Journeys: An 8th Night Seder a.k.a. What happened after seder night? Havurat Shalom, 22 Nissan 5779

(21) And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, with the great and glorious rod which was created at the beginning, and on which were engraven and set forth the Great and Glorious Name, and the ten signs which had smitten the Mizraee, and the three fathers of the world, and the six mothers, and the twelve tribes of Jakob: and straightway the Lord brought a vehement east wind upon the sea all night, and made the sea dry; and divided the waters into twelve divisions according to the twelve tribes of Jacob.

(1) "And you, raise your staff": Ten miracles were performed for Israel at the sea: The waters were split and became like a dome, viz. (Habakkuk 3:14) "You split (the sea) for his tribes; the summit of its scattering raged to scatter me"; the sea became dry land, viz. (Exodus 14:29) "and the children of Israel walked on the dry land"; it became like tar (where the Egyptians trod), viz. (Habakkuk, Ibid. 15) "You led your horses in the sea, in the mire of many waters"; it (the water) became like crumbs, viz. (Psalms 74:13) "You 'crumbed' the sea with Your might"; it became like rocks, viz. (Ibid.) "You broke the heads of serpents (the Egyptians) on the waters"; the sea split into sections, viz. (Ibid. 136:13) "You split the Red Sea into sections," viz. (Ibid. 15:8) "and with the breath of Your nostrils the waters piled up"; they became like a wall, viz. (Ibid.) "the waves stood up as a wall"; He extracted for them sweets from salts, viz. (Psalms 78:16) "and He brought forth streams from a rock and brought down waters as rivers"; He froze the sea for them and it became like vessels of glass, viz. (Exodus 15:8) "The depths froze in the midst of the sea."

"And the Children of Israel came into the Sea on the Land" - If they were in the sea, why "on the Land," and if on land why "into the Sea?" Rather, from here you learn that the sea was not split for them [, the Children of Israel] until they came into it [, the Sea,] up until their noses, and only afterwards [the Sea was torn asunder and] they had dry land [in the middle]. Explained Rabbi Nehorai: If a Daughter of Israel was crossing [in the dry land created by the absence of the] Sea, and her child was in her hand, and she cried and stretched out her hand, she could reach into the Sea and grab an apple or pomegranate to give to him, as it says: (Tehillim 106:9) "And he led them in the depths as he did in the desert" - just as in the desert, they lacked nothing, so too in the "depths" they lacked nothing. And this [, that God provided for them in the desert], is the meaning of what Moshe told them (Devarim 2:7): "These forty years, God has been with you, and you have not lacked a single thing" - Nothing was lacking as all they had to do was call out for an object, and it appeared in front of them. Rabbi Shimon said: Even speech was not required, rather one simply had to think of an object, and it appeared for him, as it says (Tehillim 78:18): "And they tested God in their hearts to ask food to their cravings." Another derivation: They did not lack anything, except for one thing: Repentance [for testing God] as it says (Hoshea 14:3): "Takes for yourselves things and return to God."

The well was due to the merit of Miriam, who sang by the waters [of the sea], as it is said, "Miriam sang to them: 'Sing to ha-Shem'", and by the waters of the well, "Then Israel sang this song, ['Rise up, O well, sing to ha-Shem']."

R. Berekhya ha-Cohen, in the name of R. Levi: When a flesh-and-blood ruler sends high officials to one of their provinces to conduct its affairs and administer justice, who has is responsible for sustaining them? Is it not the citizens of that providence who would be responsible? But the Holy One of Blessing acts differently when sending Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam, as it is said, "I will send before you Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam." And yet it was through their merit that the people were sustained.

The manna was through the merit of Moshe, made known because when Moshe died (Yehoshua 5:12), "the manna ceased the next day." The Clouds of Glory were through the merit of Aharon, which learned because when he died, it is written (Bamidbar 21:4), "The soul of the people became shortened on the journey," because the sun beat down upon them [without the shelter of the clouds].

The well was through the merit of Miriam, as it is written (Bamidbar 20:2), "Miriam died there, and was buried there." What is written next? "There was no water for the congregation."

How did the well work? It was a rock, constructed like a bee-hive so it could roll and come with them on their journeying. Whenever the banners halted and the Mishkan was erected, that rock would come and position itself in the courtyard of the Ohel Moed. The leaders would come and stand upon it, saying (Bamidbar 21:17), "Rise up, O well," and it arose.

(1) (Devarim 24:9) "Remember what ha-Shem your God did to Miriam": What does this have to do with what precedes (i.e., plague-spots)? To teach that plague-spots come only because of slander, (Miriam having slandered Moses regarding the "Kushite woman" that he had taken). Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If Miriam, who had not spoken in public of Moses, and only for his benefit, and in praise of the L-rd, and to the end of the propagation of the world, was thus punished (with leprosy), then all who speak in denigration of their neighbor in public, how much more so!

(2) "on the way": when you were tossed about.

(3) "when you left Egypt": the time of your redemption, and all was stopped because of her, whereby we are apprised that all of that time when the standards of the tribes traveled, they did so only when Miriam preceded them, viz. (Michah 6:4) "And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam."

"The surplus / superfluous of the land is in all things" (Kohelet 5:8) -- R. Yehudah says, even the things you see as being superfluous in the world, even these are included in what sustains the world. For example, palm-fiber for making rope, or twigs that form a garden hedge.

R. Tanchuma says: Even with water, the Holy One of Blessing makes it into a messenger. Once upon a time, a person struck with boils descended to immerse in the Sea of Taveria [the Kinneret]. It happened at that moment that Miriam's Well gushed up, and he washed and he was healed.

Where is Miriam's Well? R. Hiya bar Aba says that it is written (Bamidbar 21:20), "Which looks down upon the desert / Yeshimon." Anyone who climbs Mount Yeshimon sees something like a small woven basket in the Sea of Taveria -- this is Miriam's Well!

R. Yochanan says, the Rabbanan measured it and found that it directly faces the entrance to the old [Synagogue] of S'rongya.

"When good increase, those that eat them increase" (Kohelet 5:10). R. Hanania and R. Yonatan asked Menachem the baker...about the meaning of "Ha-Shem subjected you to the hardship of hunger [and then gave you manna to eat]" (Devarim 8:3)? Did the Holy One of Blessing provide starvation-food in giving mannah to Israel?

What did [Menachem the baker] do? He brought before them two cucumbers, one whole and one broken. He asked, How much does the whole cost? They said, Two coins. And this broken one? They said, one coin. He said to them, Is not the fate of this one to be made like this one [in the stomach]? He concluded, they are not alike, for just as one enjoys the taste, one enjoys the appearance too.