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There is a burning bush at my family’s camp in the Adirondack Mountains. It’s more of a stump, really, but every summer, my kids and I look forward to finding it, making sure that the magic is still there, that the bright flames are still licking away at the impenetrable lichen-covered growth surrounded by fir trees. Once we spot it, we often stand for a moment or two, staring into the flames and marveling at the optical illusion. While our burning bush may be little more than a distorted reflection of the porch fireplace on the plants outside the window, that doesn’t keep me from sometimes calling out, “Moses! Moses!” - much to the amusement/exasperation of my long-suffering offspring.

As silly as this story may seem, I’m very fond of this yearly reminder of this week’s Torah portion, Sh’mot, in which Moses, also on the side of a mountain in the middle of the wilderness, sees something extraordinary and magical and forces himself not to look away. It is only when God sees that Moses is paying close attention to the burning bush that he calls out to him, telling him that he has been chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses protests wildly, convinced that there must be someone better suited to the task and afraid that the Israelites will not believe him, but God brushes aside his protests, giving him some nifty magic tricks to help convince the sceptics and a sidekick to help him get his point across. No turning back now, my friend. You listened to the burning bush, and your trajectory has now shifted.

What if Moses had listened to his doubts? What if God’s reassurance, miraculous signs, and offer of his brother Aaron as a spokesperson hadn’t been enough to get him to act? Might he have spent the rest of his days in Midian, raising a family with Zipporah, tending sheep for a living, and enjoying questionable libations with his father-in-law Jethro in front of the fireplace after a long day’s work? What might have happened if he had turned his back on his people and his calling?

The journey that Moses began on the day he harkened to the burning bush proved to be long, arduous, and unpredictable, and the people he was tasked with saving never gave him a day’s rest from whining and second-guessing. The journey wasn’t smooth or glamorous. But he made it.

While a burning bush is hard to come by these days, Judaism calls each of us to do something meaningful with our lives. Every human possesses a divine spark, and we are the only ones who can fan them into a flame. In choosing to harken to a greater purpose and to work toward making the world a better place, it may help to be reminded of that time when Moses decided to accept a daunting task, to do the thing that scared him. It is not always easy to work toward a greater goal, and we will doubtlessly experience highs and lows along our journey, but which story would you rather read? The one about that guy tending sheep for his father-in-law? Or the one about that guy who delivered his people from slavery and brought them to the doorstep of the Promised Land?

Shabbat Shalom,

Rebecca Abbate