We're Standing On The Beach, The Sea Will Part Before Me (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Estimated Prophet")

           The Seminary where our daughter attends during her gap year in Israel has been closed for Pesach since the second week of March. In fact, most of the Seminaries and Yeshivot in Israel give 3-4 weeks of “vacation” to their students. Rather than leaving the students completely on their own, our daughter’s seminary offered them a variety of “outside” class experiences including backpacking through a region in Israel or taking the Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross) first responder certification program.  Our daughter chose to study for her certification with Magen David Adom (the Red Cross).  When I asked her why she wanted to spend her Pesach vacation taking this incredibly intensive class, she explained that it is important to have life-saving skills because one never knows. She also reminded me of a section of Talmud from the Tractate Kiddushin 29a. The Talmud discusses the four obligations that a father has in terms of raising a son.  One of those obligations is teaching his son to swim (since it might save his life). My daughter reminded me that such an obligation should probably be applied to raising a daughter as well. So my daughter explained that acquiring such skills not only helps her but could potentially help another.  

          This Shabbat is also the Seventh Day of Pesach. As we continue our celebration of Pesach, the Torah reading continues the narrative of the Exodus. We read of the miracle of Kriat Yam Suf (the Crossing of the Reed Sea). Already out of Egypt and now pursued by the Pharaoh's army; B’nai Yisroel finds itself stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. Before them lies the Reed Sea, and behind them, the Egyptian Army continues its pursuit. Panicked, these former slaves believe that they have two choices: death by drowning or death at the hands of the Pharaoh's army. Moshe, too, appears at wit’s end. Unsure of how to proceed,  he begins to pray on both his and the people’s behalf. VaYomer HaShem El Moshe -  God says to Moshe  Mah Titzahk Eilai Dabeir El B’nai Yisroel V’Yisau – speak to the Children of Israel and let them journey forth (Ex. 14:15). Eventually, B’nai Yisroel mustered enough courage and they crossed the sea. Upon their successful arrival onto the other side, Moshe and B’nai Yisroel break out into song praising God’s strength, love, and protection.

          The Talmudic Sages in the Tractate Sotah 36a credits the great- great- grandson of Judah, Nachshon Ben Aminadav, as the first person into the Sea. However, the Sea did not open when Nachshon put his foot into the water. Nor did the sea part when he was knee-deep, thigh-deep, or waist-deep into the water. Undeterred, and apparently full of a profound and simple faith in God, Nachshon continued to wade into the water. The water covered his chest, his shoulders, his neck, chin, face, and soon he was completely submerged. At the moment he was to sink or float, the waters opened up. B’nai Yisroel followed and they made their way across. While the Midrash doesn’t suggest that Nachshon actually swam at all, certainly he was the ultimate first responder, risking his life to save B’nai Yisroel from their own spiritual paralysis.

            Nachshon’s courage in the Midrash teaches a valuable lesson about faith and freedom. No matter the difficulty, no matter the pain, sadness, and grief, there is a path across the Yam Suf. That is not to say that we may not be bruised, scarred, or damaged in some way. It only means that crossing our own sea gives us an opportunity for a future. Staying back, remaining paralyzed, succumbing to our fears, guarantees no future, and remaining enslaved. Indeed, freedom is all about a sense of tomorrow, the future, and possibilities. Yes, our daughter had to get her apartment cleaned for Pesach. However, her Pesach preparations also included first aid, CPR, artificial respiration, treating wounds, broken bones, spinal injuries, and other medical emergencies that might very well save someone’s life. There was classroom instruction, there was experiential learning (practicum),  and there numerous hours of studying every day. After two weeks,  several days before Pesach began, she was supposed to take an exam. A few days before her exam, nervous and anxious she called her mother. She reminded our daughter that she has done all the work, put in an enormous amount of effort, and now needs only to have faith and jump into her exam. Right before Pesach, having passed the exam,  she sent us a picture with her Magen Adom jacket posed in front of a Magen David Adom ambulance. 

