Eco-Rabbi

The Burning Bush that is Not Consumed

Moshe is first approached by God in this parasha. As he is herding his father-in-law’s sheep he stumbles upon a “burning bush that is not consumed.” When reading this description in light of today’s energy crisis the image of the fire burning without fuel truly seems Godly.

This is not the first place in the Torah where God’s limitless energy is presented. Back in the beginning of the Torah we read: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The commentaries explain that THIS is the definition of creation: creating something from nothing. With Einstein’s equation that matter and energy are one and the same, these two visions of God are comparable.
When God created this wondrous creation, the heavens and the earth - pure energy into form - from nothing.

Similarly in our parsha, when God appears first to Moshe, he appears in the form of a bush that is burning but the bush is not consumed by the fire. The fire around the bush is burning without any fuel. Again the creation of pure energy - fire - from nothing.

We are taught that Man was created in the image of God, so that man could strive for godliness. Today’s cleantech industry is doing just this. We need to reach a point where we can have our energy needs met in a manner that is as fuel efficient as possible - to burn the bush with as little of the fuel being consumed as possible.

At home you too can strive for this godliness as well. We can do this by conserving energy wherever possible, I believe that that act is an emulation of God as well.

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