Rabbis' thoughts

Rabbi Zvi Teichman writes an interesting article about "the Jewish tradition to bestow one another, upon mention of one’s age, a blessing that one should live to the ripe old age of 120."

The Holy Maharal teaches that the vision of  the Burning Bush described as: ( הסנה בער באש והסנה איננו אכל (שמות ג ב, The bush was burning in the fire but the bush was not consumed, alludes to the years and legacy of Moshe.


The word הסנה is numerically equivalent to 120! (ה =5, ס=60, נ=50, ה=5 = 120)


We fear getting burned. We sense we have no strength. We feel inadequate as a lowly bush.


The Burning Bush represents G-d accompanying us in our challenges. We can never be consumed for it is He who protects us.


We must emulate Moshe Rabbeinu’s sense of mission and respond in kind as he did:
Read more: http://baltimorejewishlife.com/torah/parsha-detail.php?SECTION_ID=45&ARTICLE_ID=41554

Rabbi Eli Mansour discusses the famous anecdote relating to  Nachum Ish Gamzu in an essay titled Ellul: Teshuba Can’t Wait .

The Gemara tells that Nahum Ish Gamzu, the legendary Sadik, suffered terribly toward the end of his life. He lost his vision, as well as both arms and legs. His students asked him if he could think of a reason for why he, who lived a life marked by extreme piety, would be subjected to such suffering. He replied that he was once traveling with three donkeys carrying food, and a poor person approached and asked, “Rebbi, Parneseni” – “My Rabbi, feed me.” Nahum replied to the pauper, “Wait for me until I get off my donkey.” By the time Nahum Ish Gamzu got off his donkey to fetch some food from his cargo on the other donkeys, the poor man died of starvation. For this, he told his students, he was punished with suffering.

...Nahum Ish Gamzu was telling not a story about himself, but rather the life story of the vast majority of people. The poor man, representing the soul, comes to us and begs, “Parneseni” – “Feed me!” It desperately pleads for some spiritual nourishment. Our response, more often than not, is, “Wait for me until I get off the donkey.” The donkey, which is a strong, robust animal with hardly any intelligence, is often used as a symbol of physicality, and indeed its Hebrew name, “Hamor,” relates to the Hebrew word for physicality (“Homriyut”). We tell the soul, “Wait until we finish with our physical needs.” We do not deny that our souls are deprived and need more nourishment, and we have every intention of providing this nourishment, but not now. First we have to get the business on its feet, get our career going, save up for retirement, fix up the house, marry off the children, and so on and so forth. We are sympathetic to the plight of the “poor man,” we acknowledge our shortcomings, but we feel we need to put the needs of the soul on hold until we are finished with the needs of the body. 
Read more: http://www.dailyhalacha.com/WeeklyParasha.asp