Crossing the Sea

Midrash: destabilizes the idea that torah is single-voiced, absolute, static, and everlasting. Rather, it points to a plural, contextual, constructed, and dynamic vision of torah, with multiple narratives, meanings, possibilities and outcomes.

שמות ו׳:ו׳-ז׳

(ו) לָכֵ֞ן אֱמֹ֥ר לִבְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָה֒ וְהוֹצֵאתִ֣י אֶתְכֶ֗ם מִתַּ֙חַת֙ סִבְלֹ֣ת מִצְרַ֔יִם וְהִצַּלְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם מֵעֲבֹדָתָ֑ם וְגָאַלְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ בִּזְר֣וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֔ה וּבִשְׁפָטִ֖ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃ (ז) וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֥ם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם ...

Exodus 6:6-7

(6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am יהוה. I will (1) free you from the labors of the Egyptians and (2) deliver you from their bondage. I will (3) redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary signs and wonders. (7) And I will (4) take you to be My people ...

שמות י״ד:ל׳

(ל) וַיּ֨וֹשַׁע יְהֹוָ֜ה בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֛וּא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִיַּ֣ד מִצְרָ֑יִם ...

Exodus 14:30

(30) Thus יהוה delivered Israel that day from the Egyptians...

Rabbi Chaim of Voloz'hin writes that all the prayers and all the cries had accomplished all they could. The sea is ready to split. The spiritual energy required to accomplish the miracle of splitting the sea is in place. But in order to bring this power into the physical world, into this body of water, our own efforts are required. Divine energy flows into the world channeled through our action. We would have to enter the sea to make it split.

שמות י״ד:ט״ו

(טו) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְיִסָּֽעוּ׃

Exodus 14:15

(15) Then YHVH said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward!

סוטה ל״ז א

אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוּדָה: לֹא כָּךְ הָיָה מַעֲשֶׂה, אֶלָּא זֶה אוֹמֵר: אֵין אֲנִי יוֹרֵד תְּחִילָּה לַיָּם, וְזֶה אוֹמֵר: אֵין אֲנִי יוֹרֵד תְּחִילָּה לַיָּם, קָפַץ נַחְשׁוֹן בֶּן עַמִּינָדָב וְיָרַד לַיָּם תְּחִילָּה

Sotah 37a

Rabbi Yehuda said to Rabbi Meir: That is not how the incident took place. Rather, this tribe said: I am not going into the sea first, and that tribe said: I am not going into the sea first. Then, in jumped the prince of Judah, Nachshon ben Amminadab, and descended into the sea first

There’s also a parallel group of stories in midrash involving Nachshon the son of Amminadab. He steps forward into the sea, learning how to stand in this sea of not knowing. Not knowing is his new home.
He goes up to his ankles. Nothing happens, the sea does not split. He goes further, up to his knees, no split. Deeper to his waist, no split, to his chin, no split. It’s only when the water reaches as high as his nostrils, when he is drowning, when he fully gives himself over to the sea, to the sensation of oneness with the water, that the sea splits and he can push forward. When he feels himself in this space of oneness, he ascends to the depth of who he is, and we too, as we push forward we find our truest selves, our deepest longings, and who we are constantly being invited to become.
There are two more aspects to this story. Every step forward for Nachshon requires him to push against the wall of water that’s in front of him. The sea only splits just enough for him to walk one step. The work isn’t done.
And second, each of us must push against the water, it’s our own birth story, we are being reborn in the moment. We get to open our own pathway through the water in our own unique way. Nachshon can’t do it for us. The way we walk through the sea is already part of our destination.

Rumi teaches:
Start walking, start walking towards Shams,
Your legs will get heavy and tired.
Then comes the moment of feeling the wings you’ve grown, lifting.

Sources:
Rabbi Chaim of Voloz'hin, 1749-1821, author of "Nefesh HaChayim" his work deals with complex understandings of the nature of God, the secrets of prayer and the importance of Torah as a pathway to the depths of soul.
Rumi teaches, adapted from "Unfold Your Own Myth"
Conversations on Midrash, adapted from Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, "The Particulars of Rapture," Doubleday