Mitzvah Kotel Images
When G-d first spoke to Moses it was from the burning bush in the desert, represented in this sculpture. Each flaming leaf is in the shape of the Hebrew letter Yud: י . The letters of G-d’s name אנכי, Anochi, can be seen ascending to the שמים, to the highest of levels.
Anochi, the first word in the Ten Commandments, is an Egyptian word. What are we to learn from this?
Merely occupying ourselves with Torah study, prayer and the performance of Mitzvot does not suffice. We must know G‑d “in all our ways.” We must elevate even worldly matters (those on the level of Egypt) to their highest spiritual level.
To understand how to achieve the highest level of spirituality, we begin with the basis of the Torah, the aleph-beit, the Hebrew letters. All of the letters are formed from one letter – the Yud from G-d’s holiest name, יהוה. And with these letters G-d created the world.
Kabbalah teaches of Tzimtzum, the process of creation in which G-d contracted His Light into the infinitesimal Yud from which all of matter was formed starting from the highest of the 10 levels (Sefirot). Each level contracted and spilled over into the level below down to the lowest level, our own.
The burning bush has always been a metaphor for our mission to sanctify our lives in continuous affirmation of our connection with G-d. Anochi marks the beginning of our spiritual elevation.