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141

EXODUS | 3:2 fire — EXOD59 The two Hebrew words for "in a flame of fi...

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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Source KeyLEHRMAN
Verse3:2
Keyword(s)fire
Source Page(s)317-8

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