Summary:
As our celebration of Passover draws to an end, we deviate from the pattern of weekly portions and instead read a special Torah portion for the Festival. Our portion includes the dramatic telling of the splitting of the sea in a beautiful poem known as “The Song at the Sea.” Written with great emotion, this poem attempts to convey the power of “God’s mighty hand.” So powerful is the imagery that verses of this poem have become part of our weekly Tefilah – Mi Chamocha. The poem comes to a climatic finish with Miriam, the prophetess, picking up her timbrel and leading the women in dance.
Lesson:
Imagine that you have just been liberated from slavery. After centuries of oppression, you and your people escape, fleeing into the unknown in hopes of a better life. Your oppressors follow you, hoping to return you to slavery, or perhaps even kill you. At the moment when you lose all hope, an escape route opens up before you; you cross to safety and your oppressors drown.
Every Pesach we retell this Biblical story and imagine that the story is our story. Over the generations our commentators have found in this ancient story new, important and beautiful lessons.
The first lesson our commentators discover in our portion this week tells us about a mythical character named Nachshon ben Aminadav. Nachshon was liberated from Egypt together with the rest of the Israelites. He marched with them toward freedom until they reached the shores of the Red Sea. They were fearful when they looked in front of them and saw waters in which they’d surely drown. And they were fearful when they looked behind them and saw the Pharaoh's armies bearing down upon them. The people, with Moses at the lead, were paralyzed, until one man, Nachshon ben Aminadav, took matters into his own hands. He knew he had no choice except to move forward. So he walked into the waters. The water came up to his knees. He kept walking. The water came up to his chest. He kept walking. Soon the water came up to his nostrils. He kept walking. It was precisely at the moment when he could no longer breathe that the waters parted, and Moses and the people crossed into safety.
Our commentators add this mythological story into our tradition to teach us that we can’t wait for God to act. No, liberation comes only to the courageous. Nachshon’s gift was the ability not only to see the possibility of the moment, but to believe in it strongly enough to be willing to risk wading into the water. We are challenged to be like Nachshon, to be brave enough to step forward. The first steps are the hardest ones, and the most necessary. Only when Nachshon takes these steps does the story of our redemption as a people really begin.
After the Israelites cross the Red Sea, they sing the same words that we sing every time we pray - Mi Chamocha - words from our Torah portion this week. They sing words of celebration having seen God’s power when the sea splits and the Egyptians are drowned. The second lesson that our commentators teach us from our portion this week reminds us that unbridled joy is difficult to celebrate in our world, a world so filled with sadness.
The Talmud teaches us that on seeing the drowning Egyptians, the angels were about to break into song when God silenced them declaring, “How dare you sing for joy when My creatures are dying”. The Talmud teaches that our personal elation should never make us forget the misfortunes afflicting others. This lesson is deeply ingrained in our tradition. In the book of Proverbs, we read: “When the wicked perish there is singing” but later we are reminded: “When your enemy falls, do not rejoice.”
Both midrashim, both rabbinic tales, teach us deep lessons that are hidden within our text. Nachshon teaches us that we can’t wait for God to act. Each of us can be like Nachshon and create miracles in our world. We also learn that despite the many gifts we’ve been granted in our lives, we must always remember those who are suffering.
Two gems hidden in the special Torah portion for the seventh day of Pesach. Two hidden gems that add depth, beauty and power to our lives.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbia Donald Goor