Peace,

Rav Yitz

You've All Been Asleep, You Would Not Believe Me (John Barlow & Bob Weir- "Estimated Prophet")

           Perhaps it’s nature or maybe it is nurture, but I grew up with an incredibly low threshold for listening to people whine. I recall as a boy hearing my younger sister whine, it drove me crazy. My wife knows I have a low threshold for listening to and tolerating whining. My children always understood that whining about or for something was never a good strategy to illicit my empathy and understanding. As I have grown older, I have very little patience for adults who whine. Rabbi Levi, in the Midrash Tanchuma also talks about a spoiled brat: “A child is riding on his father’s shoulders. When the child sees something he wants, he asks for it. His father gets it for him. This happens again and again. They encounter a person approaching from the opposite direction, and the child asks the stranger, ‘Have you seen my father?’ The father responds incredulously, “You ride on my shoulders, and everything you want I get you, yet you ask, ‘Have you seen my father?’ The father then takes the child down from his shoulders and a dog comes and bites the child.”

          This week’s Parshah, Beshalach, is also known as Shabbat Shira (Shabbat of Song). Bnai Yisroel leaves Egypt. Pharaoh, realizing what he has done, gives chase with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. Trapped by the Sea, Bnai Yisroel looks to Moshe for an answer. Moshe prays and God tells Moshe to take Israel and start walking through the Yam Suf.  So as they begin walking into the Yam Suf; it splits and Bnai Yisroel arrives safely on the other side. Meanwhile, the Egyptian army is trapped in the water as the sea closes upon them.  B’nai Yisroel sings throughout this Parshah. Upon successfully completing their crossing of the Yam Suf, the headline song begins (Ex. 15:1): Oz Yashir Moshe u’Vnai Yisroel et Ha Shira Ha’zot L’adonai va’Yomru Leimor Then Moses and the Children of Israel chose to sing this song to God and they said the following. In this song, B’nai Yisroel praises God as protector of his people. After the song, Miriam, Moshe’s sister, tells the women Shiru L’adonai Ki Ga’oh Ga’Ah Sus v’Rochvo Ramah Va’Yam Sing to God for he is exalted above the arrogant, having hurled horse with its rider into the sea. (Ex.15:21) When tradition referred to this Shabbat as Shabbat Shirah, clearly this is what was meant.

          However immediately following these songs of praise, B’nai Yisroel begins another kind of singing. Instead of songs of joy and praise, known as singing, there are songs of discontent and complaint, which always sounded to me as whining. No sooner does B’nai Yisroel cross the Yam Suf and sing Oz Yashir Moshe, then they complain about the lack of good water. Moshe puts a tree into the water and it becomes sweet (15:25-26). They whine about the lack of food. God provides the manna from Heaven (16:6-8,16-36). They complain about the lack of meat. God provides them with quail (16:13). They complained about the lack of water upon their arrival in Rephidim. Moshe strikes a rock as God instructs, and provides water for the people. They wanted it now. So God gave it “now”. The complaining and the lack of patience seem to indicate B’nai Yisroel’s lack of patience. Although liberated from slavery, B’nai Yisroel still has the mentality of slaves. After generations of slavery, B’nai Yisroel has grown used to living passively. As slaves, they ceased struggling for freedom. They performed their tasks and returned to their slaves’ quarters and ate their slave food that the master provided. There is no sense of responsibility for the future. There is no sense that improvement is possible. The slave looked to the master to take care of everything. Upon leaving Egypt and crossing the Yam Suf, B’nai Yisroel looks to God to take care of everything. They have no sense of taking take care of themselves. So they sang or whined, “But Daddy we want the water and meat and we want it now!” God gave them another miracle.

          Like the impudent boy who asked the stranger if he had seen his father, while all the while sitting upon his father’s shoulders; B’nai Yisroel demonstrates the same impudence. Hayeish Adonai B’kirbeinu Im Ayin? “Is God among us or not?” The father put the boy on the ground. God put B’nai Yisroel upon the ground. Just like the dog bit the boy, Amalek attacks. B’nai Yisroel.  B’nai Yisroel stopped whining. They finally do for themselves.  “Moshe said to Joshua, ‘Choose people for us and go do battle with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand’. Joshua did as Moshe said to him, to do battle with Amalek” (Ex.17:9-10). B’nai Yisroel fought, God gave them strength. This is the first time in the Parshah where we read that B’nai Yisroel acted first. God helped them when they helped themselves.

