This week we begin the 2nd Book of Moses -Parashat Shemot - Exodus 1:1 - 6:1

Brief Synopsis:

A new generation of the Children of Israel grows into a nation. A new Pharaoh comes to rule. The Jewish people are turned into slaves.

Moses is born, hidden, found floating in a basket, raised in Pharaoh's house, turned into an outlaw when he kills to defend a Hebrew slave, and married to the daughter of the High Priest of Midian.

God talks to Moses from inside a Burning Bush.

Verse of the week "The bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed." (3:2) Moses said, "I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn't the bush burn up?" (3:3)

Our Rabbis have given several interpretations for this unusual occurrence. They include the following four from Exodus Rabbah:

God wanted to point out that even the lowliest of creations can miraculously become inflamed if filled with Divine sparks - a lesson that even the humblest of people can make history if filled with God's holy spirit.

Rabbi Jose said - it is characteristic of a thornbush that when a man sticks his hand into it, he is not injured, because the sharp ends of its thorns are pointed downward; but when he attempts to draw his hand out of the bush, the thorns will fasten on to it. In this sense, the thornbush symbolized the Jews' experience in Egypt, which had at first welcomed them but which then refused to let them go.

A heathen asked Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah: Why did the Holy One see fit to speak to Moses out of a thornbush and not out of another kind of tree? He replied: Had he spoken to Moses out of a carob tree or out of a sycamore tree, you would have asked me the same question; but to dismiss you with no reply is not right. So I will tell you why. To teach you that no place on earth, not even a thornbush, is devoid of the Presence.

The burning thornbush that was not consumed by fire was a way of assuring Moshe that the Jews of Egypt would not be destroyed.

Why is the Jewish Theological Seminary logo a burning bush? Perhaps it is because the burning bush is symbolic of the people of Israel and of Torah - which never get consumed. The top of the bush logo is in the shape of the Hebrew letter - Shin - which stands for one of the names of God - Shaddai. No matter how difficult things become - the presence of God is always with us.

I also believe that the burning bush serves as a reminder to us that miracles can and do occur in our daily lives if we, like Moses, "turn aside to look" at these wonderful sights.