Weekly D'var Torah

In this week’s Torah portion, G-d calls out to Moses from the Burning Bush with the demand that Moses go to Pharaoh and demand freedom for his people. You would think that Moses would undertake the mission if for no other reason than G-d has given it to him.   But for a solid week, Moses comes up with reason after reason why he is the wrong person for the job, finally accepting the commission after G-d tells him that not only will G-d be with Moses, but so will his brother, Aaron. 
 
Our purpose as a people is to help the world heal, to make a difference, to be a light.  It’s as if our moment at Sinai all those years ago implanted within us not only an identity but a purpose.  But what an overwhelming purpose!  In the daily struggle of life itself, how can we approach such a historic mission?   Moses’ pathos fairly leaps off the scroll: how overwhelming it is to stand at the burning bush of a world in such need and to respond positively to the challenge.  Where to begin?  What to do? G-d’s answer: I will be with you…and your brother will be with you! 
 
We tend to see history as the record of how great individuals leave their mark.  But the reality is that it’s never an individual effort.  Nothing can be achieved alone- only together. Making a difference is both connecting to the Divine within and to the brother or sister without.  When Moses returns finally to Egypt, he encounters his brother Aaron on the way.  The Torah says, “Aaron went and met Moses at the Mountain of G-d and kissed him”. The meeting of Moses and Aaron is what makes it all possible.  Wherever we meet each other in love with holy purpose, that place is the Har HaElokim, the Mountain of G-d.  From that holy spot of meeting- that is where blessing begins.
 
As we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. this Sunday at Adath Shalom with a Day of Mitzvot, let us live that truth to come together- and let us smile, laugh, and celebrate not only the ability to do good- but to do good together!