In Parshat Shemot, while Moshe was shepherding he saw a miraculous event. As he went toward it he unknowingly came into the presence of Hashem. The supernatural event that Moshe saw was a bush that was on fire but the fire was not devouring it. When Moshe looked closer to try to find out why it did not burn, he heard God’s voice calling him and saying, “Here I am.” When God says “Here I am” to Moshe, He is also telling us: here He is. God is saying that the reason this bush is not being devoured is because I am here protecting it.
Nowadays we may not see physical bushes with flames that do not get devoured by fire. It may not be so clear to us, but the event of the burning bush occurs every day that we, the Jewish people, exist. Jews are the bush and the flames are all our enemies—past, present and future. Sometimes the people who try to harm us are more numerous or stronger and they should have beaten us, but we won and will continue to win. Why is that? Because, as Hashem said, “Here I am.” It is important to realize that God is with us in our exile and that redemption starts with realizing who is here to help you.
By Shira Sedek
