Do you want to see an angel? Do you want God to speak to you? Help a fellow Jew.

By YEHOSHUA BEN-ELIYAHU
A most remarkable midrash associates Moshe's killing of an Egyptian overseer -- who is whipping a Hebrew slave -- with Moshe's burning bush encounter.  The Midrash Raba states that after Moshe killed the Egyptian, immediately (מיד) he saw an angel in a burning bush.  
This Midrash rendition of events is most astonishing.  Yes, as recorded in Exodus (3:2), Moshe did see  an angel in a burning bush, but  only 40 years after he had killed the Egyptian!  What actually happened was this:  after Moshe killed the Egyptian, he was forced to flee from Egypt to Midian.  There he met Zipporah, whom he would marry, and her father Yitro.  Moshe worked for Yitro as a shepherd for 40 years prior to encountering the burning bush.  Yet the midrash reports the events of Moshe's life as if nothing happened between the moment he killed  the Egyptian and the moment he saw the angel in the burning bush.
As if the 40 years he spent in Midian had no reality whatsoever! 
It would appear that the most important moment in a Jew's life is the moment spent helping a fellow Jew.  This encounter is rewarded with seeing an angel and, as the burning bush account in Exodus continues, being called and given a mission by God Himself.  
Not long ago on an Egged bus, I was witness to an occurrence that I will never forget.  As we approached a bus stop and some of the passengers prepared to get off, a young man started screaming.  "My wallet !  My wallet!"  His voice was slurred.  He clearly had a speech impediment and some sort of mental disability.  He was running up and down the aisle frantically looking under all the seats, but his wallet could not be found.  Soon many people on the bus were searching for his wallet, too.  Finally, a woman sitting at the rear of the bus calmly addressed the young man.  "Bring me your backpack," she said.  The young man gave it to her and after looking through it for a few seconds, she found the wallet.
That moment has lived with me ever since.  On the surface, it may seem like a small thing.  But there is an eternal aspect to it.  The way the people on the bus were looking for the wallet as if it was their own.  The way the woman helped the young man.  The way she knew what to do.  Her calm demeanor.   
Every day in the Land of Israel, myriad events like this take place.  In big and little ways, especially little ways, Jews are helping other Jews.  And so, too, even though years may go by, angels do eventually appear and, if you listen closely, the sound of God's voice may be heard in the Land.
(Note: this blog was made possible by the tireless efforts of Ro and her technical crew, who merit to see several angels, at least, because of their efforts.)