Community Torah Corner, Feb. 3, 2023

One of my favorite verses in the entire Torah comes up in this week’s portion, Parshat Beshalach.  As the Israelites find themselves trapped between the sea and the advancing Egyptian forces, they cry out to Moses for help.  Moses reassures the people by telling them that God will save them.  In Exodus 14:15, it states:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְיִסָּֽעוּ׃

Then God said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward."

Through a literal reading of this verse, you can see the humor of God, with an almost deer-in-the-headlights expression saying “Oh…your talking to me?!” The great Torah commentator Rashi explains that God’s true intention with this statement is to explain to Moses that now is not the time for prayer and waiting. This is a time for action. While it may seem there is nowhere for the Israelites to go, God tells them to march forward.  According to the Midrash, one single person, Nahshon the son of Aminadav, the leader of the tribe of Judah, marches forth into the sea. It is not until the water is up to his nostrils that the sea finally splits. Nahshon recognized the time to act and did so accordingly.

We have just seen a very stressful and trying week.  A week that brought terrorist attacks in both Israel and America. The funeral of a man viciously beaten while just trying to get home. Do we simply sit back and pray that things should all work out or do we take action to stand up for the good and justice in this world?

As we head into the Shabbat, I wish you all the strength to stand up and act when the time is right.

Shabbat Shalom.