BS”D
WALLS OF WRATH:
PARSHAT BESHALACH
Shira Smiles shiur
2020 5780
Adapted by Channie
Koplowitz Stein
After
the plague of the firstborn, Bnei Yisroel has finally left Egypt. But, although
the Egyptians had urged then to leave, Pharaoh and his minions now had “buyer’s
remorse.” Pharaoh launched his chariots to catch the fleeing Israelites and
return them to Egypt. Bnei Yisroel arrived at the Red Sea. Before them was the
dangerous sea while behind them were the Egyptian charioteers ready to
re-enslave them. Moshe hears the desperate cries of his people and prays to
Hashem. Hashem replies, “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to Bnei Yisroel and
let them journey forth.” At this, Nachshon ben Aminodov courageously jumps into
the sea while the waters are swirling around him. Bnei Yisroel follows him in.
Finally, when the waters are so high that they almost drown him, the waters
split, “And Bnei Yisroel came within the sea on dry land, and the water was a chomah/wall
for them, on their right and on their left.”
Bnei
Yisroel continue across the sea with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. Finally,
when all of Bnei Yisroel have crossed to the other bank, the waters return to
their natural position, drowning all the Egyptians. The Torah now seems to
repeat, “Bnei Yisroel went on dry land in the midst of the sea; the water was a
chmah/wall for them, on their right and on their left.”
While
the two verses seem identical in a cursory reading, the subtle differences
between them beg exploration. First, why was the order reversed? In the first
verse, Bnei Yisroel went into the sea itself which somehow became dry land. In
contrast, the second verse implies that Bnei Yisroel went in when it was
already dry land with the sea already forming the walls alongside them.
Further, the walls themselves appear different in the two verses. In our first
verse, chomah/walls is written with the extra “vov”” so
that it can only be read one way. In the second verse, chmah/wall is
written without the “vov.”By changing the vocalization, it can easily be
read as chaimah/wrath. If that is the case, why was the sea
angry?
A
medrash throws some light on the problem, writes Rabbi Grossbard. The angel
Samael/Satan complained to Hashem saying that both Bnei Yisroel and the
Egyptians were idol worshipers. Why kill the Egyptians while saving the Jews;
they all deserve death. Samael’s wrath reached the sea, and the sea was
infected with that same anger. However, Rabbi Schlesinger notes that this
medrash raises a further question. If Bnei Yisroel were such idol worshipers,
why did Hashem perform all the miracles of the plagues for them?
In
Meged Yosef, Rabbi Sorotskin begins to shed some light on our dilemma.
When Hashem created the world, He built certain future anomalies into the
natural condition of some of these creations. When Hashem created the seas, He
conditioned that the Red Sea would split for Bnei Yisroel at the appropriate
time, then drown the Egyptians, and then return to its natural state. But if
the sea was now fulfilling the condition of its creation, why was it angry?
In
trying to understand this problem, the Otzrot Hatorah cites Sefer
Aperion’s comparison of this situation to the situation of Lot after the
destruction of Sodom. The angels urged Lot to go to the mountain, probably back
to his uncle Avraham’s house, but Lot asked to go to Mitzor, a closer area,
“lest the evil catch him.” There Rashi explains that Lot was not afraid of the
distance he would need to travel, but of being compared to Avraham Avinu. As
long as Lot was in Sodom, Lot reasoned, he was considered a righteous person
worthy of redemption. But if he went back to the righteous Avraham, he would be
judged as an evil person in comparison, worthy of death. This is what Lot
feared.
Similarly,
when Bnei Yisroel were in Egypt, although they may have worshiped idols, in
comparison to the Egyptians, they were definitely on a higher moral standard.
Now that the Egyptians were drowned and Bnei Yisroel were to be judged on their
own merits, the sea did not deem Bnei Yisroel worthy of being saved through
this unnatural act of the sea.
Expanding
on this thought, the Meshech Chochmah explains that there are two
categories of sins, and each category is judged differently whether it is a
communal sin or a private sin. The major sins such as idolatry and murder are
judged less severely for the nation than are the interpersonal sins such as
stealing and loshon horo. As proof, during the generation of King David,
the people were all righteous as individuals, yet time after time they
“tattled” to King Saul about David. When Bnei Yisroel went to battle during
this era, many Jews died. In contrast, during the reign of Achav, idol worship
was rampant, yet no one told Achav that Ovadiah was saving 100 prophets from
Achav’s death sentence. Because Bnei Yisroel were united, they were always
successful in battle.
On
the other end of the spectrum, the generation of the flood was destroyed for
the interpersonal sins of promiscuity and theft, while the builders of the
Tower of Babel who rebelled against God were united in their quest, and Hashem
spared them.
While
Bnei Yisroel were in Egypt, they were very careful about their interpersonal
behavior. They were united and did not speak negatively about each other. Now,
at the Sea, divisive factions were forming. Some trusted in Hashem and wanted
to jump into the sea while others wanted to turn back to Egypt. When Bnei
Yisroel were unified, the sins of idolatry would not be judged so severely, but
now that they were divided, their sins of idolatry loomed large, igniting the
anger of the sea.
In
a related idea, the Sifsei Chaim notes that a person merits the mercy of
Heaven and judgment in both spiritual and physical areas in proportion to his
involvement with the community. The more one is involvement in communal
matters, the greater the flow of good from above. There are so many ways one
can be involved with others in the community, from checking on elderly or sick
neighbors, caring for children, helping organize the synagogue, arranging
programs, leading the congregation in prayer, and so much more. There is an
interesting characteristics of the language of the Torah. There is no letter of
the Torah that can stand alone [as the “a” or “I” in English, for example].
