Hashem Believes in Us! (From 2008)

Insight of the Week

Hashem's first prophecy to Moshe Rabbenu occurred at the "burning bush." While tending to his father-in-law's flocks, Moshe came across an unusual sight – a bush that was on fire, but was not being consumed. He stepped toward the bush to get a closer look, and then Hashem spoke to him. He commanded Moshe, אל תקרב הלום – not to step any closer, and to take off his shoes, because the ground he was standing on was sacred. Hashem proceeded to instruct Moshe to return to Egypt and begin the process of leading Beneh Yisrael out of bondage. What is the significance of this vision – a burning bush – and why was Moshe told to remove his shoes? Moshe lived in Midyan, but was well aware of the suffering endured by his people back in Egypt. And in his mind, they had no hope of being saved. They were enslaved by the most powerful empire on earth, and they had no merits through which they could earn Hashem's salvation. During their years in Egypt, they became assimilated and even worshipped idols. How could they possibly be worthy of Hashem performing a miracle to rescue them from bondage? Moshe saw the burning bush, and realized that this was a symbol of Beneh Yisrael . They were "on fire," in grave crisis, but yet, they could not be "consumed," they could not be destroyed. No matter what their enemies try doing to them, they somehow survive. This is why Moshe was so surprised. He did not understand how this was possible. How could Beneh Yisrael miraculously survive the efforts made by powerful nations to destroy it, if they had no merits through which to earn Hashem's salvation? Hashem responded to Moshe's questions by saying אל תקרב הלום – "Don't come any closer." He was telling Moshe to stop thinking such thoughts, to stop asking such questions, to do an about-face, to change the way he thought about the people. He told Moshe to remove his "shoes" – meaning, to stop looking down on the people, to stop "stepping" on them, thinking that they were lowly and unworthy of being helped. Because in truth, המקום אשר אתה עומד עליו, אדמת-קודש הוא – "the place upon which you are standing, it is sacred ground." The people he was looking down on were, in fact, sacred people. They may have fallen to low spiritual levels, but they were full of kedushah , full of vast spiritual potential. They were, in fact, worthy of being saved, because they had the potential to rise to greatness. The first words we are to utter when we wake up in the morning are מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקיים שהחזרת בי נשמתי – "I thank you, the living, eternal G-d, for Your having restored to me my soul." During the night, we experience a temporary "death," as our soul departs our body, and it is returned to us in the morning. To appreciate what this means, let us consider the analogy of someone who borrows his friend's car. When he returns it at the end of the day, there's a noticeable scratch on the side. Several days later, he needs to borrow it again, and the friend unhesitatingly agrees. At the end of the day, he brings it back – and there's an even larger scratch, on the other side. Nevertheless, when the fellow asks his friend to borrow the car again a couple of days later, the friend happily agrees. This time, he gets it back with a dent in the front fender. Two days later, the man asks to borrow the car again – and the friend agrees… No matter what the guy does to his friend's car, the friend continually lends it to him, over and over, without complaint, no matter how many dents and scratches the car has… The same is true of our souls. Hashem graciously "lends" us our soul each morning, and we return it with "scratches" and "dents." Invariably, we make mistakes during the day. We might not pray properly, we might forget to recite a berachah or birkat ha'mazon , we might say something hurtful to our spouse, child, or friend, we might turn down a request to help someone who needs us, or we might do something else wrong. When we turn in at night and return to Hashem the soul which he had entrusted to us, we give it back "damaged." And yet, Hashem returns it to us the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning, and every single morning. Why does He do that? Why does He keep entrusting us with something that we keep "damaging"? The answer is found in the last two words of the brief מודה אני prayer that we recite right when we wake up: רבה אמונתך – "abundant is Your faith." Some explain this to mean that Hashem has great faith in us. He gives us back our souls because He believes in us. He knows that no matter what we did the day before, or the day before that, or the day before that, or at any point in the past, we have the capacity to attain greatness. He knows better than we do how much potential we have. He believes in our abilities, and so He gives us back our soul each morning. Our past mistakes don't say anything about how much potential we have. The very fact that we opened our eyes this morning and got out of bed means that Hashem believes that we can be great, regardless of what happened in the past. We need to believe this, too, and work each day to maximize our potential and pursue greatness.