly, Shiloh has the same gematria as ‘Moshe,’
משה = שילה = 345
The Targum also interprets that “his garments will be dipped in blood,” as the book of Revelation says,
“He
is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called The Word of
G-d.”
Revelation 19:13
The prophet Isaiah says,
“Who
is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this who is
glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is
I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why are you red in your
clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? I have
trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me: yes,
I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is
sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing. For the day of
vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.”
Isaiah 63:1-4
The Ramchal, R’ Moshe Chayim Luzzato (1707 CE -1746 CE), answers the question, “Who is this who comes from Edom?”
…ועתה הנני מפרש לך סוד אחד חתום מאד והוא מה שכתוב מי זה בא מאדום וגוי [ישעיה סג, א] וכל זה הוא הצדיק, והוא משיח בן יוסף
“I
will explain to you a certain sod which is completely sealed, and it concerns
what is written, “Who is this who comes from Edom…’ (Yeshayahu 63:1). This is
the Tzadik, and he is Mashiach ben Yosef.”
Ramchal, Ma’amar HaGeulah,
Secrets of the Redemption, Translated by R’ Mordecai Nissim, Feldheim Press, pg
118
Kol HaTor, written by R’ Hillel Shklover the disciple of the Vilna Gaon, speaks of the unification of Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yosef,
“All
this is true at the beginning of the Redemption, when the wood of Yosef and the
wood of Judah are “pieces of wood in your hand, ” when they are still divided
into two, on the level of the awakening from below. At the time of the complete
redemption, however, when the two pieces of wood have become “one in My hand”
(the hand of God), then the meshichim will be like two inseparable friends;
they will have become one, they will have become the King Mashiach who is on
the level of the trustworthy friend of the final redeemer, Moshe Rabbeinu, may
he rest in peace.”
Kol HaTor 2.1, translated
by R’ Yechiel Bar Lev and K. Skaist
THE GAZELLE
In Parashat Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1), the first Redeemer of the Israel is born, and in an effort to save his life, he is hidden in an basket (teivah) among the reeds of the Nile, and is discovered by the daughter of Pharoah. After he was weaned, he was adopted into the Egyptian palace,
“The
child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.
She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
Exodus 2:10
Interestingly, Moses is a common name in Egypt, and means ‘born’ or ‘son.’ R’ Ari Kahn comments,
“Therefore
we see that not only does Moses have an Egyptian name, but his name is steeped
with idolatrous connotations. How ironic that the savior of the Jews should be
seen as a god by the Egyptians.”
R’ Ari Kahn, M’oray HaAish, Moshe, the Emergence of a Leader,
Aish.com [2]
Like Moshe, Yosef HaTzadik,was also named by an Egyptian,
“Pharaoh
called Yosef’s name Tzofnat-Paneach…”
Genesis 41:45
Like Yosef, Moshe was rejected by his brothers,
“Who
made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed
the Egyptian? Moses was afraid, and said, Surely this thing is known.”
Exodus 2:14
The rejection of Moshe lead to the concealment of the Redeemer. The Midrash Rabbah comments,
‘My
beloved is like a gazelle’, as the gazelle appears and then disappears, so the
first redeemer appeared and then disappeared. R. Berekiah in the name of R.
Levi said: Like the first redeemer was, so will the final redeemer be. The
first redeemer was Moshe, who appeared to them and then disappeared. . . The
final redeemer will also appear to them and then disappear . . . For he
will disappear from their sight and will then again appear to them…”
Numbers Rabbah 11, Soncino Press Edition
At this point, Moshe Rabbeinu, the Redeemer, appears as an “Egyptian,” and concealed himself in the land of the Gentiles,
“Now
the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled
the troughs to water their fathers flock. The shepherds came and drove them
away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they
came to Reuel, their father, he said, How is it that you have returned so early
today? They said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the
shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.”
Exodus 2:16-19
The Midrash Rabbah comments on this passage,
“Was
then Moses an Egyptian? No, he was a Hebrew but his dress was Egyptian.”
