(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with Your mitzvot and commanded us to immerse ourselves in words of Torah.
(15) Then Adonai said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. (16) And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground.
(א) מה תצעק אלי... עוד קשה אומרו דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו להיכן יסעו אם רודף מאחור והים לפניהם, ואם הכוונה אחר שיבקע הים אם כן היה לו לומר הרם את מטך וגו'
(1) מה תצעק אלי, "why are you crying out to Me, etc.?" What is G'd's answer "speak to the children of Israel so that they will move on" supposed to mean? Where were they supposed to move to? The Egyptians were behind them and the sea was in front! If G'd meant that they should move after they would observe the sea split, G'd should first have told Moses to raise his staff and afterwards have given the command that the Israelites were to move into the bed of the sea!
Text Questions:
1. We read in Exodus 14:10 that the Israelites were very frightened וייראו מאד and called out ויצעקו to God. Behind them was Pharaoh and his army and in front of them, the sea. What is God's response in vs. 15-16 above?
2. What kashya does Or Hahayim point out in the above verse?
3. How do you respond to this kashya? How would you explain or reconcile God's comments in vs. 15-16 above?
4. What is the role and responsibility of Moses as an individual leader? What is the role and responsibility of the Israelites as a collective?
Application Questions:
1. When is it appropriate to yell, cry out, and complain? When is it time to stop kvetching and move forward?
2. Other commentaries and midrashim emphasize people like Nahshon who bravely and faithfully move forward into the sea, before it is split. In your opinion, which comes first: clear instructions and a clear path (i.e. Moses splitting the sea) or moving forward into the unknown? When is one better than the other?
3. When you are faced with oppressive forces behind you and a fearful unknown in front of you, how do you move forward? Where do you find clarity and courage?
What other questions do you have? What else do you notice?
"To Be of Use" by Marge Piercy
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.