Je suis Juif - A Lesson from Moses - Shemot

Je suis Juif - A Lesson from Moses
Parshat Shemot


The world watched in horror as cartoonists were murdered. The response was condemnation and demonstrations with pencils. A second shooting in Paris with more murder took place the following day. The response, more shock, disbelief and condemnations. The TV and news outlets of the world (barring a couple of brave organizations) while condemning the acts, also cower in fear and censor anything that might be seemed offensive to the terrorists.

As I write this column, another terrorist act, a hostage situation with murder is unfolding in a kosher supermarket just prior to Shabbat.

What is going on!? Do the 1930's ring a bell?

A lesson from Moses:
In this weeks portion of Shemot we have the famous encounter of the "Burning Bush". Moshe encounters G-d and is given the task of becoming the Jewish leader who would stand up to Pharaoh and say "let my people go"!

Upon closer examination of the story and the verses of the Torah, a fascinating picture emerges. Imagine the following scenario; you see a most wondrous miracle, meet the creator of the world, have a face to face discussion with the Almighty, and then when he asks something of you, you say NO?!

That's exactly what Moshe did. He politely declined the offer to become the leader. But G-d insisted. Moshe turned out to be the greatest leader and prophet ever to live on the face of the earth.

We are very much the same way in our own lives. Sometimes, we are faced with big things that we must do or are asked to do. We say no, or try to find a way out of it. Why me?  But in the end, we have to face our issues, do what we needs to be done, and with great effort and perseverance we usually do succeed, even beyond our wildness dreams.

The world we live in today has a big problem. It is called antisemitism. Sometimes, it is veiled as anti-Israel, BDS etc.! As a wise man said, when it looks like a horse, eats like a horse, and smells like a horse, only an idiot thinks its a cow!

It must be dealt with and it is not an easy job. It will require strength, conviction and the fortitude to go head to head with the beast. We can run and try to hide, but as we see, it's not working very well. While we hold pencils and hashtag "Je Suis Charlie" they take hostages and kill more.

We must stand up as citizens of the world, and specifically as Jews and realize that pacifism and "making peace" with those that want to kill us, only emboldens them more. Let's learn a lesson from Moshe. Once he accepted his mission and set out to do the impossible, he was successful with G-d's help.

We must stand up and do something!

May Hashem continue to watch over His people Israel, and over all peace loving citizens of the world.

Shabbat Shalom