On the seventh day of Pesach it is customary to recall the story of the sea splitting and the miracle of the Jews walking through walls of water, escaping from the pursuing Egyptian army. The new Jewish nation is so relieved to have been saved that they sing Shirat Ha’yam, the Song of the Sea. In the movie, we see the graphic depiction by Charlton Heston and we know, in hindsight, that it all ended well for the new Israelite nation. Pirkei Avot (5:4) even described that 10 miracles took place as they crossed the sea. However, if we stop and think about it, this could not have been a pleasant experience. In fact, it must have been terrifying.
Imagine being there. The might of the Egyptian army had cornered the Jews so that their backs were against the sea. The Torah itself stated that the Jewish people were “very frightened and cried out to Hashem” (Shemot 14:10). They were sure that leaving Egypt was a big mistake and that they were all going to die any moment.
The part of the story we may fail to appreciate is that they must have been terrified to have witnessed the miracle of the splitting of the sea itself. Imagine having the sea open up in front of you and having to walk through. You have never seen such a sight in your life before. You don’t know how long these walls of water will hold up. There is a lot of noise and confusion. Who would want to venture through such an uncharted and novel journey?
In fact, the Gemara in Sota (37a) quotes R’ Yehuda telling the story as follows: Each tribe said, “No, not me. I won’t be the first to descend into the sea.” Nobody wanted to go first because they were all frightened. They did not have enough faith yet. It was at this point that Nachshon ben Aminadav, the courageous prince of the tribe of Yehuda, went down into the sea and showed by example that he would trust in Hashem’s word.
It was only at the very end of this adventurous day that the Jews had their faith restored. Only when the Jews were saved, were up on the dry land of the other shore and saw their Egyptian pursuers dead did “the people have faith in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant” (14:31).
The lesson to be contemplated is that many times in life we are faced with challenges. It is hard to have faith in the midst of a crisis when a positive outcome is not always clear. In the middle of difficulties we may tend to worry. Whenever we have a challenge, whether it is regarding our health, our jobs, our children, our finances or our future, we sometimes feel frightened, anxious or confused. We can sometimes allow our minds to imagine the worst outcome and feel depressed. It is at times like these that we have to remember the lesson of the crossing of the sea. We need to maintain a proper perspective. Surely it is easier to have faith in Hashem in hindsight when all turns out well. The trick is to have faith during the challenging times themselves.
The tradition is to only say half-Hallel on days when our joy is diminished. We only say half-Hallel on the seventh day of Pesach. The Sages of the Gemara (Megilla 10b) explained that at the splitting of the sea, the angels wanted to sing praise. They were rebuked by God, Who admonished them not to rejoice while others, even the evil Egyptians, were drowning.
However, upon reflection, another possibility was that the crossing of the sea was not at all a joyous experience for the Jewish people as well. They were anxious, upset, worried and expected the worst to happen to them as they made this scary journey. It was only in hindsight and after they saw that all had turned out well that they were able to have faith in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant.
As we go through the challenges of life, let us remember that Hashem is with us. We need not have to wait until the end to see how it all turns out before we decide to have faith. Psalm 34 reminds us that “many are the mishaps of the righteous but Hashem rescues him from them all.” Let us model ourselves after Nachshon ben Aminadev and be courageous when life’s problems are most difficult. We cannot expect to go through life without such difficulties. However, in the merit of our faith, may Hashem help rescue us and provide us with favorable outcomes.
By Rabbi Dr. Avi Kuperberg
Rabbi Dr. Avi Kuperberg is a forensic, clinical psychologist and the president of the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club of NY/NJ. He leads the Summit Avenue Shabbos Gemara shiur and minyan in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He can be contacted at
[email protected].
