"The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the horsemen - Pharaoh's entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (Shemot 14:28-29)

 

The Waters as Rage and as a Wall - The Slavers and the Enslaved Are Not Judged In Similar Fashion

 

"The waters forming a wall" - Samael descended and said to Him: Master of the Universe, did not Israel worship idolatrously in Egypt, yet you perform miracles on their behalf!? He called out to the Master of Sea, who became enraged at them, and sought to drown them. The Holy One, Blessed Be He immediately replied to him: You fool of the world, did they so worship intentionally? They did so because of the enslavement and out of madness, and you judge the inadvertent sinner as an intentional one, and coerced action as willed action? When he heard this, the Master of the Sea redirected his rage from Israel to Egypt, as is written "the waters returned" - they returned from Israel to the Egyptians.

 (Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot Chap. 12, 234)

 

... He (Samael) did not argue against the miracles performed for Israel while they were yet in Egypt, for although they were deficient in observance of the mitzvot - they worshipped idolatrously and they violated Brit Millah - they were abundant with fine qualities; they did not slander, and they loved one another, therefore The Holy One, Blessed Be He, publicly performed miracles for them. But at the sea, where they were divided into four factions, and some pleaded "Let us return to Egypt" he (Samael) instigated that "they be judged as individuals, deserving of annihilation for their idolatry, yet you perform miracles for them?!"

True, one finds that in the earlier passage (v. 22) it is written "The waters forming for them a wall" and only later (v. 29) is the word homa written without the letter vav. This is the basis of Midrash's exegesis to the effect that He was filled with wrath; (With the letter vav, the word is read as 'choma' = wall. Without the vav, it can be ready either as 'choma' or as 'cheyma' = rage.) God had said to them "Desist from idolatry and cleave to the commandments", and they repented from idolatry, for they believed in God, and they circumcised themselves and their children and their servants, and therefore he had no reason to complain that God had performed miracles for them in Egypt... but here, when they [the Egyptians] said "I shall flee from Israel, for God fights for them against Egypt," they admitted that God fights, and they changed their minds and began to flee - so, in effect, they too repented!? (Because of this they merited burial). Regarding this did he (Samael) cry out "Israel, too, worshipped idolatrously in Egypt and they were forgiven; why, then were these saved and these drowned?" Answered The Holy One, Blessed Be He, "Fool, etc." But with the Egyptians, the opposite was the case, for they had worshiped idolatrously in ease and in tranquillity, and their penitence was a result of the madness which struck them at the sea's edge; therefore they were drowned, whereas miracles are performed for Israel. May it be God's will that they return to Him in tranquillity., Amen.

 (Mesheckh Chokhma, Shemot 14:29)

 

"HE WHO HAD GATHERED MUCH HAD NO EXCESS, AND

HE WHO HAD GATHERED LITTLE HAD NO DEFICIENCY"

Zvi Mazeh

 

            Immediately, as the Children of Israel embark upon their desert trek, they suffer pangs of regret at their having left Egypt: "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread." These thoughts of regret, coupled with longing for the fleshpot culture, will return and appear in times of crisis throughout the journey to the Land of Canaan. The commentators were in doubt as to the understanding of the Children of Israel's retrospective viewpoint. Do their words in the desert accurately reflect their situation in Egypt, or are they rewriting the historical memory, viewing their situation in Egypt as better than it really was? Perhaps there is no single historical truth, everything is in the eye of the viewer. In any case, despite the xenophobia, and slavery and the infanticide experienced by the Children of Israel in the Land of Egypt, it is now clear that now, in the desert, in retrospect the Egypt experience is seen in a positive light.

            A people which looks back at its servitude with longing and not in anger cannot yet enter the Land of Israel. It becomes clear to us that the journey through the desert is not only one which physically distances the Children of Israel from Egypt; it is a spiritual journey, the purpose of which is the distancing from Egypt's culture. The first step in this spiritual trek is the raining down of the manna: "I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day's portion..."

