Jan 1/05 — Parshat Shmot

Commentary by Rabbi Alan Green

“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far edge of the wilderness. And he came to the mountain of God, to Chorev. And a messenger of God appeared to him in a blazing fire, from out of a bush. And he looked. And behold: A bush was burning, but the bush was not consumed. Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this incredible sight. Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”

And when God saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him, from out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” And he answered, “Here I am.” And God said, “Do not come closer. Remove the sandals from your feet. For the place upon which you stand, is holy ground.” Parshat Shmot – Exodus 3:1-5

One of the greater challenges of being human is to realize that we are far more than we appear to be. Just as an iceberg is 90% invisible to those who cannot see beneath the surface of the ocean, so too, we human beings are 90% invisible to ourselves, and to others. The vast majority of the time, we cannot grasp that we are sons and daughters of the supreme King of kings; and that, as such, we can access the infinite energy, creativity, and intelligence that sustains the entire universe, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In this week’s Parsha, God is addressing all of us, even as he addresses Moses, when He says: “Remove the sandals from your feet.” In other words, cast off that which encloses our feet—that which is habitual; that which is ordinary; that which obscures our extraordinary, spiritual nature; that which dulls the mind, and prevents the senses from seeing the whole sumptuous range of reality that the Creator has spread before us, His beloved children. Then, we will recognize that whatever place upon which we stand—wherever and whenever it may turn out to be—is holy ground; that God is looking directly at us, and we are looking directly at God; that even before we fully articulate a desire, God is already there to fulfill it (see Isaiah 65:24).

The 20th century philosopher/mystic Martin Buber once wrote: “For there is no rung of being upon which we cannot find the presence of God, everywhere, and at all times.”