Exodus Rabbah 1:32, Soncino
Press Edition
R’ Shloma Majeski says,
“The
definition of Jewish belief is that which is written in Torah. That defines
Jewish belief. This possibility – that Moshiach comes, and after his coming and
revelation there’s an interruption, and then he completes the process – this is
found in a number of places in Torah. Let me just mention a few. One is Midrash
Rabba Shir HaShirim 2:22, on the pasuk “Domeh dodi l’tzvi.” And the Midrash
says, just like a deer is revealed, and hidden, and again hidden. I guess it
means that when it runs, it runs between the trees – you see it and then you
don’t see it. That’s what happened with Moshe Rabbeinu in Egypt. He came, and
then he was concealed for a few months – there are different opinions how many
months – and then he was revealed again and took the Jews out of Mitzrayim. The
Midrash concludes the same thing will be with Moshiach: He will be revealed,
then he will be hidden, and then he will be revealed again. In fact, the
Midrash says that when he will be hidden, it will be a very difficult time.
There will be people who will stop believing in him because of that, and that
ultimately he will come. This message is also in Rashi, in Daniel 12:12. The
pasuk says, “Ashrei ha’m’chakim” (fortunate are those who will wait for
Moshiach). Rashi says this is not just talking about people in general who wait
for Moshiach…fortunate are those who will wait for Moshiach after he is
revealed, and then he will be hidden, and then revealed again. In that
in-between time: fortunate are those who persevere in their emuna. In fact,
Rashi says this is brought down in the davening, in the siddur, the “Yotzer”
for Parshas HaChodesh. Anyone can look it up. It’s in the Rav Yaakov Emden Siddur.
It says the same thing: Moshiach will come, be revealed, then he’ll be hidden,
and revealed again. It’s also found in this week’s parsha, Parshas Shmos.
Rabbeinu Bechaye, at the end of the parsha, says, “Moshe Rabbeinu came, then he
was hidden, and then he came back to take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim.” And he
writes that the same will be with Moshiach, as it says, “Kimei tzeis’cha
m’Eretz Mitzrayim ar’enu niflaos.” This redemption will be similar to the
redemption in the times of Mitzrayim. The Chasam Sofer, one of the greatest
masters of halacha in our recent generations, also wrote in his seifer, Toras
Moshe, on this parsha, Shmos. At the end of the parsha, he says that the fact
that Moshe was gone for six months was a very big test. The same will be
b’yimei Moshiach Tzidkeinu, yinelam achar nisgaleh (in the days of Moshiach
Tzidkeinu, he will be concealed after he is revealed), and we will need special
assistance from Hashem to stand up to this test. As mentioned before, the
Arizal in Seifer Shaar HaGilgulim also says the same thing – that he’ll come,
and like Moshe Rabbeinu, he will disappear, go away, we won’t have him. Then
he’ll come back and take all the Yidden out of Galus.”
Rabbi Shloma Majeski, A
Preface to Moshiach: Setting the Record Straight, Moshiach & Geula,
BeisMoshiach.org [7]
As the first redeemer was, so the final redeemer shall be. As the first redeemer was concealed in the polar opposite of Israel, Egypt, so too must Mashiach be concealed in a later polar opposite of Israel, Edom. In Rabbinic literature, “Edom” is a term for Christianity. Mashiach is hidden in Christianity, like Yosef and Moshe were concealed in Egypt.
THE DONKEY
The donkey and its link to ‘Shiloh’ is first mentioned in Genesis 49,
“Binding
his foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; he has
washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.”
Genesis 49:11
The donkey has been historically linked with Redemption. Samson fought the battles of HaShem with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15), and King David went to face Goliath of Gath with a donkey,
“Jesse
took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a young goat, and
sent them by David his son to Saul.”
1 Samuel 16:20
The central message of redemption occurs in Genesis 22, which speaks of the Akedat Yitzchak in connection with the donkey,
“Abraham
rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and
rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Genesis 22:3
Moshe’s return to Israel
is connected with a donkey,
“Moses
took his wife and his sons, and set them on the donkey, and he returned to
the land of Egypt…”
Exodus 4:20
Interestingly, the Hebrew of Exodus 4 does not say “A donkey” but rather “THE donkey.” Rashi comments on this detail,
על החמר: חמור המיוחד, הוא החמור שחבש אברהם לעקידת יצחק והוא שעתיד מלך המשיח להגלות עליו, שנאמר (זכריה ט ט) עני ורוכב על חמור
“On
the donkey. The particular donkey. It is the donkey that Abraham saddled for
the binding of Isaac, and it is the one that Messiah, the King, is destined to
be revealed upon, as it says, “a humble man, riding on a donkey.”
