Mem Moment
Moishe Moment: Joy for Others = Joy for God
By Rabbi Danny Stein, Base Upper West Side
Parashat Shemot “These are the Names”
Parashat Shemot details Moses’s first encounter with God, and it is thrilling! God appears to Moses from within a burning bush and instructs him to free the Israelite slaves from Pharaoh and lead them to the Promised Land. One rabbinic teaching (Shemot Rabbah 2:5) asks why God appeared to Moses within a thorny bush. (After all, God could speak to Moses from anywhere.) We learn: Said the Holy One Blessed One to Moses, “Do you not feel that I am soaked in pain just like the Israelites are soaked in pain? Know that from the place from which that I am speaking with you, from amongst the thorns – so to speak – I am a partner in their pain.” The bush’s thorns and thistles represent a very real pain that God feels when the Israelites suffer. When we expand this teaching to include all of humanity, we understand that God suffers when any part of humanity suffers. Above all, God’s suffering is relieved when we help relieve suffering for others, and God feels joy when we bring joy to others. We have tremendous opportunities within Moishe House to bring joy to those around us. Whether through our work in tikkun olam (repairing the world), community building, or just being a listening ear, the effects of our actions can reach further than imagined. May 2024 fill us with overflowing joy, and may we recognize the ways in which each of us can bring the same joy to others each day.