From Parasha: Shemot

 

The Good Shepherd

Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was tending the flock of Jethro in the wilderness when a little kid escaped from him. He ran after it until it reached a shady place ... and the kid stopped to drink. When Moses approached it, he said, "I did not know you ran away because of thirst, you must be weary." So he placed the kid on his shoulder and walked away. Thereupon God said: "Because you have mercy in leading the flock of a mortal, you will surely tend my flock, Israel." (Shemot Rabbah 2:2)...
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The Redeemer

Tags:  annointing, king, Messiah, Moses, priest, prophet, redemption, salvation

Every day during the last half year before he died, Reb Menachem Mendel used to open up a volume of Midrash Rabbah, and read a certain passage to his son, Reb Shmuel, who later succeeded him as rebbe. The passage runs as follows: "'And Yosef and all his brothers died, and all that generation'-though Yosef and his brothers died, their God did not die." (A Treasury of Chassidic Tales, Mesorah Publications quoting Exodus Rabbah 1:8)...
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The Death of a Dream

Tags:  failures, Moshes and Yeshua, pride, prophet, redeemer, shepherd

"He supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand" (Acts 7:25). What was Moses planning to do? Kill every Egyptian in Egypt and hide them all in the sand? God had a better plan....
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The Golden Handcuffs

Tags:  assimilate, bondage, enslavement, materialism, prosperity, spiritual heritage, success, wealth

Success and prosperity can quickly turn into bondage....
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Ordinary Life

Tags:  Mount Sinai

When Moses saw the burning bush, he turned aside to investigate. Only then did the Holy One reveal Himself to Moses. Our problem is that we do not take the time to turn aside and investigate. We all intend to grow spiritually. We all imagine that one day, we will take time to study, take time to grow in Torah, to do a mitzvah (commandment), to pray regularly. But you can’t take good intentions to the grave. A famous rabbi once said, “Do not say to yourself, ‘When I have more time, I will study Torah. Perhaps you will not have more time.’” ¹ Do not say, when I have more time, I will turn aside, you might not have more time....
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God of the Fathers

Tags:  creation

Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob “? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken. (Mark 12:26–27)...
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