Rashi to Exodus 4:20, Mesorah
Publishers pg. 37, cf. Pirkei de-Rebbi Eliezer 31
Rashi is citing Zechariah 9:9,
“Rejoice
greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and
riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Zechariah 9:9
The Talmud comments,
“R.
Alexandri said: R. Joshua b. Levi pointed out a contradiction. it is written,
in its time [will the Messiah come], while it is also written, I [the Lord]
will hasten it! If they are worthy, I will hasten it: if not, [he will come] at
the due time. R. Alexandri said: R. Joshua opposed two verses: it is written,
And behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven while
[elsewhere] it is written, [behold, your king comes to you. . . ] lowly, and
riding upon an donkey! If they are meritorious, [he will come] with the clouds
of heaven; if not, lowly and riding upon an donkey.”
Sanhedrin 98a, Soncino
Press Edition
Kol HaTor comments,
“A
lowly person, riding on a donkey” – Mashiach
ben Yosef is a lowly person ….“I was brought low, and he saved
me.” His lowliness protects him from death.”
Kol HaTor
2.114, translated by R’ Yechiel Bar Lev and K. Skaist
The Artscroll Siddur says,
“With
the coming and arrival of the season of God’s love…the gazelle (God) observed through
the lattice windows, and applied a cure to the bloodied nation. He
leaped across time to perform wonders and to multiply new commandments
upon the old…From the beginning the Lord established Nissan as the first, but
He did not reveal its understanding in the book possessed by Adam…it was
sanctified at its beginning, after a third [the tenth of Nissan], in its middle
and after its majority to observe, to sanctify the new moon, to take a lamb for
the Pesach…its
beginning is reserved in every generation, for the coming of the pauper riding
on a donkey [Messiah]…”
Yotzer for Parashas
HaChodesh, Artscroll Nusach Sefard Siddur, Mesorah Publishers, pg. 949
Exodus speaks of the amazing level of Moshe in his relationship with HaShem,
“HaShem spoke
to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…”
Exodus 33:11
The Torah distinguishes Moshe from other prophets,
“He
said, Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, HaShem, will make
myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant
Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak mouth to
mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see HaShem’s form. Why
then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”
Numbers 12:6-8
The Talmud comments,
כל הנביאים נסתכלו באספקלריא שאינה מאירה, משה רבינו נסתכל באספקלריא המאירה
יבמות דף מט.ב
“All
the prophets looked into a dim glass (dark mirror) אספקלריא, but Moses looked through a clear
glass (shiny mirror).”
Talmud, Yevamoth 49b,
Soncino Press Edition
Deuteronomy says,
“There
has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom HaShem knew face to
face…”
Deuteronomy 34:10
The Ralbag, R’ Levi ben Gershon (1288 CE – 1344 CE), comments on this passage,
“‘There
will not arise a prophet like Moses’ (Deut. 34.10) who was a prophet in Israel
only, but there will be a prophet from this people for the nations and this is
the King Messiah,
as it says in the Midrash, “Behold my servant will prosper” that he will be
greater than Moses. And it is explained that the miracles he will do will be
greater than Moses. Moses only brought Israel alone to the service of G-d may
he be blessed with new miracles, and he (Messiah) will bring all the nations to
serve G-d blessed is he. As it says, ‘Then will all the nations be turned to a
pure speech, they will all call on the name of G-d.’ (Zeph. 3.9) This faith
will come about due to the wondrous miracles that will be seen to all ends of
the world by all the nations, and this is the resurrection of the dead”
Ralbag on Deuteronomy
34:10, translated by Moshe Shulman [6]
Greater than Moshe! This seems unthinkable. It was Moshe who brought the revelation of the Torah. Yet, the Midrash Tanchuma says,
שיר למעלות אשא עיני אל ההרים וגו’ (תהלים קכא), זשה”כ (זכריה ד) מי אתה הר הגדול? לפני זרובבל למישור. זה משיח בן דוד, ולמה נקרא שמו הר הגדול? שהוא גדול מן האבות…ירום מאברהם…ונשא ממשה…וגבה כמלאכי השרת
“A
song to the ascents. I will lift my eyes to the mountains, [from where will my help
come?]” In reference to this, the verse states, “Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubavel, you will be a [mere] plain. This refers to Moshiach, the son
of Dovid. Why does it call him “great mountain”? Because he is greater than the
Patriarchs, as it is stated, “Behold, My servant shall prosper, will be
exalted, uplifted, and become exceedingly lofty.” He will be more “exalted”
than Avraham, he will be “uplifted” more than Moshe, and “become exceedingly
lofty” more than the ministering angels.”
Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshis,
Volume 2, Toldot 14, translated by Avrohom Davis, pg. 75-76 [4]
The Maharal, R’ Judah Loew ben Betzalel (1520 CE – 1609 CE) comments on this passage in connection with the donkey (chamor),
“It
is reasonable to ask how this donkey is different from others – why does the
Torah single this one out? A donkey is a donkey! The midrash points out that
this donkey was created at twilight; it is the donkey that Moshe rode, and it
is the one that will ultimately be ridden by the son of David. . . the rabbis
wanted to juxtapose Avraham, Moshe and Mashiach, who had what no other
creations had – a special exalted status. . . As for the Mashiach, the prophet
says, “Behold my servant shall succeed, he will be exalted and become high and
exceedingly lofty” [Isaiah 52:13]. The midrash interprets: “exalted” – more
than Avraham; ‘high’ – even more than Moshe; and ‘exceedingly lofty’ – more
than the ministering angels [Tanchuma, Toldot 14]. Only these three are loftier
than time, space and the universe…The donkey is the only non-kosher animal
specified forth performance of a commandment – its firstborn must be redeemed.
Chamor [donkey] gets its name from chomri [physical, material]…Kings reign over
the material world, which is symbolically represented by the image of a man
riding an animal. These three spiritual kings – Avraham, Moshe and Mashiach –
who ascend to the highest levels of spirituality, symbolically ride the donkey,
which represents the material world. A horse would, as a rule, be more fitting
for a king, but these are spiritual kings…”
Maharal of Prague, Gur
Arye, on Exodus and Leviticus, translated by Moshe David Kuhr, Gefen
Publishers, pgs. 34-35
The Maharal is linking the donkey to this mitzvah described in Exodus,
“Every
firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem
it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of
man among your sons.”
Exodus 13:13
The Zohar comments on the link between the lamb and the donkey,
“The
donkey and the lamb symbolize the evil and the good inclinations. The very evil
can be turned into good by repentance: the “donkey” must be redeemed by a
“lamb”. In other words, even if a man is an “donkey”, a spiritual ignoramus, he
can be redeemed from the exile of darkness and be included in the redemption of
Israel, “the scattered sheep” (Jer. 50:17). But if he does not repent, ‘thou
shalt break his neck’, meaning, he belongs to the stiffnecked ones who will be
blotted out from the Book of Life, for concerning such unrepentant sinners it
is written: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book’
(Ex. 22:33).”
Zohar, Ra’aya Mehemna, 43a,
Soncino Press Edition
The Gospels describe Yeshua as the Lamb of G-d, riding upon the donkey into Jerusalem,
“When
they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his
disciples, and said to them, ‘Go your way into the village that is opposite
you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied, on
which no one has sat. Untie him, and bring him. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are
you doing this?’ Say, ‘The Lord needs him.’ and immediately he will send him
back here.’ They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside
in the open street, and they untied him. Some of those who stood there asked
them, ‘What are you doing, untying the young donkey?’ They said to them just as
Yeshua had said, and they let them go. They brought the young donkey to
Yeshua, and threw their garments on it, and Yeshua sat on it. Many spread their
garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and
spreading them on the road. Those who went in front, and those who followed,
cried out, ‘Hoshia’na! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the L-rd! Blessed
is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord!
