In this week’s parsha Moshe Rabbeinu begins his career as the greatest of our prophets. Moshe Rabbeinu was different from all the other prophets in terms of the nature of his prophecy. The Rambam devoted an entire chapter of Mishneh Torah (the eighth chapter of Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah) to explaining these differences.

Something else separates Moshe Rabbeinu from the other prophets. Moshe Rabbeinu’s introduction to prophesy differed from that of the other prophets. To the other prophets, Hashem simply appeared. But with Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem waited until Moshe Rabbeinu found Him. Hashem presented Himself in the burning bush, and waited for Moshe Rabbeinu’s curiosity to move him to examine the phenomenon of the bush which wasn’t consumed by the flames.

The Ralbag saw an important message here. He discusses this passage in the sixth entry in his list of lessons that can be learned from the third and forth prakim of the parsha.

This is what the Ralbag writes: “It behooves a person to exert himself in examination of the nature of the things that surround him. He should do so to the maximum of his abilities. He should not be lazy in this endeavor. The reason for this is that this is the way to grasp the wisdom of Hashem. By understanding the relationships within Nature to the best of our abilities we will understand Hashem to the best of our abilities. This is because any understanding of Hashem that we can grasp is derived from our grasp of the order within Nature that He created. This has been demonstrated in the fourth and fifth parts of Milchamot Hashem. Take notice of the behavior of Moshe Rabbeinu of blessed memory. Immediately when he saw this oddity, that is to say, a bush engulfed by flames though not consumed by them, he turned to look at it in order to understand this phenomenon. This shows that this was his habit. He yearned to know the reason for things to the fullest extent possible. And by virtue of this trait he achieved his wondrous level.”

Of course the Ralbag was not the first to recommend the study of Nature as the way to approach Hashem. The Rambam (Yesodei HaTorah 2:2) says that the study of Nature will lead to love of Hashem.

What the Ralbag tells us is the value of curiosity. A lack of curiosity denotes a certain arrogance. When a person thinks that he is complete, that he has achieved perfection, he won’t have interest in his surroundings. Curiosity denotes humility. Its possessor lays no claim to possessing all wisdom. Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the most humble of people, was also the most curious of people.

I’ll conclude with an interesting insight into our parsha. When Hashem addresses Moshe Rabbeinu , He tells him to remove his shoes (3:5). When the angel addresses Yehoshua, (Yehoshua 5:15) he tells him to remove his shoe. How should we understand this distinction? Rav Yitzchak of Volozhin explains this in a note to the work Ruach Chaim on Avot (1:1). Rav Yitzchak says that shoes are a metaphor for all that is material. Moshe Rabbeinu had worked harder than any man to concentrate on serving Hashem, to the exclusion of all worldly concerns. When Hashem rewarded Moshe Rabbeinu with prophecy, he told him that he must remove both his actual shoes but also any residual attachments that he may feel towards the things of this world. Moshe Rabbeinu was free of both types of shoes- the visible and the invisible. Yehoshua, for all that he was the greatest prophet after Moshe Rabbeinu did not reach the spiritual height of his teacher. He could remove his actual shoes in anticipation of prophecy but could not quite free himself completely of the other, metaphorical shoes.