In this week’s Torah portion, Beshelach, the Israelites take the final step towards freedom: crossing the Red Sea, putting Egypt and slavery behind them, and facing a future full of promise.
Yet the road from Egypt to the other shore of the sea was not an easy one. The Israelites needed to take the long way to the sea as the quickest path was too dangerous. They also needed to travel both day and night, guided by God in the form of a pillar of cloud, exhausting themselves physically and spiritually. Most terrifyingly, just as the Isralites make camp by the edge of the sea, they look up to see that Pharoah has led his army in pursuit, intending to capture the Israelites and enslave them once again.
Understandably, this sends the Israelite camp into chaos. A midrash tells us that different ideas emerged regarding how to react to the looming Egyptian threat. These differences created divisions and sowed chaos among the Israelites. Out of their fear and their uncertainty the Israelites turned on Moses. They accused him of bringing them out of Egypt only to die. In their panic, the Israelites declared, “it would have been better to have remained in slavery than die here in this wilderness.”
As he had at every step of the journey in a moment of crisis, Moses turned to God. Stuck between the Egyptian threat and a vast sea, in the face of a terrified people, Moses inquired what should be done. God, according to the Torah, did not respond with words of encouragement, nor the plans for another plague. Rather, God said to Moses: “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.”
In other words, God says to Moses, ‘I have brought you this far, now it is your turn, the people’s turn, to move their own destiny forward.’ The miracle of opening the sea, the journey into freedom, cannot come to pass if the Israelites do not believe, do not have faith in God, or faith in themselves and take the first steps towards the water.
This week’s portion comes to remind us that faith may not be a solution to our problems, to the challenges we face as individuals or as communities. Faith, though, is a source of strength that allows us to take the first step forward in confronting them. It inspires us to take chances, to be brave, to face the unknown. Faith is the first step, whether we stand as a nation before the Sea of Reeds or as individuals before life’s trials.
I think the song “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt expresses it best when Miriam sings, “there can be miracles, when you believe.” Having faith is not believing that the miracle will come. Faith is holding onto the belief that something more, something better is possible. And, without it, miracles will certainly never come to pass.
May you all be blessed this Shabbat with abundant faith and may it be a source of strength for you as you go about this beautiful and challenging journey called life.
Shabbat Shalom
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