Hoshia’na in the highest!”
Mark 11:1-10
SIX STONE JARS
The Gospel of John is written on the sod level. Everything that he describes in his Gospel literally happened, but he selected these accounts to illustrate the deep mystical connection of Yeshua and the Torah. John closes his Gospel by telling us,
“There are also many
other things which Yeshua did, which if they would all be written, I suppose
that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be
written.”
John 21:25
He tell us of a marriage banquet not mentioned in any of the other Gospels,
“The
third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Yeshua’s mother was there.
Yeshua also was invited, with his disciples, to the marriage. When the wine ran
out, Yeshua’s mother said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Yeshua said to her,
‘Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.’
His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever he says to you, do it.’Now there
were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews way of purifying,
containing two or three metretes apiece. Yeshua said to them, ‘Fill the water
pots with water.’ They filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw
some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.’ So they took it. When the
ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it
came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the
feast called the bridegroom, and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine
first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You
have kept the good wine until now!’ This beginning of his signs Yeshua did in
Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
John 2:1-11
Several questions must be asked here. Why does Yeshua say, “My hour has not yet come”? Why does John decide to include the detail, “On the third day…”? One principle in understand the text of the Bible is that no word is superfluous. It is well known that a day equals 1000 years in Jewish thought. Peter paraphrases Psalm 90:4,
“…don’t
forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the L-d as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.”
2 Peter 3:8
On May 14, 1948, David ben Gurion announced the establishment of the State of Israel, fulfilling the prophecy in Hosea 6:2.
Considering this, what is the significance of the third day from a Jewish perspective? On the “third day”is the time of the “marriage banquet” that occurs on the day after the 2000 year exile in accordance with Hosea 6:2,
“After
two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and
we will live before him.”
Hosea 6:2
The meaning is, “After 2000 years he will revive us, and on the third day, he will raise us up.” Amazingly, we have seen this prophecy come to fulfillment in our own days, with our own eyes. We are now rapidly approaching the third day. Genesis Rabbah commenting on Genesis 22:4, says,
“ON
THE THIRD DAY. It is written, ‘After two days He will revive us,
on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence (Hosea
6:2).’ E.g. on the third day of the tribal ancestors: ‘And Joseph said
unto them the third day: This do, and live (Gen. 42:18);’ on the third day of Revelation:
‘And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning (Exodus 29:16)’; on
the third day of the spies: ‘And hide yourselves there three days (Joshua
2:16)’; on the third day of Jonah: And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights (Jonah 2:1); on the third day of those returning from the
Exile:’And we abode there three days (Ezra 8:32)’; on the third day of
resurrection: ‘After two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise
us up.’ on the third day of Esther: ‘Now
it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel (Est.
5:1)’-i.e. she put on the royal apparel of her ancestor. For whose sake? The
Rabbis say: For the sake of the third day, when Revelation took place. R. Levi
maintained: ‘In the merit of what Abraham did on the third day,’ as it says,
‘ON THE THIRD DAY,’ etc. ‘AND SAW THE PLACE AFAR OFF. What did he see? He saw a
cloud enveloping the mountain, and said: ‘It appears that that is the place
where the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to sacrifice my son.”
Genesis Rabbah 56:1, Soncino Press Edition
The “wedding feast” is a symbol of the Messianic Kingdom,
“The
Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his
son…”
Matthew 22:2, cf.
Revelation 19:9
Pirkei Avot says,
“The
judgment is true, and everything is prepared for the banquet.”
Pirkei Avot 3:16
What is the secret of the wine?
“Judah
and Hezekiah, the sons of R. Hiyya, once sat at table with Rabbi and uttered
not a word. Whereupon he said: Give the young men plenty of strong wine, so
that they may say something. When the wine took effect, they began by saying:
‘The son of David cannot appear ere the two ruling houses in Israel shall have
come to an end, viz., the Exilarchate, in Babylon and the Patriarchate in
Palestine, for it is written, ‘And he shall be for a Sanctuary, for a stone of
stumbling and for a rock of offence to both houses of Israel.’ Thereupon he
[Rabbi] exclaimed: ‘You throw thorns in my eyes, my children!’ At this, R.
