What do these translations add to your understanding of where Moses is when he encounters the Burning Bush?
--Rabbi Elana Zelony
בלבת אש b'labat eish means IN A FLAME OF FIRE, i. e. in the very heart of (לב, lev) the fire. Similarly is לב lev used of inanimate objects in: (Deuteronomy 4:11) “in the heart of (לב) heaven”; (II Samuel 18:14) “in the midst of (לב) the terebinth”.
מפני שהנביא הנקרא נבהל בקריאה ראשונה ואם יבא אליו הדבור מיד לא יבין, לכך יצטרך להקרא שנית כדי שיתישב ואחרי כן ידבר עמו.
A rational/scientific approach to our verse: seeing that a prophet would become frightened when he heard his name called for the first time, and as a result of his confusion he would misunderstand the divine message which was to follow, his name is called a second time in order to give him time to collect his thoughts. After the second mention of his name he would receive the message G’d wanted him to receive.
But Moses doesn’t steer clear, he looks; long enough to see that the bush is not only burning, but it is not consumed. And the text says, ‘ And Moses thought, “Let me, pray, turn aside that I may see this great sight, why the bush does not burn up.’” This bush is clearly none of his business, out of his way, but he just has to turn aside and look at it. And that reveals something deep about the man. He is a seeker, not just a seeker after justice, but a man seeking his destiny. He is living contentedly as a shepherd, with a loving father-in- law, a wife, a son, a nice job. He could just settle. But something is driving him to turn aside, to pay attention to oddities, possibilities, omens.... And, in the manner of this manifestation, appearing as a burning bush, God is also revealed as one who appears not only in high drama, but also sets subtle signs for us. Most of God’s appearances are in dramatic forms with big production values -- a pillar of fire or on a mountain top in lightning and clouds. But here, Rashi points out, God is manifest in a bush, the humblest of plants – just a lousy little bush in the wilderness … burning. It took someone special to notice it.
Moses notices, and in that noticing ignites the engine of our entire history. How many other shepherds walked that way and either missed the bush or saw it was burning but didn’t look long enough to see the miraculous in it? --Rabbi Arthur Strimling, Kolot Chayeinu
OUT OF THE MIDST OF A BUSH (a thornbush) — and not from any other tree....
