And God said to him: Since you have such great compassion toward this flock which belongs to a mortal, I shall entrust to you My own flock, the people of Israel.

Why did God choose to appear to Moses in a bush? To show His modesty: the bush is the smallest and most insignificant of trees.

And also to underline the symbolical aspect of the event: the bush is Israel. And just as the bird cannot penetrate the bush without getting caught on its thorns, the enemies of Israel will not be able to harm it without being wounded.

The meeting between Moses and the Pharaoh was stormy, particularly since the king had been interrupted while dictating his correspondence to seventy scribes who formulated his letters in as many languages.

At the sight of Moses followed by his brother, the frightened scribes fell to their knees, letting their pens drop to the floor. The two brothers then challenged the Pharaoh: In the name of the God of Israel, we ask you to let our people go. The Pharaoh asked angrily: Who is this god you are referring to? What is his name? What does his power consist of? How many cities, how many provinces, how many countries have his legions occupied? How many wars has he won? Moses and Aaron tried to explain the inexplicable—that divine power has nothing to do with human ambition; it fills the universe and dominates the elements: it is He who every day decides who shall live and who shall die.

The Pharaoh asked to be brought the chronicles of all nations and sought in them the name of the God of Israel; he did find the names of the gods of Moab, and those of the gods of Sidon, and those of the gods of Ammon, but not that of the God of Israel. Moses and Aaron furnished him the reason: You are mad to seek the living in the graves of the dead. All these names of all these gods are names of dead gods, whereas our God is alive! Not to be persuaded, the Pharaoh replied: Well, I don’t know him and I shall not obey someone I do not know.

And so God made Himself known to Pharaoh. By punishing him.

At the foot of Sinai the freed slaves accepted the Law, and at that very moment one hundred and twenty myriads of angels descended from heaven and placed a crown on the head of every son of Israel. They were taken away later, when the people, in a moment of oblivion and impatience, began to dance around the Golden Calf.

Were it not for this aberration, Israel would have remained a people of immortals; now it is only an immortal people.

That day was an ill-fated day for them in more than one way. God punished them by forcing them to study Torah not only in joy but in sorrow, not only as free men but in exile.

The return of the scouts, discouraged and discouraging, provoked such distress among the tribes that Moses decided to commemorate it every year.