Hiyya [his disciple] remarked: ‘Master, be not angered, for the numerical value
of the letters of yayin is seventy, and likewise the letters of sod: When yayin
[wine] goes in, sod [secrets] comes out.”
Sanhedrin 38a, Soncino
Press Edition
In Hebrew, the word for wine (yayin) and secret (sod) have the same gematria,
70 = יין = סוד
In describing the plagues of Egypt, and the Nile becoming blood, the Torah mentions that even the water within “stone vessels”became blood,
“HaShem
said to Moshe, ‘Tell Aaron, Take your rod, and
stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their
streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may
become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both
in vessels of wood and in
vessels of stone.”
Exodus 7:19
As Moshe turned the water to blood, so Mashiach turns the water to wine. However, why are there six stone jars that contain the water that Yeshua changes into wine? Why does it say six specifically? It is well known that 6 is the “number of man” (Rev 13:18). But why? Because Adam was created on the six day, and represents the pinnacle of Creation. The six stone jars refer to the Six Days of Creation,
“…for
in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, and rested the seventh day; therefore HaShem blessed the Sabbath day, and
made it holy.”
Exodus 20:11
The Talmud says,
“The
world to come is not like this world. In this world there is the trouble of
harvesting and treading [of the grapes], but in the world to come a man will
bring one grape on a wagon or a ship, put it in a corner of his house and use
its contents as [if it had been] a large wine cask, while its timber would be
used to make fires for cooking. There will be no grape that will not contain
thirty kegs of wine…”
Ketubot 111b, Soncino Press
Edition
This idea is even expressed in the text 2nd Baruch,
“The
earth also shall yield its fruit ten-thousandfold and on each vine there shall
be thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and
each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a kor of wine…”
2 Baruch 29:5-8
In Tractate Sanhedrin, R’ Yehoshua comments,
“What
is that which no eye has seen? R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said: This is wine
preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation. Reish Lakish says: This
is Eden.”
Sanhedrin 99a, Mesorah
Publishers
The Midrash Rabbah says,
“Israel
… busied themselves with Torah which is sweeter than honey, the Holy One, blessed
be He, will therefore in the hereafter, give them to drink of the wine that is
preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation.”
Numbers 13:2, Soncino Press
Edition
Artscroll commentary on this passage in Sanhedrin 99a explains,
The
reward is allegorically portrayed as wine, because nothing gladdens a person’s
heart in this world more than wine does. It is described as “preserved in its
grapes since the Creation” to convey that no human has ever perceived it, just
as no one has touched wine that it still within its grapes (Yad Ramah to
90a). Wine preserved in its grapes since the Creation” is a metaphor for
secret Torah wisdom which has not been made known to man. This wisdom will be
revealed to the righteous in the world to come (Midrash Ne’elam, cited by
Margaliyos HaYam; Even Sheleimah 11:11;see also Maharsha [Berachos ibid.] and
Maharal.”
Artscroll Commentary to
Sanhedrin 99
Yeshua says, “My time is not yet come” because the Messianic Kingdom is not yet here. Even so, he gives us a taste of wine hidden for the Olam Haba, the World to Come. This teaches us that we do not need to wait for the Kingdom to bring it here now. The Kingdom can be here, now, brought by our mitzvot. Its full manifestation will come when Mashiach returns, but we can bring a taste of the Messianic Kingdom today.
MIRROR IMAGES
The Midrash Rabbah says,
“R.
Berekiah said in the name of R. Isaac: As the first redeemer was, so shall the
latter Redeemer be. What is stated of the former redeemer? And Moses took his
wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Ex. 4: 20). Similarly will it be
with the latter Redeemer, as it is stated, Lowly and riding upon an ass
(Zech.9:9). As the former redeemer caused manna to descend, as it is stated,
Behold, I will cause to rain bread from heaven for you (Ex. 16:4), so will the
latter Redeemer cause manna to descend, as it is stated. May he be as a rich
cornfield in the land (Ps. 72:16). As the former redeemer made a well to rise,
so will the latter Redeemer bring up water, as it is stated, And a fountain
shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of
Shittim (Joel 4:18).”
