There is an incredibly poignant moment in Shmot, this week’s Torah portion, when Moshe is told to remove is footwear. There we read:

And God said, “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. 

Exodus 3:5

Why is Moshe made to shuck shoe? There are many good answers to this question.

Sandals were made of leather. It is possible that God wanted Moshe to remove the impurity of the dead flesh from his body before connecting with God. Similarly, on this question Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik said

The shoe is the symbol of vulgarity and uncouthness, of superficiality, of raw power… To understand holiness, to gain sensitivity, a person must remove his shoes.

Chumash Mesoras Ha-Rav, p. 24.

Another answer is that God was trying to communicate that Moshe needed to give up ownership in the world to walk with God. On this question Rabbi S.R. Hirsch said,

Taking off one’s shoes expresses giving oneself up entirely to the meaning of a place, to let your personality get its standing and take up its position entirely and directly on it without any intermediary.

Hirsch’s reading is asking Moshe if he is open to the world around him.

Anyone with kids knows the pain of stepping on a Lego barefoot. To parent means you have to be open to being hurt and being humble. You need to know as much as you might be a creator, you are not God. That it means to be open to being hurt.

In different ways these interpretations are asking Moshe if he is allowing himself to be vulnerable? As  Brené Brown, my vulnerability Rebbe, teaches:

Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.

Daring Greatly

What does it mean to be open to discovering your deeper purpose? In this context it seems to be linked to being vulnerable and for Moshe it meant taking off his shoes.

I was thinking about being vulnerable and barefoot when listening to Jasmin Moallem‘s amazing song Yechefim, Barefooted. In this melancholic song she talks about the challenges of living today and her persistent and unrequited love.

And this is a bit of a strange period to be a human. I would give up my body. Only a soul in the world and I know that he won’t leave me alone. What did I ask for be for me the waters of life, because at the end of the day we are yechefim u’peshutim- barefooted and simple

It is totally worth listening to this haunting song:

We can all relate to her experience of living in a “strange period”. In this context what does “yechefim u’peshutim-barefooted and simple” mean?

In the book of Kings we learn

When Ahab heard these words, he rent his clothes and put sackcloth on his body. He fasted and lay in sackcloth and walked about subdued.

I Kings 21:27

Ahab was trying to repent, but what does “walked about subdued” mean? On this question Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi explains that this means that he was walking around barefoot- yachef (Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:2). In this context Yasmin is saying that she needs to repent. What did Moshe need to repent for?

But that ignores the “peshutim”. What does it mean to yearn for a simpler time when we were barefoot? A simple meaning is when we were kids. In a deeper way this is pointing us back to the childhood of our humanity back in Eden. Near the end of Eichah we read:

Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!

Eicha 5:21

In either case this point to a time of bliss. We want to repent and return to simpler days before things got complicated.

Maybe there is something profound here for Moshe. God is inviting him into an experience. Moshe, do not get lost in your head. Do not get lost in philosophy or theology. I know that your life was hard in Egypt and you are on the run as a stranger in a strange land, but I am inviting you to go back to a simpler time. Take off your shoes and just allow yourself to have a pure experience.

Living in this “strange period” we all yearn for a return to Eden. We should all be blessed with simple, pure, and childlike experiences. And when we find ourselves in these holy moments we should find ways to shuck our shoes, indulge in being in being present, and hanging out there for a while.

*Look at another piece on same topic The Shoes They Filled: NYT & Moshe’s Sandals