www.Mitzvah-Minute.com
"The Burning Bush — Presence, Attention, and the Shape of Redemption — Part II"
“אָסֻרָה־נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה” — Leadership Begins When You Stop Walking
Introduction — The Smallest Movement That Changes History
Redemption does not begin with Moshe speaking, leading, or confronting Pharaoh.
It begins with Moshe stopping.
The Torah records a quiet moment that determines everything that follows:
“וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אָסֻרָה־נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה אֶת־הַמַּרְאֶה הַגָּדֹל הַזֶּה”
[“And Moshe said: ‘Let me turn aside now and see this great sight.’”] (Shemos 3:3)
Chazal and the mefarshim hear in this sentence the birth of leadership. Moshe does not yet know he is standing before Hashem. He does not yet know this moment will shape Jewish history. What distinguishes him is not insight, but attention.
Leadership, the Torah teaches, begins when a person refuses to walk past suffering as if it were normal.
Rashi: The Willingness to Turn Aside
Rashi’s comment here is deceptively simple and profoundly demanding. He explains that Moshe’s merit lies in the fact that he did not ignore what he saw. He interrupted his path to notice.
In a world where pain is ubiquitous, attention is costly. To stop walking means:
- Delaying one’s destination
- Suspending routine
- Accepting responsibility without knowing its scope
Rashi teaches that Hashem does not reveal Himself to one who rushes past the unusual. Revelation waits for those willing to pause.
The Burning Bush does not call out first.
Moshe notices first.
Seeing Without Normalizing
Chassidus deepens Rashi’s insight. Egypt is not only a place of suffering; it is a culture of habituation. When affliction becomes background noise, conscience dulls.
Moshe’s greatness is that he refuses habituation.
The fire has not yet spoken. The bush has not yet addressed him. Moshe’s response precedes revelation. He does not wait for instruction to care.
This is the Torah’s critique of passive righteousness:
holiness that requires command before compassion has already failed.
Attention as Moral Courage
Stopping is not neutral.
To turn aside is to accept that what you see now belongs to you. Once you notice, you are no longer innocent.
Moshe’s pause is an act of courage. He does not yet know the cost of seeing — but he accepts it anyway.
Leadership does not begin with answers.
It begins with refusal to look away.
From Presence to Responsibility
Part I of the series taught that Hashem is present within suffering. Part II teaches the complementary truth: Divine presence demands human response.
The sneh alone does not redeem.
Moshe’s attentiveness activates the encounter.
This is why the Torah structures the moment as it does:
- The bush burns
- Moshe turns aside
- Hashem calls his name
Revelation follows attention.
Removing the Shoes
Immediately after Moshe turns aside, Hashem commands:
“שַׁל נְעָלֶיךָ מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ”
[“Remove your shoes from upon your feet.”]
Shoes protect us from contact. They allow us to traverse harsh terrain without feeling it.
Leadership requires removing insulation.
To stand on holy ground is to feel it — fully, vulnerably, without buffering.
Moshe’s attentiveness is not abstract concern. It is embodied presence.
The Shape of Responsible Leadership
Moshe becomes Moshe because he sees honestly.
This moment defines Torah leadership forever:
- Not charisma, but attentiveness
- Not authority, but interruption
- Not certainty, but moral availability
A leader is one who allows suffering to slow him down.
Application — Learning to Turn Aside
Modern life trains us to keep moving:
- Scroll past pain
- Label injustice as “complicated”
- Normalize what should disturb us
The Torah offers a counter-practice:
stop walking.
You do not need answers.
You do not need solutions.
You need attention.
Redemption begins when someone says: I cannot pass this by.
Closing — The Courage to Pause
The Burning Bush teaches that Hashem is present within suffering.
Moshe teaches that presence demands response.
Between fire and redemption stands a single human act:
אָסֻרָה־נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה — let me turn aside and see.
Leadership begins there.
Not with power.
Not with command.
But with the courage to stop walking.
📖 Sources
- Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Shemos page under insights and commentaries.
