‘Bushwalking’ Parashat Shemot 5785
Moshe has a habit of going on walkabouts to Mount Sinai[1]. On one of these walks, an angel of G-d suddenly appears before him. The Torah describes the revelation [Shemot 3:2]: “An angel of G-d appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.” Two things stick out to the discerning eye. First, the word “bush” seems terribly overused. It would have been much more concise to say, “There was a bush all aflame, yet it was not consumed.” Similar logic can be used to remove the second instance of the word “bush” from the verse. The second thing that sticks out is the repeated use of the Definite Article Prefix (Heh Ha’yedia). The Torah refers not to “s’neh” – “a bush” – but, rather to “ha’s’neh” “the bush”, presumably a particular bush that was already well-known to Moshe. Interestingly, the word bush (s’neh) does not appear in the Torah until Moshe encounters one that happens to be on fire and after the episode of the burning bush. The word appears only one more time in the Torah, in Moshe’s blessing of Joseph, in which G-d is referred to as [Devarim 33:16] “He Who dwells in a bush (shoche’ni s’neh)”, clearly referring to the revelation at the burning bush. There were no other bushes in Moshe’s past or in his future. Which particular bush, then, did Moshe come across?
Rabbi Umberto Cassuto[2] is the only commentator I have found who notices the use of the Definite Article Prefix and explains that it is used for the purpose of emphasis, although he does not explain what it is coming to emphasize. Rabbi Cassuto makes another observation. Noting that the word “s’neh” sounds a lot like the word “Sinai”, the location where the entire episode took place, he wonders out loud whether there is a connection between the two words. He concludes that there is none, seeing as the Torah in the previous verse [Shemot 3:2] refers to Mount Sinai not as “Sinai” but as “Horeb”.
What was unclear to Rabbin Cassuto was eminently clear to Rabbeinu Bachya[3]. Quoting from our Sages in the Midrash, Rabbeinu Bachya writes, “The bush (s’neh) is Sinai”. He brings a logical proof: Regarding the revelation at the burning bush, Scripture states [Shemot 3:2] “There was a bush all aflame (bo’er ba’esh)” and regarding the revelation at Sinai, it states [Devarim 4:11] “The mountain was all aflame (bo’er ba’esh)”. Both the bush and the mountain were on fire, ergo they were one and the same object. QED
Rabbi Aaron Bak, who teaches at the Rishon leZion Hesder Yeshiva, integrates all of what we have discussed so far in order to forward a highly innovative new idea[4]. We will begin with Rabbi Bak’s innovation but then take it in a completely different direction. Rabbi Bak is troubled by the use of the Definite Article Prefix in the description of “the bush” in the first appearance of the word “s’neh” in the verse. Which particular bush did Moshe come across? Rabbi Bak proposes that the Torah is not referring to one particular bush, but, rather, to the generic “bush”, as if to say that the Angel of G-d appeared to Moshe from within “the bushes”, or as Australians say, “the bush”. Rabbi Bak compares this with the Torah’s use of [Bereishit 15:11] “The vulture[s] (ha’ayit) came down…” and [Shemot 8:2] “The frog[s] (ha’tzefardaya) came up…” In both cases, the singular is used to describe the plural. In a similar fashion, the Angel of G-d appeared to Moshe from a burning fire located within a patch of bushes.
Rabbi Bak continues by asserting that the angel appeared from within a raging brush fire – the entire patch was aflame. He uses this understanding to explain a number of words from the Torah’s description of the event, such as calling the burning bush [Shemot 3:3] “This marvellous sight”. What is so marvellous about a burning thorn bush that the average person would not even notice unless he accidentally tripped over it. But a brush fire? Well, that is certainly something you don’t see every day. Marvellous, indeed.
