EXOD52 We must come to the aid of even a complete stranger. Having shown us Moshe's kindness to his own people, the Torah proceeds to give us a glimpse of Moshe's kindness to total strangers from another nation. Moshe was forced to flee from Egypt to save his life. He came to Midian, a foreign land, and witnessed shepherds driving Yisro's daughters away from the well. Although he might have been preoccupied with his own problems, he did not overlook a wrongdoing, and came to the rescue of people whom he had never seen before. Not only did he save Yisro's daughters, but he even watered their flock. Chochmah Umussar Vol.1, p. 10.

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EXOD53 See [[EXOD15]] Exodus 1:17 feared AHAVCH 25

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EXOD54 This episode reminds us of what should be self evident, but often isn't: Take special care to be kind and hospitable to those who have helped you. Also, bear in mind, as Jethro did but his daughters did not, that all people, even those who appear to be self-sufficient, might be in need of hospitality.

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EXOD55 It was taught: Because of five things, the Jews were redeemed from Egypt: Because of the "end" as it is written: "And it was in those many days"; because of affliction, as it is written: "And they screamed"; because of their cries, as it is written: "And God heard their cries"; Because of the merit of their fathers, as it is written: "And God remembered His covenant"; because of repentance, as it is written: "And God saw… and God knew" [that they had repented] (Yerushalmi Ta'anith 1:1)

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EXOD56 The congruence between brit Avraham and the brit at Sinai is striking. They are two covenants, yet one. It is not coincidental that the first declares, "I am YHWH Who brought you out of Ur-Kasdim," and the second opens with "I am YHWH Your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt." God is the first and enduring constant in the brit. A second binding component of both britot and a common denominator for all the varieties of brit experience is redemption, physical and moral. The people is rescued in body and spirit, or both. A third component of both covenants is the promise of the land after a time of suffering. "They will enslave and torment them.… then they (Israel) Will go forth." The bridge uniting both brit events is [this verse], where God hears Israel's outcry and "remembers his brit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

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EXOD57 A person should go to a wilderness rather than steal from others. Rashi sites the Midrash which relates that Moshe went to the wilderness to remove himself from the possibility of theft; that is, so that the flock should not graze in the fields of others. Shemos Rabbah 2. From this verse we see how careful Moshe was not to transgress the prohibition against stealing. He went to the farthest end of the wilderness to prevent his sheep from trespassing upon and eating from the fields of others. Sometimes a person might use someone else's possession without permission simply because he is too lazy to find that person to ask his permission. Or, a person might something that belongs to another person because he does not want to trouble himself to go out and purchase the item, even though he can afford it. Anything someone uses without permission is stealing, any person should spare no effort to avoid this crime.

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EXOD58 Man, consisting of body and spirit, combines both evil and good. His body is the seed of corruption. Considering the senses as evil, sin appears innate in man. As in rabbinic teaching, suffering coming as punishment of sin is good despite its seeming badness, for it disciplines and sobers sinners and their associates. [Schurer, Hist. of Jewish People, Vol. III, p. 376ff]. In [this verse], "the thornbush is not consumed", Yedaiah Haenini takes the word "thornbush" as a symbol of evil. [M. Waxman, Mishle Yisrael, 5364]. Like the thorn on the rosebush, evil is a permanent element in the world, whose goal is goodness.

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EXOD59 The two Hebrew words for "in a flame of fire" are Belabbat aish, implying that God wishes us to perform all our duties as His witnesses sincerely and eagerly, with a heart (lev) aflame for righteousness. To illustrate this thought, take the conspicuous part allotted to charitable acts. It is been explained that the reason why the middle one of the three Matzot at the Seder table is broken in two (Yahatz), is to indicate that our aim as Jews should be to halve another's sorrows by practical sympathy and by sharing with him the blessings that a good fortune has brought our way. Further, the half Shekel which each Israelite was asked to contribute towards the mobile Tabernacle in the wilderness and later towards the upkeep of the Tabernacle in the wilderness was an earnest of communal responsibility and a reflection of "the coin of fire" God showed Moses on the Mount. All our actions were to be inspired by a warm heart and a loving consideration for the recipients of our goodwill. One of the reasons advanced for the fact that no blessing is recited when performing an act of kindness, though it is a Mitzvah to do so, is the consideration that the joy in the performance of the Mitzvah may simultaneously cause some pain or shame to the beneficiary. It is an irrevocable principle of Jewish ethics that wherever a good deed involves some discomfort to the object of our kindness, no blessing was to be recited. [Other examples are that no שהחינו blessing is recited by the Mohel at his first circumcision of a child; at the Shehitah of an animal; when donning shoes made of leather; or when counting the Omer. The memories of a Temple destroyed are too bitter to be sweetened by this blessing.]

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EXOD60 See [[EXOD502]] Exodus 20:21 place SINAI3 265

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EXOD61 From here it is derived that it is forbidden to spit in the Temple Mount, a fortiori from the prohibition of shoes, viz.: Now if in respect to the wearing of shoes, which is not a demeaning act, Scripture writes: "Remove you shoes from your feet," spitting, which is a demeaning act, how much more so [should it be forbidden]! (Berachoth 62b)

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