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Big change starts with small steps - human effort is needed before divine intervention. In the first story we saw the buds of change (in the women's response to slavery). In the Israelites’ crying to God, we see a significant turning point in the story of slavery in Egypt and the exodus to freedom. The scripture then describes the response of God, who saw the people and heard their outcry. The Israelites’ situation could not change without divine intervention, but this came after a change that took place within themselves. Even in the revelation of the Burning Bush, it seems that Moshe takes action, which then influences the revelation. When we open a door to change and express faith, change can happen.
This is the first time in the story of the Israelites that the people sigh and cry out and God reveals himself when he hears the cries. The bush burns and Moshe "turns to see" – these are turning points in the story of the Exodus from slavery to freedom. Human activity increases divine revelation. Two acts of human awakening that increase divine revelation. We will learn about Moshe' mission, whose horizon begins with a promise to the forefathers and the mission includes not only rescue from slavery and immediate hardships, but bringing the Israelites to serve God and reach the Promised Land. Different interpretations of the meaning of the Burning Bush were learned by reading into midrashim and looking at pictures of the Bush. The story of Moshe's revelation at the Burning Bush teaches us the importance of taking initiative as a way of bringing about change. We will discuss the meaning of God's plan that directs the story of the Israelites from the revelation at the Burning Bush to the entry into the Land of Israel.
El éxodo de Egipto. Mapa con explicaciones• Identifying the change in the Israelites’ condition, when they cry out to God and the meaning of their outcry
• Getting to know the mission given to Moshe at the Burning Bush and its prospect
• Understanding the meaning of the revelation to Moshe at the Burning Bush
Respond to comprehension questions about the plot line and sequence of a story.
Identifying motivations for human social emotional choices
By studying this story we are exposed to God's clear involvement in the process of the redemption. The redemption of the Israelites, from the slavery in Egypt, and their exodus from slavery to freedom, can only be accomplished by a divine God. But, God does not intervene openly, until the Israelites’ cry is heard. We witnessed human activity in chapters 1-2. Diverse activity, arising from different motives and expressed in different ways.
The last verses of Chapter 2 tell us that the Israelites reached the last straw. The Israelites cry out, and their cry reaches all the way up to God - " The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God" (Exodus 2:23).
Some commentators explain that the death of the king of Egypt enabled the Israelites to cry out, because he had burdened them:
Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor: " A long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning" – as long as that king was alive, they expected that when he died, the decrees would be revoked. And since he died and his decrees were not revoked, they said: Now there will be no end to this matter, we will no longer get out of this slavery, and they sighed.
Or – Rabbi Samuel David Luzzatto – The Israelites were groaning – even during the lifetime of the king they were groaning, but they were not able to gather and call for a fast, because they did not have a day of rest. Now that the king had died and the Egyptians were mourning him, the Jews also gathered and mourned, and cried out; the cry of the Israelites to God (perhaps also after the death of the king of Egypt and the worsening of the Israelites’ situation), constitutes an acceleration, which results in overt divine intervention.
We will open the lesson with an assignment, which requires the students to go back to what we learned in the previous chapters and see the continuity between the chapters. Also, the exercise enables thinking prior to learning the story of God’s revelation at the Burning Bush, which is a key point in the process of rescuing the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians.
Based on what was learned in the previous lessons:
· The Israelites were slaves in Egypt
· There were acts of rebellion
· Moshe ran away to Midian after taking action for the purpose of justice
Ask the students to suggest questions to be presented to:
The Israelites/ Moshe/ The daughters of Jethro / the midwives / Pharaoh’s daughter
We will guide them to ask open and diverse questions that will help them think about what happened (for example a question to Moshe: why did you leave the safe palace and go out to mingle among the Hebrew slaves?) and questions about what is about to happen (for example: where would you like to go when you leave Egypt? Will you continue to lead the people?).
This assignment can be done in the plenum, in pairs or distributed to the students Questions for characters involved in the Egyptian slavery.
We will collect examples from the questions suggested by the students and ask:
Did you gain a different insight into:
The Israelites’ current situation
The Israelites’ future situation
Moshe's role
God’s role in the story
We will discuss the following question
In your opinion, how can the Israelites’ situation change? What should happen for this change to occur? By whom? What can prompt a change in the situation?
In the class discussion, after studying the table and performing the above assignment, we will raise the following question – why did the Israelites not cry out until now?
We can also ask the students to answer the question in writing: if you found letters from the people of that time on the antiquities site, describing the outcry of the Israelites, and explaining why they cried only now, what do you think would have been written in them?
Letters of the Contemporaries.
In a joint discussion, we will sharpen the concept that in such a dire situation such as the one of the Israelites under Egyptian slavery, divine intervention was required, but divine intervention only came after the Israelites themselves had taken certain action.
As we will see later in the unit, this theme continues – even the revelation at the Burning Bush comes only after Moshe notices the bush and approaches it. Moshe shows sensitivity and concern for the Israelites (behavior we observe also in Chapter 2), and immediately afterwards the divine involvement occurs.
We will ask the students to think of other possible meanings of the Burning Bush.
(If you are not teaching this subject in depth, then this can be offered without prior studying)
We will ask you to think about the background to the revelation –
The Israelites are under the brutal rule of Egypt. When the king of Egypt died, the people cried out to God, Moshe saw the Burning Bush and realized there was an extraordinary sight before him.
Ask the students to think about the meaning of the sight, what does it, in its entirety or certain parts of it, symbolize, and to also bring an image (from an online image database) that corresponds to the idea they chose to present through the Burning Bush.
Finally – we will bring up the following questions in the plenary:
1. Do you think the fact that Moshe noticed the special sight is connected to previous stories we learned about him?
2. Explain the similarity between God's appearance after the Israelites’ outcry and his revelation to Moshe following Moshe's act of turning to see?
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