I have a dear friend who had three single daughters who were looking for a shidduch. He and his wife were beside themselves. All their daughters were incredible. Baruch Hashem, the third daughter got engaged! I was so excited for them but knew that they wanted a bracha for their two older daughters. I went to the vort (engagement party) and told my friend, “Your daughter just got engaged. That means the gates of blessing from shamayim (heaven) are open to you now. Thank Hashem for your daughter’s engagement and daven now for your other daughters to find their shidduch.” Sure enough, a few months later the second daughter got engaged! I went to the vort and told my friend again to thank Hashem and daven for his other daughter. A few months later, the oldest daughter got engaged. In one year, all three got married!
The Gemara recounts a story where Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair came to a river that didn’t have a bridge. He needed to get to the other side, so he said to the river, “I need you to split for me since I am traveling to do a mitzvah.” The river split! There was a gentile porter behind him. Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair told the river to stay open for the porter. The commentators are troubled, asking why the river remained split for the porter. The porter wasn’t travelling for a mitzvah!? They deduce that once the river was already split, it didn’t require such great merit to keep it open.
In Parshas Beshalach, Klal Yisrael were trapped. The raging sea was in front of them and the pursuing Egyptians were behind them. The pasuk says, “vayibaku hamayim—the water split.” Why does the Torah refer to the sea as “the water”? Rashi quotes the Midrash which says that it wasn’t only the sea that split for Klal Yisrael. In fact, all the waters in the world split! Therefore, the pasuk says “the water” split. But why the need for the waters of the entire world to split? The Gemara compares the difficulty of finding a spouse to Krias Yam Suf (the splitting of the sea). Another Gemara compares the difficulty of earning a living to the splitting of the sea. We each have our own area where we feel trapped and don’t see a way out. Rabbi Meilech Biderman quotes the Sar Shalom of Belz who explains that everyone has their own challenges, such as finding a spouse, shalom bayis or earning a living. Hashem split all the waters of the world to show that there’s a “splitting of the waters” available for each person’s unique challenges.
Something very out of character occurred when Bnei Yisrael were trapped in front of the sea. The Jewish nation and Moshe davened to Hashem to save them, and Hashem said, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell Bnei Yisrael to start traveling into the sea!” Why did Hashem tell them to stop praying? They needed Hashem’s help; why shouldn’t they pray?
The Sfas Emes shares a novel insight. The Jewish nation was being pursued by Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Bnei Yisrael were praying for Hashem to save them by helping them fight and defeat the Egyptians. Hashem was telling Bnei Yisrael not to daven for such a specific solution. Hashem will create the solution in a way they never imagined. Hashem’s solution was to split the sea!
The same applies to all areas of our personal lives, be it shidduchim for parnassa (livelihood) or any other challenge. Of course we need to daven to Hashem, but we don’t need to present Hashem with the solution we want. Hashem has the solution! Just daven for Hashem to help resolve the situation.
When we read Parshas Beshalach this week, it describes the merit and the miracle of the splitting of the sea. Rabbi Biderman quotes the Ateres Tzvi which says that the splitting of the sea also unlocked salvation for future generations. The time of year when Kerias Yam Suf occurred is a propitious time to ask for miracles in the areas of shidduchim and parnassa. We may not deserve to have the sea split for us, but when the sea is already split, it’s easier to ask Hashem to keep it open—just as He did for the porter.
May Hashem respond to our prayers with divine assistance in whatever areas we need!
