Parshas Beshalach
The parsha of Beshalach begins with the word “Vayehi.” This word generally portends trouble.
Having experienced the ten unmistakable miracles which led to the Exodus itself, G-d hoped that the People of Israel would now be ready to recognize Him as the sole benefactor of everyday life. That they would understand that they can achieve nothing without Him and that they have to rely on Him each month even for the things they consider mundane, like longevity, peace, a livelihood and physical health, which are also miracles that we pray for before Rosh Chodesh. That they would be prepared to fight the Philistines themselves without the need for divine intervention with dazzling feats the likes of which they witnessed in Egypt. That they could rely on G-d’s promise to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov that they would successfully conquer the land of Canaan and that assurance would be enough to motivate them to go to battle just like David who said, “Even as I walk in the valley of death, I shall not be afraid fear because You are with me” (Tehillim 23:4). Indeed the shortest route out of Egypt to the Land of Israel would have been along the Gaza strip.
But that would have involved fighting the seven nations themselves, the natural way, without G-d leading the charge. The trouble was that the Jews were not yet ready for that. “Ki karov hu,” it was still too early (Shemos 13:17). They had not yet reached this level of trust.
They needed another forty years during which time G-d would show them more indisputable miracles like splitting the sea, extracting water from a rock and raining manna from heaven. So, G-d took them east toward the Sinai Peninsula, to make sure that by the time they reached their destination, they would be convinced that G-d was all powerful and they would keep this in mind once they embarked on daily life in Israel, void of obvious miracles.
They needed to reach the level of Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah, who told his daughter, who had mistakenly poured vinegar, instead of oil into the Shabbat lamp, to go ahead and light, because the same G-d who ordered oil to burn could order vinegar to burn. Nature itself is no less of a miracle just because we are used to it.
Seeing the Egyptians chase after them and close in on them, the Jews did what they had originally done, they cried out to G-d to save them (2:23). But this time, G-d threw the ball into their court and said, “Why are you crying out to me … start moving” (14:15). Move? Where, into the sea? This was their big test. Were the Jews now finally ready to take the leap of faith into the sea, confident in G-d’s assurance that they would survive? After all, if we can survive by breathing air on dry land, a miracle in itself, albeit one we are accustomed to, does G-d lack the power to help us breathe in water?
We know what happened. Only Nachson ben Aminadav took the plunge. He waded through the sea until the water reached his nostrils. Only then did the sea part and become dry land.
Since their leader Nachshon showed them the way, the Jews got some credit for it, so that “the waters became a chomah, a wall for them on their right and left” (14:22).
But the Torah does not overlook the fact that the Jews waited until they saw dry land before jumping in. It tells us a few sentences later that the Jews stepped onto dry land in the sea (14:29), “and the water became a chomah, a wall for them on their right and left.” This time, however, the word chomah is spelled without the letter vav. Chomah without a vav means anger. The waters were angry at the Jews for their lack of faith in G-d.
And their lack of faith did not end there. Because the clouds and darkness did not enable them to see the Egyptians drowning in the seas behind them, they worried that rather than following them into the water, the Egyptians might have circled the shores only to attack them as they emerged from the split sea. They needed to be shown clear as day that the Egyptians had perished. It was only when “the Israelites saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” (14:30) that they believed in the almighty power of G-d.
Despite this display ofskepticism, the Jews were forgiven. After all, they were just freshmen setting out on their journey of faith. Soon they would be reaching Mount Sinai, where they would be given all of the mitzvot. The whole point of the mitzvot is to strengthen one’s faith in G-d. By surrounding oneself with tzitzit, which symbolize all of G-d’s commandments, “miminam u’mismolam,” on their right side and on their left side, the Jews would in the future constantly be reminded of His existence and have full faith in Him at all times.
Faith leads to happiness, and happiness leads to song. So they began to sing a song of praise to G-d. “Az yashir Moshe – Then Moshe will sing.” The shira is not a one-time song relegated to history. It is a song that will be sung each day, to this very day, as if we ourselves were present at the splitting of the Red Sea.
The Shirat Hayam includes the following words “Zeh Keili ve’anvehu – This is my G-d and I will build him a sanctuary” (15:3). The word “ve’anvehu” comes from the root “naveh,” which means a home. This is my G-d and I will make him welcome in my home. We can only do this by recognizing that miracles surround us all the time, even at home in our everyday lives. If we acknowledge this fact, G-d will do His part and agree to reside with us as He has promised: “Make me a sanctuary and I shall dwell among them” (25:8).