Kohelet Rabbah 1:28,
Soncino Press Edition
The Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner comments,
“.
. . Just as Moses brought redemption to his people, so also will Messiah bring
redemption. . . Just as Moses, after revealing himself to his brethren in Egypt
and announcing to them that deliverance was near, was forced to go into hiding
for a time, so also will be Messiah be forced to hide himself after the first
revelations, just as Moses crossed from Midian to Egypt riding on a donkey
(Exod 4:20), so also will Messiah come riding on a donkey; just as Moses caused
manna to rain from the sky, so will Messiah bring forth different kinds of food
in a miraculous way; and just as Moses gave to the children of Israel wells and
springs of water in the wilderness, so also will Messiah make streams of water
flow in the desert. Not only this, but the acceptance of suffering because of
the iniquities of others, which late Jewish legend attributes to the Messiah…is
also attributed to our master Moses. (This may be called suffering for
atonement; Christian scholars call it vicarious suffering, and in Christianity
this idea has become an important article of faith.)”
Joseph Klausner, The Messianic Idea in Israel, pages 17-18, 1927
The parallels between Yeshua and Moshe are numerous. As the first redeemer was, so shall the second redeemer be.
THE BURNING BUSH
In one of the most
incredible moments in history, Moshe came face to face with HaShem,
“The
Angel of HaShem appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush (סְּנֶ֑ה). He looked, and behold, the bush burned with
fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
Exodus 3:2
The Targum identifies the ‘Angel’ in the Bush as Zagnugael, which is one of the 70 names of Metatron, who Kol HaTor identifies as the “Mashiach ben Yosef from above,”
“But
Mosheh was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the rabba of Midian;
and he had led the flock to a pleasant place of pasturage which is behind the
desert, and had come to the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the
L-rd, even Horeb. And Zagnugael, the angel of the L-rd, appeared to him in a
fame of fire in the midst of the bush. And he gazed, and, behold, the bush
burned with fire, yet the bush was neither burned nor consumed with fire.”
Targum Onkelos on Exodus 3 [3]
HaShem instructs Moshe to take off his sandals,
“He
said, ‘Do not come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you
are standing on is holy ground.”
Exodus 3:5
A similiar event happens to Joshua,
“It
happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand.
Joshua went to him, and said to him, ‘Are you for us, or for our adversaries?’ He
said, ‘No, but I have come now as commander of
the HaShem’s army. Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and
worshipped, and said to him, ‘What does my lord say to his servant? The
prince of HaShem’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take your shoes off of your feet; for
the place on which you stand is holy. Joshua did so.”
Joshua 5:13-15
However, why would the Angel of HaShem appear in a thornbush? Thorns are related to the curse upon Adam,
“To
Adam he said, Because you have listened to your wifes voice, and have
eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of
it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.”
Genesis 3:17
Would it not be more appropriate to appear in the midst of a towering Cedar of Lebanon? Rashi explains,
“And
the angel of G-d appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
thornbush (3:2)” Why in a thornbush and not some other tree? In order to
demonstrate that “I am with them in their affliction.”
Rashi, cited at Chabad.org
Isaiah 63 says,
“In
all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved
them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and
carried them all the days of old.”
Isaiah 63:9, ESV
This is the secret as to why the Mashiach wore a crown of thorns,
“They
braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand;
and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the
Jews! They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.”
Matthew 27:29-30
FACE TO FACE
As mentioned before, the Torah distinguishes Moshe from other prophets,
“All
the prophets looked into a dim glass (dark mirror), but Moses looked
through a clear glass (shiny mirror).”
Yevamoth 49b, Soncino Press
Edition
Paul speaks of the ultimate revelation of the Redeemer, when all will see through a clear mirror,
“Love
is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does
not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…For
now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but
then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope,
and love remain–these three. The greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8,12-13,
ESV
Solomon says,
“Let
him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.”
Song of Solomon 1:2, ESV
Wisdom, which is the Primordial Torah, says
“Come,
eat some of my bread, drink some of the wine which I have mixed!”
