“And an angel of G-d appeared to him in a burning fire within the bush… and the bush was not consumed.” [3:2]

Why did G-d speak to Moshe from inside a burning bush? The Ohr Gedalyahu says that the burning bush was a prophetic vision — it offered a message of its own. One passage in the Medrash says that it was hinting at the nature of the people of Israel in exile: “just as the bush burned with fire and was not consumed, so too the Egyptians cannot destroy the people of Israel.” The bush is compared to the nation of Israel, and the fire to exile, and together they tell us that even the pain of exile cannot destroy the Jewish people. This is the explanation offered by Rashi, who quotes Psalms 91:16 referring to G-d and Israel: “I am with him [Israel] in his distress.” In exile, G-d is with us, and we are not consumed.

The Ramban, on the other hand, explains that the burning bush hints towards the Receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, as G-d tells Moshe from within the bush, “when you bring the Nation out from Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain.” [3:12] At that time, the mountain itself was burning, and yet Israel came close. Even when the King of Kings revealed Himself to them, they were not overwhelmed by the great light, but were, rather, drawn to it, and they drew life from the fire — the bush was not consumed.

The Rav of Izbiche explains that both of these great traits of the people of Israel are also found in the verses “Has a nation ever heard the voice of G-d speaking from within the fire, as you heard and lived? Or has G-d ever endeavored to take for Himself a nation from within a nation…” [Deut. 4:33-34] Moshe was praising the Nation of Israel for having the strength not to be overwhelmed even in the face of G-d’s Presence — on the contrary they are drawn towards Holiness, “as you heard and lived.” And on the other hand, he praised them that even when they were one “nation within another nation,” enslaved to the Egyptians, nonetheless they did not disappear, they were not absorbed. The fire did not consume them — rather, it purified and cleansed them.

And the Ohr Gedalyahu says that these two traits are actually dependent one upon the other, for in accordance with the ability of the People of Israel to absorb and survive the fire of exile, so they were able later on to withstand the fire on the mountain. And if we look deeper, he says, one can even say these two fires, that of the exile and that on the mountain, are truly one and the same. This is all one message. It is just that the fire of exile operates in hidden fashion, dressed up, as it were, as a fire which appears to burn, to harm. But in truth, it is the same fire of the bush which was not consumed. All of the tests of exile, both its riches and its horrors, cleanse and purify us.

With all that our people have withstood, with all the fire we have felt felt in our exile, we surely have the strength to withstand today’s tests as well. May they soon end, and may we merit to again experience the fire of the Divine Presence, as it was revealed on the burning mountain of Sinai!