Each letter must be joined to another to be meaningful. Since each Jewish soul
is represented by a letter in the Torah, we can deduce that no Jew can stand
alone but must become part of the community with others.
Rabbi
Rivlin quoting the Gra, takes us in a different direction to understand the
sea’s anger with the insight of the medrash. Bnei Yisroel numbered several
million souls at this point in time. It would take quite a while for all of
them to cross. Traditionally, the nation was led by the tribe of Yehudah,
specifically in the person of Nachshon, while the tribe bringing up the rear
was the tribe of Dan. Nachshon and the first tribe or two actually entered the
sea before it split, while the later tribes were still on dry land, after the
sea split. One of the artifacts that was brought out of Egypt was in fact an idol,
the idol that Michah of the Tribe of Dan took with him. This would become a
source of idol worship in the Land after Joshua’s death during the era of the
Judges. The sea was not angry when the first wave of Bnei Yisroel entered, but
when the idol entered, the sea saw no difference between the idol worshiping
Egyptians and the [potentially] idol worshiping Bnei Yisroel. Why did it need
to change its nature for Bnei Yisroel?
But
Hashem tolerates insults and is forbearing and patient. Hashem wants His creations
to emulate Him, so He instructs the sea to remain split and calm, in spite of
its anger, with walls on either side of Bnei Yisroel. We too must emulate
Hashem in this way, teaches Rebbetzin Felbrand. We too must be patient and
forbearing even when we feel our honor has been besmirched.
The
Shvilei Pinchas cites the Vilna Gaon in stating that there were in fact
separate factions in Bnei Yisroel. Those with great faith literally took the
plunge into the water, while those of little faith waited and entered on dry
land only after the sea had already split. For them the sea split, but only
grudgingly. So what does it mean to have faith?
Rabbi
Asher Weiss quotes the Chazon Ish in explaining the concepts of emunah
and bitachon. While both can arguably be translated as “faith,”
bitachon is the practical application of faith in one’s life. Emunah,
then, can be explained as having two levels. The first is blind faith that,
since Hashem is omnipotent, everything will turn out well regardless of the
situation. The second level is understanding that although Hashem is
omnipotent, we must be deserving of His intervention. We have faith that Hashem
is in control, but we do not know all the factors that contribute to making the
decision Hashem deems the best decision for us. Our understanding of “good” is
limited and may be incorrect.
But
our faith in Hashem as all encompassing does have the power to affect outcomes,
writes Rav Chaim of Volozhin. The Ohr Hachaim offers the events under
current discussion as proof. Hashem instructed Moshe to tell Bnei Yisroel to
stop crying and start moving. It will be the trust the people put into Hashem
that will bring about their salvation.
According
to the medrash, the angel did not tell the sea to get angry; it merely pointed
out that Bnei Yisroel were idolaters like the Egyptians. But Rabbi Schrage
Grossbard points to the rest of the verse, the right and left became pillars to
protect Bnei Yisroel. What were these right and left pillars? These, the
Medrash tells us were the mitzvoth that Bnei Yisroel would keep, the mezuzah on
the right side of he door and the tefillin generally worn on the left arm.
Since all the world was created to do Hashem’s will, the sea was originally
angered with Bnei Yisroel for worshiping other gods. But when it realized that
Bnei Yisroel would accept and uphold the Torah, its anger ceased, and it split
to do Hashem’s will to save Bnei Yisroel. If Bnei Yisroel would not be saved to
receive the Torah, the entire world would revert to its original chaotic state.
The
Torah is not just a blueprint and plan for the creation of the world, writes
Rabbi Tatz; it is the very genetic material that forms the physical existence
of the world and without which the world does not exist. The sea understood it
had to do the will of Hashem.
Along
these lines, the Shvilei Pinchas offers a different perspective in
explaining the differences we have noted in these verses as well as understanding
why our Sages chose to call this miracle kriyat Yam Suf, literally the tearing
of the Red Sea, while the Torah refers to the miracle as bekiyah/splitting
of the sea. According to the Shvilei Pinchas, the waters in fact split
twice. After Bnei Yisroel entered the sea, the waters split and revealed the
dry land. They were followed by the pursuing Egyptians. When Bnei Yisroel
finished crossing, the waters returned and drowned the Egyptians. However, two
members of Bnei Yisroel had not left Egypt with their brothers. Dasan and
Aviram remained behind, feeling comfortable in Egypt. But they followed the
Egyptian charioteers, and, witnessing the splitting of the sea, they followed
the Egyptians into the sea. After the Egyptians drowned, the sea was
forced to split again to allow Dasan and Aviram to cross. While the sea split
voluntarily/bekiyah for Bnei Yisroel to cross, the sea was angered by
Hashem’s decree to tear itself apart/keriyah again for these two contentious
souls.
Why
were Dasan and Aviram, who were the cause of so much tragedy, saved so
miraculously? According to the medrash, they were two of the guards who
received beatings on behalf of Bnei Yisroel when the quota of bricks fell
short. For this toil and sacrifice for Bnei Yisroel, Dasan and Aviram merited
being saved.
This
also explains why our sages compare providing a livelihood and providing one’s
proper mate to be as difficult as keriyat/the tearing of the sea,
continues the Shvilei Pinchas, for the individual will be deemed worthy
according to how he toiled to study Torah and to keep the mitzvoth. Just as the
mesirat nefesh/self sacrifice of Dasan and Aviram earned them salvation,
so does our self sacrifice for Torah and mitzvoth earn merits for us.
All
creation is a constant manifestation of Hashem’s will. Whether things are done
willingly or reluctantly, everything follows Hashem’s plan. Nature is a
constant miracle, and we have the ability to affect the universe by our own
devotion and self sacrifice to do the will of Hashem, just as we did at the Red
Sea, and just as the Sea itself did.