Proverbs 9:5, cf. Genesis
14:18
R’ Yitzchok Wagshul comments,
“Revelation
of this Great Love is accomplished through study of the Torah, which is
compared to wine. This is the inner significance of the Talmudic saying “When
wine [referring to Torah] enters a person, the secret [referring to the longing
of their soul for G-d] comes out”…When the “wine” of Torah enters a person’s
system, when he or she makes Torah the object of his or her soul’s thought and
speech – through study and teaching of Torah – and actions – through actual
performance of mitzvot – this stimulates the
soul itself and brings its Great Love to the fore…Our verse, too, referring to
“eyes bloodshot from wine” is speaking of the degree of Delightful Love which
results after one has succeeded, through the wine of Torah, in bringing out the
Great Love “hidden” within one’s soul.”
Yitzchok D.
Wagshul, Eyes Red with Wine: Part 2, Chabad.org
The blessing over the wine says,
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹקינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן
Baruch atah HaShem,
Elokeinu Melech HaOlam, borei pri hagafen
Blessed are you HaShem, our
G-d, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Yeshua says,
“I
am the True Vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that
does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he
prunes, that it may bear more fruit…As the Father has loved me, so have I loved
you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These
things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may
be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends.”
John 15:1-2,9-13, ESV
REFERENCES
1. Targum Yonatan to Genesis 49
2. R’ Ari Kahn, M’oray HaAish, Moshe the Emergence of a Leader
4. Here is the entire passage of Midrash Tanchuma, Toledot 14, in Hebrew (from: http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/tan/b0006.htm/#14):
שיר למעלות אשא עיני אל ההרים וגו’ (תהלים קכא), זשה”כ (זכריה ד) מי אתה הר הגדול לפני זרובבל למישור זה משיח בן דוד, ולמה נקרא שמו הר הגדול שהוא גדול מן האבות שנאמר (ישעיה נב) הנה ישכיל עבדי ירום ונשא וגבה מאד, ירום מאברהם ונשא מיצחק וגבה מיעקב, ירום מאברהם שנאמר (בראשית יד) הרמותי יד אל ה’, ונשא ממשה שאמר (במדבר יא) כי תאמר אלי שאהו בחיקך, וגבה כמלאכי השרת שנאמר (יחזקאל א) וגבותם מלאות עינים, לכך נאמר מי אתה הר הגדול, וממי הוא יוצא מזרובבל, ולמה נקרא שמו זרובבל מפני שנולד בבבל, ומי הוא מדוד שנאמר (ד”ה א ג) ובן שלמה רחבעם אביה בנו וגו’, עד ודליה וענני שבעה (ס”א ע”כ דברי הימים) ומהו ענני זה משיח (זכריה ד) כי מי בז ליום קטנות שבעה אלה שנאמר (דניאל ז) הזה הוית בחזוי ליליא וארו עם ענני שמיא כבר אנש אתה הוא, וענני שבעה מהו שבעה מה שכתוב במלך המשיח כי כי בז ליום קטנות שבעה אלה, לכך נאמר מי אתה הר הגדול זה שכתוב בו (ישעיה יא) ושפט בצדק דלים וגו’ (זכריה ד) והוציא את האבן הראשה וגו’ מה כתיב אחריו באדין דקו כחדה וגו’ וכתיב ואבנא די מחת לצלמא הות לטור רב ומלאת כל ארעא (דניאל ב) לכך נאמר מי אתה הר הגדול, והיכן הוא בא דרך ההרים שנאמר (ישעיה נב) מה נאוו על ההרים רגלי מבשר וגו’, באותה שעה יהיו ישראל מסתכלין ואומרים אשא עיני אל ההרים מאין יבא עזרי עזרי מעם ה’ עושה שמים וארץ אמן כן יהי רצון:
5. Yitzchok D. Wagshul, Eyes Red with Wine: Part 2, Chabad.org
6. Translated by R’ Moshe Shulman, Judaism’s Answer (Anti-missionary website)
7. A Preface to Moshiach: Setting the Record Straight, Beis Moshiach
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