         Emunah (Faith) in God depends upon faith in ourselves. Before we seek God’s help, we must help ourselves. The spoiled brat is the child who won’t do for his/herself. The spoiled brat expects others to do for him. Instead of trusting in and doing for itself first, B’nai Yisroel relied upon God to do for them. Thank God, we are no longer slaves in Egypt, yet we remain slaves. We are enslaved by our fears, enslaved by our anxieties, and enslaved by our own passivity. At first, it may always seem easier to be passive, do nothing, be uninvolved, and not improve the world around us. The first step in freedom is conquering our own passivity, and doing for ourselves. Only when we take that first step will we feel the support and strength that God offers us. Then we can conquer Amalek. Then we conquer our own fears. Then improvement is possible for both the individual and the community.  Most importantly, we eventually stop whining.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Long Is The Road We Must Travel On Down (John Perry Barlow & Brent Mydland: "I Will Take You Home")

While we watch the Senate vote to acquit and Mitt Romney’s courageous vote to convict, Kirk Douglas, otherwise known as Spartacus to my son passed away at 103. As we watched the news, the first sentences about Kirk Douglas could have been the first sentences about my Grandfather. “Born in 1916 in upstate New York to Russian Jewish Immigrants…”  Both men changed their name, Kirk Douglas changed his name from  Issur Danielovitch, and my grandfather changed the family’s last name from Lifshitz to Lipson.  Yes, my grandfather would have been 103 years old. My grandfather’s parents arrived five years before Kirk’s parents did, but who's counting.  However as I listened to the news about Kirk Douglas’s passing, he was once quoted as saying that the luckiest thing that ever happened to him was the courage his parents had to leave Russia and come to North America. My grandfather (z’l) used to tell me the same thing. While they might not have been the best parents in the world, he always thankful for their courage to leave the miserable life they knew for the unknown possibility of a new life, a life that could be worse or could be better.

                This Shabbat we read from Parsha Beshallach This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shira (Shabbat of Songs) because of the "songs" or poetry in both the Parsha, Beshallach, and in the Haftarah. In Parsha Beshallach, B'nai Yisroel finally leaves Egypt. Pharaoh sends them out and they hurriedly leave. Three days later, B'nai Yisroel arrives at the Yam Suf, the Reed Sea, which is along the Mediterranean coast. With Pharaoh's army behind them, and the Sea in front, B'nai Yisroel is trapped. Then the sea opens up, B'nai Yisroel crosses through and arrives safely on the other side. The Egyptian army drowns in the sea as the waters come crashing down. Out of joy and relief, B'nai Yisroel composes Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea. No sooner are they finished celebrating, then they begin complaining about the lack of water and food. God provides water and Manna. However, B'nai Yisroel is still not safe. Now they are attacked by the indigenous tribe, the Amalekites. B'nai Yisroel must put aside its hunger and thirst and fight for their lives. They do, and they are victorious. The Parsha ends with God commanding Moshe to blot out the very existence of the Amalekites.

                Underlying the miracles and wonders of B’nai Yisroel’s departure from Egypt: the cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, the splitting of the Yam Suf, and the Manna; is the portrayal of B’nai Yisroel and the damage wrought by centuries of slavery. They cry out when stuck between the Egyptian army and the Yam Suf. They cry out after their song of joy for water and food. They are hesitant to move forward and they actually think that life was better in Egypt than whatever they are about to immediately experience and face in the decades to come. Amid the spiritual, psychological, and emotional damage of centuries of slavery; there are the vestiges of something very different.  B’nai Yisroel displays moments of greatness, profound faith, and trust in God. ChaZaL, the Talmudic Sages, consider the very act of leaving and following Moshe to be an act of profound faith and courage: “R’Eliezer said: When Moshe said to them ‘Arise and Go Forth’, they did not say: ‘How can we go forth into the wilderness when we have no sustenance for the way? But they had faith and followed after Moshe.”  Yes, they complained, groused, expressed skepticism and yearned for Egypt, but when push came to shove, they left, they entered into the water, pitched their tents and they packed it all up.

                Perhaps we, the descendants need to be reminded that it is not a straight line from slavery to freedom. It is not a straight line from leaving Europe to arriving in New York or Toronto and suddenly life was simple and terrific. The courage they are ancestors displayed occurred when doubt crept in when they complained but they didn’t stop moving forward. The same holds us as we embark on the paths of our lives. Our lives are not a straight line. The transition from one phase of life to another is full of fits and starts. However perhaps the less we learn, the less we teach our children is to have the courage to face the future, to face the unknown and keep moving towards it with a supreme faith that we have the tools to deal with the future.

Peace,

Rav Yitz