Reverse Segue: On Burning and Being

So, I jumped from Moses to Hillel without much of s segue (I can't use that word without thinking of Weird Al's White & Nerdy: "They see me roll on my Segway..."), so I suppose I could jump back without one as well. But since I've started, I think I should explicate the connection between BEING (for oneself and/or others) and the burning bush.

It's all part of the story, see... When Moses was out there in exile tending to his herd, he noticed that this bush nearby was on fire. Hmmm... he said to himself (I imagine). That bush over there is on fire.

And what did Moses do when he saw the burning bush? Did he grab a pail of water and extinguish the flames? Did he dial 9-1-1 for help?

Nope.

He gazed.

And how do we know he gazed?

Well, the Torah tells us that Moses gazed. (See Sh'mot/Exodus 3:2) Of equal importance, we are told that in this gazing Moses noted that the bush was not consumed.

This kind of observation requires some attention. How long would you say it takes to observe a piece of wood being consumed? Having sat before more than one campfire, I can tell you, it takes a while for the wood to blacken and give way to the flames. And how difficult is it to discern exactly when the tinder begins to burn? What would it look like if the wood was not consumed, and how and when would you know?

So, sometime after Moses finds the bush ablaze and scrutinizes the nature of the flames, G-d calls out: Moses! Moses! (Why twice? Perhaps Moses was so hypnotized he did not hear the first time?)

And Moses answered: Hinneni—Here I am.

Hinneni, according to the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism's Etz Hayim (published by JPS), is “the spontaneous, unhesitating response to a divine call.”

HERE I AM.

Eureka! There it is—the link between burning and being. (Or, the first and more obvious link. Further prognostications will follow.) And in that moment of being, Moses did not have questions. He did not experience doubt. He was not concerned with who he was. He just was.

The real lesson here seems to be this: Be present. Be mindful. Pay attention. (Sound familiar? That Hillel really knew what he was talking about.) This is what allows us to experience the presence of G-d. And the meaning is twofold: First, G-d will be revealed to us when we are still, and second, to be still—to be present in the present moment—is to experience G-d. It is often said that G-d is all around us and within us—could it be more plain?

(The lovely image above is by artist Chana Cromer, whose website can be found at http://www.chana-cromer.com/)