"Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea, and Israel saw the mighty hand that Y-H-W-H had raised in Egypt...." (Ex. 14:30-31)
The Midrash recounts that each Israelite saw his or her own Egyptian oppressor, those who had beaten them and made their burden of work so heavy, dead on the seashore (Mekhilta Be-Shalah 6). This demonstrated God's great love for them, wanting to protect them from living for days in the fear that the Egyptians might yet emerge from the sea in some other place and resume pursuing them.
Once they saw how real God's love for them was...they came to understand that even in Egypt, as their burdens were made heavier when Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, God's great love was also present.
This is like the case of a father who has a sick small child. The child needs to take a very bitter medicine that the doctors have prescribed. The child does not want to swallow the medicine. Finally the father has to force the child's mouth open and pour the medicine into it. The child comes to think that his father must hate him. When he grows up, of course, and sees how much his father loves him, he has the mind to understand that the bitter medicine his father forced upon him was a token of great love. It was bitter also for the father that he had to hold his child's mouth open that way and pour in that medicine. But because he knew this cure was needed, he took the pain upon himself and did as was needed...
The first Israel saw in these verses refers to sight itself; they really saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. But the second, Israel saw the mighty hand that Y-H-W-H had raised in Egypt, refers to understanding...They understood that even back in Egypt, when the burdens had been so oppressive, those too were evidence of great divine compassion, like the bitter medicinal herbs one has to take.
It seems to me that I heard something similar from that holy lamp the famous hasid R. Zusya of Hanipoli.
The Midrash recounts that each Israelite saw his or her own Egyptian oppressor, those who had beaten them and made their burden of work so heavy, dead on the seashore (Mekhilta Be-Shalah 6). This demonstrated God's great love for them, wanting to protect them from living for days in the fear that the Egyptians might yet emerge from the sea in some other place and resume pursuing them.
Once they saw how real God's love for them was...they came to understand that even in Egypt, as their burdens were made heavier when Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, God's great love was also present.
This is like the case of a father who has a sick small child. The child needs to take a very bitter medicine that the doctors have prescribed. The child does not want to swallow the medicine. Finally the father has to force the child's mouth open and pour the medicine into it. The child comes to think that his father must hate him. When he grows up, of course, and sees how much his father loves him, he has the mind to understand that the bitter medicine his father forced upon him was a token of great love. It was bitter also for the father that he had to hold his child's mouth open that way and pour in that medicine. But because he knew this cure was needed, he took the pain upon himself and did as was needed...
The first Israel saw in these verses refers to sight itself; they really saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. But the second, Israel saw the mighty hand that Y-H-W-H had raised in Egypt, refers to understanding...They understood that even back in Egypt, when the burdens had been so oppressive, those too were evidence of great divine compassion, like the bitter medicinal herbs one has to take.
It seems to me that I heard something similar from that holy lamp the famous hasid R. Zusya of Hanipoli.
This classic explanation of human suffering has a long history, reaching much farther back than Hasidism. In typically Hasidic fashion, here it is tied to a tale of paternal love.