blogs/rabbi-ed-feinstein

Jump!
Rabbi Ed Feinstein

It is the Torah's most exciting, most cinematic story. The Israelites, newly freed from slavery, camped at the shores of the Sea when suddenly the sounds Pharaoh's approaching chariots filled the air. Realizing they were trapped, the ex-slaves cried bitterly to Moses, "Were there too few graves in Egypt, that you brought us to die here?!" (Exodus 14:11) Moses prayed for deliverance, and was commanded: "Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you lift up the rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it..." (Exodus 14:15-16)

He raised the rod, the Sea splits, and the Israelites crossed in safety. Then they beheld the final act of Exodus drama: The Sea crashed down upon Pharaoh and his armies. As they once drown Israelite children in the Nile, now the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea. The Israelite raised their voices in song. They had been slaves. Their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, had been slaves. For all they could know, their children and grandchildren would be slaves. But suddenly, overnight -- they received the gifts of freedom and the promised return to the land of their forefathers.

Before there was anything, relates Genesis, there was water. In Genesis, water represents chaos. To create a habitable world, a world where life might thrive, God split the waters and uncovered dry land. The chaos of the waters gives way to the order of cosmos. In Exodus, God again splits the waters, this time to create history. History emerges out of the chaos of human events. History is not the random interplay of blind power, politics and economics. History has order and meaning. History is a journey from slavery to freedom. At the Red Sea, Israel learned that history has purpose, and God has aspirations for human history. God cares. The divine dream is to bring humanity out of the nightmare of Egypt and into the light of a Promised Land.

But there is something missing in the Torah's story of the Splitting of the Sea. The story has suspense, breathtaking excitement, miraculous special effects �" it is certainly the most cinematic episode in the Hebrew Bible. But something is missing. The Rabbis of the Midrash noticed this. So they retold the story. They told the story as it should have been told.

In the rabbis' telling, Moses leads the people to the banks of the Sea. Then they hear the hoof beats of Pharaoh's approaching armies. They people cry out to Moses. Moses prays to God. He is told to hold his arm over the sea, which will cause the sea to split. And all this he does, exactly as he is commanded...but the sea doesn't split. He tries again, but the sea still does not move. Now he becomes nervous. He tries to recall the exact words of God, the exact instructions. Once again, he holds the arm over the waters. And once again they do not move. Moses panics. The people panic. Everyone is immobilized with fear. And no one knows what to do.

No one, that is, except one man. One man perceived what even Moses our Teacher could not. His name was Nachshon ben Aminadav, one of the princes of the tribes of Israel. Nachshon understood that God was waiting. God had sent Moses. And God had brought the plagues. And God had led them out of Egypt...but now God was waiting for the people to take some role in their own redemption. God, Nachshon understood, would not split the sea until someone moved -- moved toward his or her own redemption -- until someone was ready to risk his or her own life to bring salvation.

So Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped into the waters of the Red Sea.

At first, everyone looked at him with wonder and awe. "Are you crazy? What are you doing?" his family shouted. But he paid no heed...he knew exactly what he was doing. And he waded out farther until the water covered his knees. His family screamed and shouted and begged him to return...but he went farther, until the water covered his waist. And now, everyone stood in silence and watched. He waded farther, until the water covered his shoulders. And then a few more steps, and he disappeared under the water. And only when the water covered his nostrils and Nachshon could no longer breathe, only when he began to drown....then, and only then, did the sea split, and Israel cross in safety.

None of this is in the Torah. In the Torah, the people Israel are passive observers �" objects, not subjects of the drama. The narrative is all about God �" God's glory at the expense of the Egyptians, God's final victory over Pharaoh. The Rabbis of this Midrash objected: This is not how God works in history. There is something missing from the Torah's narrative �" God's human partner. Redemption is possible, assert the Rabbis, even immanent. But redemption will not arrive without a substantial commitment of human effort. Waiting passively on the side of the Sea will not bring deliverance. Even prayer does not produce salvation. Redemption comes only when human beings jump into the cold and swirling waters of history. The Sea splits only when someone is ready to go “all in” �" to devote body and soul to the task of salvation.

Sometimes the sea doesn't split. Sometimes Pharaoh's armies catch us before we step across. The Rabbis knew this too well. But they would rather believe in a God who depends upon a human partner in shaping history, than a God who relegates the human being to the passive status of bystander. As slaves, we were passive observers �" objects, not subjects of history's events. As free people, we demand the dignity of sharing in the creation of our own destiny.