It is here that our path diverges from the one chosen by Rabbi Bak. I suggest the revelation was “marvellous” not because of its great dimensions, but, rather, because of its infinitesimal dimensions. Rabbi J.B. Soloveichik[5], in a talk given in Boston in 1979, refers to Rashi’s[6] explanation of the phrase “blazing fire”, in Hebrew “la’bat esh”. Noting that the Hebrew word for “heart” is “lev”, Rashi interprets this phrase as “the heart of the fire”, or, “the centre of the fire”. Rabbi Soloveichik continues where Rashi ends, explaining that the bush was shaped like a circle, with the fire contained in its centre, not spreading to the periphery. When Moshe asks [Shemot 3:3] “Why is the bush is not consumed?”, he is actually asking, “Why does the fire not spread to the periphery?”. Now let’s fold in Rabbi Bak’s innovation, by replacing “bush” with “brush”. From a physical perspective, fire spreads by the flame pre-heating the fuel, aided by local pressure differentials that blowing sparks and embers ahead of the main fire into new fuel sources. Moshe asks how the fire remains in the epicentre of the brush, defying the laws of physics? Rabbi Soloveichik adds his own gloss to Rashi, that not only did the fire not spread, but it remained confined to one dimensionless point in the centre. What kind of fire behaves in such a manner? Rabbi Soloveichik answers, “This bush symbolizes [Judaism]. Many times G-d approaches man from infinity. From this transcendence, G-d communicates to man, addresses Himself to man. G-d can also descend from infinity, from a transcendent world, and contract Himself. This is called ‘tzimtzum’. And this is the message that He wanted Moshe to teach [the Jewish People], which is why He revealed Himself as a dimensionless point.” Moshe saw an infinitely bright point of light in the centre of the brush. This was not a combustion reaction between a fuel and an oxidant. This was a wormhole[7], this was G-d bridging the gap between the infinite void and our corporeal world. This was G-d telling Moshe that He cares greatly about what happens on Planet Earth, that He has not forgotten about the Jewish People, and that the time had come to redeem them.
Our Sages in the Midrash ask why G-d chose to appear to Moshe specifically from a bush, and not something more grandiose and imposing, like a tall tree. The Midrash answers that this happened to teach that no place is devoid of G-d’s presence, not even a lowly thornbush. The dimensions of the event were meaningless. What was earth-shattering was that there was fire at all. What was earth-shattering was that G-d shattered the barriers between the infinite and the finite, appearing as a dimensionless point in a lowly thornbush. This explanation can help link the revelation at the burning bush to the revelation at Sinai. I suggest that the Rabbeinu Bachya’s logical connection between “s’neh” and “Sinai” does not serve to equate their locations. As Rabbi Cassuto mentioned, we already know from the preceding verse that the burning bush was located at Horeb – Sinai. Rather, the logical connection between s’neh and Sinai equates the type of revelation that occurred in both locations. In both instances, G-d bridged an infinite distance. In one instance, it was to take – the Jewish people out of Egypt – and in the other instance, it was to give – the Torah to the Jewish People. Taking this linkage one step further, just as the revelation at the burning bush was via an infinite light emanating from a dimensionless point, so, too, was the revelation at Sinai. To quote Robin Williams, “Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space!” To this rocket scientist, marvellous, indeed.
Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5785
Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Shlomo ben Esther, Sheindel Devorah bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, and Meir ben Drora.
[1] The most straightforward translation of Shemot [3:1] “Moshe ha’ya ro’eh…” is that “Moshe would regularly tend his flocks…” Something must have drawn Moshe to Mount Sinai.
[2] Rabbi Cassuto lived in Florence, Italy, in the first half of the previous century
[3] Rabbi Bachya ben Asher lived in Spain at the turn of the 14th century.
[4] Rabbi Bak’s article can be found at https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/ktav_et/maamarim/bak-24-12-21.pdf.
[5] Rabbi Soloveichik was the leader of Modern Orthodox Jewry in North America during the 2nd half of the previous century.
[6] Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known by his acronym “Rashi,” was the most eminent of the medieval commentators. He lived in northern France in the 11th century.
[7] A wormhole is a hypothetical structure which connects disparate points in spacetime.