Spark of Jewish Experience

The Sages are puzzled why G-d had to trick Pharaoh into thinking that the Israelites were trapped in the dessert. Pharaoh, who was very intelligent, was obviously afraid of pursuing the Jewish people unless he was assured in some way that the situation had changed and he had a fighting chance to succeed in catching and re-enslaving the Jews. Pharaoh actually became king again and led another nation after the Egypt fiasco……go figure. He had to have a great amount of charisma and cleverness to persuade another country to put him at the helm.

Despite all the miracles of the ten plaques that G-d performed for his chosen people at the expense of the Egyptians, Pharaoh was not entirely convinced of G-d’s power. G-d therefore made the Jewish people seem entangled in the desert. The plan of deception was to bring them to a spot between Migdol Eisam and the sea, where Pharaoh would be certain they had nowhere to flee. The desert cut them off. They could not travel there because of the wild animals. Before them stood the impassible sea. Migdal Eisam  was a high place from which it was easy to wage an attack. Thus the Children of Israel entered a strait with no exit.

The famous answer to this question is that G-d pays back measure for measure. Pharaoh and the Egyptians killed many Jewish children by throwing them in the river.  Therefore G-d punished the Egyptians by drowning them in the sea. As a matter of fact when the scripture writes ” VAYAMINU BAHASHEM UBEMOSHE AVDO-..and they believed in G-d and to Moshe his servant. Who are they “the believers” referring to?

Rav Henoch Leibowitz z’l teaches us it’s referring to the drowning Egyptians soldiers. At the last precious moments of life, when the the towering walls of water that was split on behalf of the Jews was breaking and tumbling down and becoming whole again, the Egyptians realized the truth. They comprehended the measure for measure and understood why they were about to die.

The Abarbanel, a famous Jewish commentary and at one point Finance Minister of Spain in the 15th century, presents a beautiful explanation of G-d’s enticement of the Egyptians into the sea. He says G-d intention was to frighten the other nations whose lands the Jewish people were going to conquer. He knew that the people leaving Egypt were at a low point, powerless to conquer large fortified cities.

The Jews coming out of Egypt had a slave mentality; they weren’t going to scare anybody. They weren’t warriors and the world knew that. G-d had to infuse a facelift of the Jewish image and it wasn’t going to be just the likes of the mild mannered Jewish accountant.

G-d struck the powerful Egyptians, the perennial superpower, a devastating blow which was publicized throughout the world. Hence, the splitting of the sea paved the way for the conquest of the land of Israel.

The beautiful song that we sing in our morning prayers, AZ YASHIR, which describes the wonders of the splitting of the sea by G-d’s mighty hand, hints at what transpired as a result of the devastation of the drowning of the Egyptians:

“Nations heard and shuttered: terror gripped those who dwell in Philistia. Edom’s chief then panicked; trembling gripped the powerful ones of Moav; all of Canaan’s residents melted away…..Until Your people crossed through, G-d.”

Similar are the words of Rachav, who was considered one of the four most beautiful woman that ever lived,. She was the most sort after prostitute ever. Rachav helped and protected the two Hebrew spies who were on a mission exploring the land that would eventually be their land; the land of Israel. She said (Yehoshua 2:9:10) ” I know that G-d gave you the land and that your fear took hold of us. All the residents of the land tremble before you , for we heard how G-d dried up the sea of Reeds before you when you were leaving Egypt”. Rachav eventually converted to Judism and astonishingly married the leader Yehoshua ben Nun. She rose to such an extent that she became a prophetess.

Rachav expressed the tone and heartbeat of the seven nations who occupied the land of Israel. This gave the Israelites a huge psycological edge in conquering the promised land in which G-d laid the groundwork by splitting the sea.

It seems like Pharaoh did not get the message from the plaques. The message that G-d runs the show had to come full circle by splitting the sea. With that action G-d was able to pay back measure for measure for the killing of the Jewish babies as well as set the tone for the future. We see how important the concept of the homeland is. G-d split the sea for an easy landing for our ancestors in the promised land.

There are many things in life that occur that one scratches his head. There are some incidences that are quite painful and difficult to make the adjustment. One has to realize every event that happens is connected and if we are lucky we can understand and figure out the puzzle.

When our forefather Avraham was about to leave this world, the scripture said AVRAHAM ZAKEN BAH BAH YAMIM-Avraham was old. The Sages interpret that he was blessed where he was able to understand and figure out the puzzle. He was able to figure out why events occurred in his life. Most of us will live our entire life and not know why things happened to us. We just have to realize that there is a master plan and everything is charted by G-d.