Moshe’s early life didn’t exactly set him up for leadership. Born to oppressed Israelites, put into the Nile, and saved by Pharaoh's daughter, Moshe then runs away to Midian where he begins to build a life with Tzipporah and works as a shepherd. It is in this part of his (relatively unglorified) life that he stumbles upon the burning bush.
The Torah tells us that Moshe stops at a place called Chorev. It’s an unassuming place, in the middle of nowhere, that he sees while tending to his flock. Yet this place transforms the trajectory of Jewish history. God is revealed to Moshe and charges Moshe with the task of redeeming the Israelites from slavery. It’s the first time in the Torah that we encounter this place, but it’s certainly not the last.
We don’t know it at the time, but Chorev is just another name for Sinai. Chorev, the place where Moshe has a deep encounter with God and where he is given the greatest job of his life, is also the place where the Israelites will receive the Revelation of Torah. Moshe couldn’t have anticipated that this moment would be filled with such profound learning, such Torah. Yet often, the unexpected moments, ones that seem to emerge out of nowhere, can be the most deeply impactful, the ones that teach us the most.
How many regular moments in our lives can actually be Sinai moments? How often do we denigrate a lowly wilderness moment (on the job, no less) to something simple and meaningless? One of the many teachings from Moshe this week is learning how to see the Sinai in Chorev. Perhaps the dual names of this place are precisely to teach us this lesson. Yes, some moments of learning happen with lightning and thunder and the call of God when all the people are gathered. But most of them happen quietly, in an unassuming way, when we could easily have turned the other way. May this be a Shabbat, and a week ahead, of deep Torah, even the kind that comes from Chorev. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