            The main characteristic of the manna was the inability to hoard it from day to day. The gathering had to be a daily affair. "Let no one leave any of it over until morning." This feature of the manna, as already mentioned by some commentators, creates absolute and continuing dependency of every individual upon God. We are not discussing gourmet feasts and delicacies. We are talking about the most basic of foods, without which one dies of starvation. Even that may not be kept from one day to the next.

            Indeed, the Children of Israel find it difficult to accept the limitations imposed upon the divine gift, given them from heaven. "But they paid no attention to Moshe; some of them left of it until morning." Only the cruel reality of "and it became infested with maggots and stank" forced the people to recognize the limitations of bread which falls from heaven.

            This particular property of the manna stands out against the background of the Egyptian civilization which the Children of Israel had departed; one of its important features is the capacity for hoarding food. We learn of this in the Book of Bereishit: "And he gathered all the food of seven years which was in the land of Egypt and he distributed food in the cities - the food of the city's surrounding fields he gathered in it." The ability to store food, one of the capabilities which distinguishes humans from most animals, makes it possible for man to safely survive periods of famine, as occurred in Egypt. But the storing of food is also liable to imbue man with a false sense of security which allows him to ignore the fragility of human existence and the total dependence of man upon God.

            The storing of food has another aspect. It is the first step in the creation of economic inequality between men. After all, what is social inequality, if not the accretion of material sources by the strong at the expense of the weak. The amassing of food is the commitment of the area's resources to plans - sometimes arbitrary - of the individual or group which accumulates the food. The gathering of the food by Yosef and the Egyptian government in preparation for the seven years of famine, caused creation of the most terrible economic gap - the transformation of all Egyptians into servants of Pharaoh. "And we and our lands shall be slaves unto Pharaoh, and give seed and we shall live and not die." Man's total dependence upon God has been exchanged for total dependence of the people upon its sovereign, who rules over them without restraints.

            The manna which rains from heaven does not permit even the most minute inequality. "This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you requires to eat, an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each of you shall fetch for those in his tent." This is to say, that the man, the head of the family, is commanded to gather the amount appropriate to the number of members of his family. Each family receives in accordance with its real needs - the number of souls which it includes. Equality does not end at the level of the family, the basic social unit in the Bible; it descends to the level of the individual and his family.

            Here, again, the Children of Israel find it difficult to accept the restrictions imposed upon them. "But when they measured it by the omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no deficiency." But those who attempt to exploit this economic opportunity, food gathered without cost, and to gain control over resources rather than share, are again disappointed.

            The gift from heaven enforces its restrictions. Perhaps we have here a insinuation that those who try to create for themselves a surplus, can do so only at the expense of the have-nots. This is exactly what is prevented by the wondrous attribute of the manna.

            These two characteristics of the manna stand in direct opposition to the central values of the Egyptian civilization, and they accompany the Children of Israel through their desert sojourning. "And the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a settled land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan." The verse repeats emphatically the eating of the manna until their arrival; the eating of manna is the essential part of their physical and spiritual journey to the land of Canaan.

The Creator of the Universe knows that the situation of the Children of Israel in the desert is utopian. In the land of Canaan, a different set of rules will come into play. Food will not fall from heaven, and society will change from a group of food gatherers into a society of food growers. Such a society needs initiative, work, diligence - qualities not shared equally by all men. Economic inequality is unavoidable. But the Torah makes a tremendous effort to moderate the social equality. This includes a series of laws, the most important of them being Shmitta and Yovel. Shmitta and the Yovel include redistribution of the means of production - lands - and the freeing of slaves. Their primary goal is the blocking of centralization of resources in the hands of the powerful, even in a society which functions by economic rules of the game.

