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ShareWhy did the Israelites not trust God enough not to be frightened?
It is not right that the people who have been crying out to God to save them should kick at the way God saves them and say that they would be better off if God had not rescued them.
One may wonder how such a large camp of six hundred thousand men would be afraid of those pursing after them. And why did they not fight for their lives and for their children? The answer is that the Egyptians were the Israelites' masters. And so this generation that went out of Egypt learned from its youth to tolerate the yoke of Egypt and had a lowly image. And so how could they now battle with their masters?
When trapped in a traumatic situation, we replay the events again and again in our mind’s eye, enslaved to our own distorted vision of reality. We get stuck, in a cycle of fear and doubt with seemingly no way out.
Adapted from Danny Brom, the founding director of the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma
(13) But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which the LORD will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. (14) The LORD will battle for you; you hold your peace!”
One said, “Let’s go into the sea!”
Another said, “Let’s return to Egypt!”
Another said, “Let’s make war on [the Egyptians],”
and the fourth said, “Let’s cry out against them!”
To the group that said, “Let’s go into the sea,”
Moses said to them, “Stand by, and witness the deliverance which the LORD will work for you today.”
To those who said, “Let’s return to Egypt,”
he said, “The Egypt whom you see today you will never see again…”
To those who said “Let’s make war with them,”
Moses said, “the LORD will battle for you,”
And to those who said, “let’s cry out….”
he said, “Hold your peace!”
(Jerusalem Talmud, on Exodus 14:13-14)
מה תצעק אלי — This teaches us that Moses stood in prayer. Whereupon God said to him, “It is no time now to pray at length, when Israel is placed in trouble”.
Grammatically, ה at the end of a word can announce a sense of direction, moving towards something. The use of ה can also imply Divine presence like in the new names given to Sarah and Avraham.
In times of need, we must find a way forward. We must uncover that Divine ה which can bring hope to ourselves and our communities, especially when we feel most stuck.
Adapted from Danny Brom, the founding director of the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma
Not to escape reality, not to submit to it, not to wage war on it, not to deal with it only on a spiritual level, but to go forward. Do another mitzvah, ignite another soul, take one more step toward your goal.
And when you move forward, you will see that insurmountable barrier yield and that ominous threat fade away. You will see that the prevalent "reality" is not so real after all, and that you have it within your power to reach your goal. Even if you have to split some seas to get there.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe
(י) וַיָּבֹאוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם בַּיַּבָּשָׁה, אִם בַּיָּם לָמָּה בַּיַּבָּשָׁה, וְאִם בַּיַּבָּשָׁה לָמָּה בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם, אֶלָּא מִכָּאן אַתָּה לָמֵד שֶׁלֹא נִקְרַע לָהֶם הַיָּם עַד שֶׁבָּאוּ לְתוֹכוֹ עַד חוֹטְמָן, וְאַחַר כָּךְ נַעֲשָׂה לָהֶם יַבָּשָׁה. דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי נְהוֹרָאי, הָיְתָה בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹבֶרֶת בַּיָּם וּבְנָהּ בְּיָדָהּ וּבוֹכֶה, וּפוֹשֶׁטֶת יָדָהּ וְנוֹטֶלֶת תַּפּוּחַ אוֹ רִמּוֹן מִתּוֹךְ הַיָּם וְנוֹתֶנֶת לוֹ....
Rabbi Nahorai explained that a mother was carrying her baby boy who was crying (as they were crossing on dry land, between the walls of water). She then stretched out her hand and picked off an apple or pomegranate from the "midst of the sea" and gave it to him!
