Eating a few more calories than you burn, even from something "healthy" like a glass of orange juice every morning, can make you gain 100 pounds in five years!
Cell phones have slowly become so entrenched in our daily lives that one Supreme Court Justice commented, “The proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy.”
In fact, the World Health Organization announced it will soon recognize 'gaming disorder' as a mental health condition for those who play video games obsessively.
We all can relate to the little challenges in life that actually turn out to be not so little.
It might be the gradual build-up of clutter, the tiny difference of opinion that is inching toward divorce, or the small debt that has snowballed into financial trouble. How do we overcome these challenges?
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Perhaps the most famous encounter with G-d can be found in this week’s parsha Shemot. While many figures had previously communicated with G-d, from Adam to Rivka to Avimelech, Moshe’s encounter is the only one described in vivid detail in the Torah. Hashem reveals Himself to Moshe in the famous imagery of the burning bush, which is on fire, yet is not consumed.
Why does the Torah feel it important to share this spectacular miracle of the burning bush?
There are many lessons to be learned from this episode. One explanation of the Midrash focuses on the type of bush. The Torah specifies that it was a thorn bush. Why a thorn bush?
The Midrash observes that a thorn bush presents a sticky situation (pun intended!). You can often stick your hand into the thorn bush unscathed. But, now, try to pull it out. On the way out your hand will usually suffer some scratches or cuts.
This is one of the messages to Moshe about his imminent mission to deliver the Jewish people from their bondage and exile.
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When the Jewish people came down to Egypt life was good. One of their own was the viceroy of Egypt. They lived comfortably in Goshen. They had a thriving yeshiva. With material and spiritual success, they couldn’t really ask for more.
Par’oh (Pharaoh) didn’t suddenly enslave the Jewish people. The process of enslavement was very g r a d u a l . . . . .
It happened over a period of many years and was a progressive process that was – to a degree – accepted by the Jews. By the time they realized they were enslaved to Egypt – it was too late.
Egypt trapped them like a thorn bush. On the way in, you believe all will be well. But, when you try to get out, you realize you are stuck.
It took miraculous and dramatic measures to secure the freedom of the Jewish people.
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Egypt, according to the Mystics, is the prototype of all exiles, both collective and personal. Throughout history, most exiles of our people have begun on good terms, only to slowly deteriorate into terrible persecution.
Personal exiles also typically begin with our acquiescence. One glass of orange juice doesn’t sound so bad… Splurging once in a while is okay… Standing up for my own position is not really evil…
But, the burning bush reminds us of the trickery of exile. If we wish to escape and conquer our personal ‘addictions’ and enslavements, the first step is to make sure we don’t slowly slip into exile to begin with.
And, if we find ourselves stuck in personal exile, fearing the painful cost of breaking free – let’s remember that G-d’s promise to Moshe was a prototype for all future exiles. Once the Jewish people accepted and believed that Moshe had arrived to take them out, things turned around.
We too can break free. It’s never too late. The burning bush demonstrated that exile is not the reality of the Jewish people. Nor is it the real me.