To reach a state of equilibrium, which allows for economic competition but simultaneously restrains it, it is necessary to expel the culture of Egypt from the Children of Israel's socio-economic thinking. To do this, first it is necessary to move through the opposite extreme position, through absolute equality - just as the Rambam, in his introduction to Ethics of the Fathers describes the medical treatment and the education of the individual with the aim of achieving the proper attributes:

Just as with the body, when it is out of equilibrium, we can see in which direction it has leaned and left, and we (physicians) can treat this by moving him in the opposite direction, until he returns to equilibrium. And when he is balanced, we can leave the opposite, and return to treat him with what maintains his equilibrium, so shall we do with character traits.

Only afterwards is it possible to return to the golden mean, which permits competition and accumulation, but which holds them in rein with laws which protect the weak.

            Shmitta, as a brake on the unbridled gallop to affluence, is so central a mitzvah that exile,- in the admonition chapter of Vayikra - is considered punishment for non-observance of the Shmitta: "Then shall the land make up for its Sabbath years throughout the time that it is desolate". The national existence of the Israelite nation in its land depends upon its ability to fashion a society different from that of Egypt, a society without slavery and economic centralization.

            Via drash one can perhaps detect in the first Commandment (which we will read next week) an additional dimension: "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." The exodus from the Egyptian society of slaves is a continuing charge, not just a statement of historical fact.

            These words are intended to stimulate discussion relevant to our current situation. For example, on the one hand, the Jewish state is unable to find the funds necessary to support the handicapped - yet on the other hand it grants huge salaries to senior officials in the public economy. We begin to suspect that perhaps we have not learned the right lessons from the manna - "Gather as much of it as each of you requires to eat... Let no one leave any of it over until morning."

Zvi Mazeh is Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Astronomical Institute at the Univ. of Tel Aviv.

 

 

 "The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Does Not Have His Name Mentioned Along With Curses"

"And Devorah sang" (Judges 5:1 - from the Haftara of Parashat Beshalach) - "To the Lord" is not mentioned, as it is in the Song of the Sea and in the Song of David, for it is written [in Devorah's song] "Curse Meroz! said the angel of the Lord, Bitterly curse its inhabitants" and Barak ostracized Meroz with four hundred shofarot (Bavli, Moed Kattan 16a), and as our Sages taught (Bereishit Rabba 3:6) "The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not have His name mentioned along with curses". Yet more, the Divine Presence left her, as per in the words of Resh Lakish (Pesahim 66b) "Therefore it is not written "this song to the Lord".

 

Prophecy and Wisdom are Subordinate to Moral Character

Said Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav: Whoever is haughty - if he is a wise man, his wisdom departs from him; if he is a prophet, prophecy abandons him. 'If he is a wise man, his wisdom departs from him' we learn from Hillel, for our teacher taught: He [Hillel] began to taunt them with his words, and later he said to them [the Sages] I knew this law, but I forgot it. 'If he is a prophet, prophecy abandons him' - from Devorah, as is written: (Judges 5) "Deliverance ceased, ceased in Israel, till you arose, O Devorah, arose, O mother, in Israel!" and it is later written: "Awake, awake, O Devorah! Awake awake, strike up the chant!"

Resh Lakish said: When a person becomes angry, if he is a wise man, his wisdom departs from him; if he is a prophet, his prophecy abandons him.

(Bavli, Pesahim 66b)

 

True Faith Is Not Connected To Miracles

... From "Beshalach" we learn a great lesson: The miracle, the revelation, and also man's elevation to poetry as a result of a miracle of revelation - all this is but a passing episode which has no continuing influence. What endures is not the poetry of life, but rather the prose of life. In the framework of the prose of life - "and they complained" "and they complained" "and they complained" and "no water to drink" and "the bread is spoiled" and "is the Lord in our midst?" - in this framework Torah is given to Israel: "There He imposed law and judgement for them," there was instituted the Shabbat, the central institution of Jewish existence according to the Torah...

Faith is not bestowed from without, it cannot be given from without. It can only sprout from man's effort, from his resolution and his decision.

 (From Y. Leibowitz, Remarks on the Parasha of the Week, pp. 48-49)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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