Moses and the Burning Bush Essay -- essays research papers

Two men are walking to temple. The older man says to the younger man, â€Å"So, do you know why the Jewish people aren’t voting for President Bush?† The younger man replies with an inquisitive â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well,† says the older man, â€Å"the last time the Jewish people followed a Bush they wound up wandering in the Desert.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This recent political joke is in reference to the Exodus story of Moses and the burning bush. As stated in the bible it reads:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Horev, the mountain of Elohim. The angel of YHVH appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. He gazed: the bush is blasing fire yet the bush is not consumed!† (Exodus 3:1-2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Exodus is the second of the five â€Å"books of Moses† that tells the story of the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt through the Sinai Desert. When Moses was born, the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptian Pharaoh and bound to a harsh life of labor taking part in building some of the great public works of Egypt such as the pyramids, fortresses, and installations to regulate the flow of the Nile River. For fear that the Israelite population would continue to increase, the Pharaoh insisted that every male Hebrew child would be killed at birth. Ironically, during this oppressive period, Moses, the â€Å"future deliverer of Israel†, was born. To protect his life, his mother sent him down the Nile in a specially woven ark. He was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter who took him in and, to add to the irony, she hired his mother to be his foster nurse. The baby boy grew up and was adopted into the Pharaoh’s household and named Moses. His name is derived from the Egyptian root â€Å"mose† meaning â€Å"son†, but in the Bible, it is said to hale from the Hebrew root meaning â€Å"drawn out of the water.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even though Moses, was raised as an Egyptian, he knew that he was truly Hebrew. After seeing an Egyptian taskmaster cruelly beating a Hebrew, Moses became so furious that he murdered the Egyptian. Fearing that the Pharaoh would find out what he had done, Moses fled to the wilderness, â€Å"the eternal safe retreat of outcasts from ancient society and of those in revolt against authority.† Moses found himself in the Sinai Desert amongst other ... ...suffering from harsh treatment and facing eradication, they had hope and faith for a better life. A life which Moses helped to bring them following his command from God. The excerpt from the Zohar concerning Moses and the burning bush ends with an uplifting quote, â€Å"Happy are Israel! The Blessed Holy One has separated them from all nations and called them His Children, as it is written: ‘You are children of YHVH your God!’ (Deuteronomy 14:1)† The people of Israel had endured a great deal of suffering in which most people would begin to question their faith in God. However, through this suffering, those of Israel have continued to separate themselves from others and persevered to serve their Lord. I feel that this story is very important concerning the history of the struggles that Jews have faced and overcome. Although, the joke at the beginning of this paper obviously seems to mock the story of Moses and the burning bush, the fact that the story is still remembered today and understood by the masses that it only further depicts the story’s vital significance to the Jewish religion. I see the joke as only a continued remembrance of the Prophet Moses and his struggles for Israel.