Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Benei Yisrael panic when they see the יַם סוּף (Yam Suf, Reed Sea) ahead of them, and the Egyptian army closing in on them from behind.
Moshe assures the people: Get ready! God’s miracles are coming!
Then God says something that seems a bit harsh:
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה
מַה תִּצְעַק אֵלָי
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִסָּעוּ׃
God said to Moshe,
“Why are you crying out to Me?
Tell Benei Yisrael to go forward!”
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder about the bolded words above:
Did Moshe do something wrong? What’s being criticized here?
מָה תִּצְעַק אֵלַי – לָמַדְנוּ שֶׁהָיָה מֹשֶׁה עוֹמֵד וּמִתְפַּלֵּל. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: לֹא עֵת עַתָּה לְהַאֲרִיךְ שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל נְתוּנִין בְּצָרָה.
Why are you crying out to Me? - This teaches us that Moshe was standing and praying. The Holy One said to him, "This isn’t the time for long prayers, when Benei Yisrael are in trouble!”
The Torah doesn’t actually describe Moshe crying out to God. But, based on God’s words to Moshe, Rashi concludes that Moshe must have been crying out in prayer.
- Does it surprise you that God would tell Moshe to stop praying? Why?
- What are appropriate times for long prayers?
- According to Rashi, what was God trying to teach Moshe?
יֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים כִּי מֹשֶׁה הָיָה צוֹעֵק אֶל הַשֵּׁם. וְזֶה אֵינֶנּוּ נָכוֹן, כִּי כְּבָר דִּבֵּר לוֹ הַשֵּׁם: "וְאִכָּבְדָה בְּפַרְעֹה" (שמות יד:ד).
רַק מֹשֶׁה הוּא כְּנֶגֶד כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁצָּעֲקוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל ה' (שמות יד:י).
Some people say Moshe was crying out to God. But that can’t be right because God had already assured Moshe: “I will beat Pharaoh” (Shemot 14:4). (And Moshe would have believed God!)
Actually God spoke to Moshe about crying out because Moshe represented Benei Yisrael. They are the ones who were crying out (in 14:10), and God was really telling them to stop.
- Ibn Ezra thinks Moshe didn’t cry out or do anything wrong at all. Can you find and explain Ibn Ezra’s two pieces of evidence (one from pasuk 4 and one from pasuk 10)?
- How does your understanding of Moshe’s role in the story change if you read it according to Rashi or according to Ibn Ezra?
- What is the difference between Rashi’s and Ibn Ezra’s ideas for why the crying in this moment was not appropriate?
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