Illustration credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
These words are part of the song that Benei Yisrael sing at the yam suf.
זֶה אֵ-לִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ
This is my God and I will glorify God
Many פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) believe that זֶה (zeh, this) in the Torah almost always indicates something that’s right there that people are pointing at. But what could Benei Yisrael mean when they say, “This is my God”? Why would they be trying to point at God?
A midrash suggests that after Pharaoh decreed that Benei Yisrael’s baby boys must be thrown into the Nile, women would give birth to their babies secretly in the wilderness. To escape Pharaoh’s law of certain death, the mothers would have to leave their newborn baby boys there, not knowing what would happen to them.
Devarim Rabbah 1:15
R. Hiyya the Great said: ...The babies grew in the field like grass, and after they grew, they returned to their homes in flocks…
How did they know which home was their family’s?
The Holy Blessed One accompanied them, pointed each one to his parents’ home, and said, “Call your father this and your mother that.” The children would say to their mothers, “Don’t you remember when you gave birth to me, on this day in that field?”
…When they eventually came to the sea and saw God, the children pointed to God with their fingers, showing God to their mothers, and said, “This is my God, and I will glorify God”—this is the One Who raised me!
דברים רבה (ליברמן) א:טו
אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּא הַגָּדוֹל…הָיוּ הַתִּינוֹקוֹת גְּדֵלִים בַּשָּׂדֶה כִּצְמָחִים הַלָּלוּ, וְהָיוּ מִתְגַּדְּלִין וְנִכְנָסִין בַּעֲדָרִים לְבָתֵּיהֶם…
וְהֵיאַךְ הָיוּ מַכִּירִין לֵילֵךְ אֵצֶל אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם, אֶלָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הָיָה נִכְנָס עִמָּהֶם וְהָיָה מַרְאֶה לְכָל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד בֵּית אָבִיו, וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ קְרָא לְאָבִיךָ פְּלוֹנִי וּלְאִמְּךָ פְּלוֹנִית, וְאוֹמֵר לָהּ אֵין אַתְּ זְכוּרָה כְּשֶׁיָּלַדְתְּ אוֹתִי בִּשְׂדֵה פְּלוֹנִי, בְּיוֹם פְּלוּנִי…
כְּשֶׁבָּאוּ לַיָּם וְרָאוּ אוֹתוֹ הָיוּ מַרְאִים לְאִמֹּתָם בְּאֶצְבַּע, וְאוֹמְרִים לָהֶן "זֶה אֵ-לִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ" - זֶהוּ שֶׁגְּדָלַנִי.
This midrash explains that the parents of these children always wondered how their sons had found their way home. It was at this moment at the Yam Suf that the children made it all clear.
- Why do you think the children point to God?
- What do you think this means about their relationship with God?
- Can you think of a moment when you have felt a special connection with God?
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